MrD said...
Rider: 83kg ,advanced
Style: Surf
Weather: 18-20 knots
Build Quality: 8/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
I've been riding Griffin Kites for a few years now and have liked them a lot, but I just recently got the 2013 Griffin TRX and was so blown away by it that I decided to write a review.
I'm 185lbs (83kg) and ride the 12m TRX on a 6'0” Naish surfboard ( a bit big for me but its all i got at the moment). been living on Oahu Hawaii for the last 12 years (originally from Syd), Mainly ride waves. I'm first and foremost a surfer (been surfing for 28 years) so when I kite its to hit waves, smashing lips, airs, huge gauges and fast full round house cut backs.
The TRX is a very fast kite, not just at turning, but actually fly's fast (reminds me of my Subaru WRX) this kite was made to ride hard and fast. It is a super stable kite, not twitchy at all, but rather smooth fast turns. When you need to power the kite up it just shoots with turbo acceleration to the sweet spot and just sits there grunting wanting more haha. It is such a lite kite and although it doesn't have as much low end as the Argo for example it doesn't matter at all. You will get more speed in low wind then the Argo because its light and fly's fast. There's a lot of power there to be had but the actual kite feels soooo lite in your hands. I've had a bit of a elbow injury for the past month or so, and I was having a very hard time kiting on my Argo because it has a lot of pull, you have to really use your arms etc to keep it in the right spot (especially toe side when flying with one arm), but not so with the TRX, its so light on your arm yet a more powerful kite because of its speed and lightness.
This kite also propels you out of turns sooo nice, sometimes with other kites if you have a bit of a sketchy turn they can shoot out past the sweet spot and get to close to the edge of the window and you lose speed and power (not good when your out in fairly big swell), but the TRX just shoots fast to the sweet spot and doesn't overshoot it. When your flying along and you want to get a nice burst of speed to hit a wave its just a little pull or flick of the wrist and the kite just responds in turn. Sooo nice!!
This Kite also sits in the sky sooo nice. It drifts beautifully. You can do a few turns on a wave even towards the kite and you don't have to worry about it falling out of the sky (like my Argo), then when it started falling the kite responds fast, even with slack lines you can just tug one side and it will slowly turn as its drifting down then once it starts turning it just shoots with speed and grunt to the sweet spot. There are a lot of kites that if you stall and start falling out of the sky you have to be pretty quick because of the weight of the kite and once its started falling fast your screwed. I stalled the TRX and let it drop way down close to the water before I sheeted out and turned it, it just responded in seconds, I would have been toast on my Argo or any other kite. So for wave riding this kite is the best kite I have ridden, I've ridden a lot of other kites, but by no means all. I'm sure there are some really nice kites out there but I have not come across anything as good as the TRX.
I don't do a lot of jumping (some but mostly off waves) and tricks, but what I have experienced is that the TRX is super stable, seems to have really nice lift and great control in the air. But saying that I don't do a lot in the air so can't say much more than that.
Bridal system is good, not too long. I hate long bridles coz if you go down, kite can flip inside out very easy. The new bar feels good ( I like it a lot better then the older bars that had the tubing). Griffin have changed factories and new kites seem like they are a much better build.
I do find it a little harder to self launch and land then the Argo, but still easy. where i launch gets a little crowded sometimes and i have to launch close to people on the beach. Argo was perfect for self launching, so much control. I'm finding it a little harder with the TRX. It has a different feel when launching and you have to be in a different spot in connection with the kite. Still getting used to it... just needing to be more careful around people until i get it dialed.
Bottom line is: TRX is F#@ing insane Kite for wave riding. Love it! Thanks Chris, was worth the wait.
I don't know....the relaunch for me was really easy. I had the chance to try it the other day in Dee Why Lagoon. The wind there is really strange because of the hill that separates it from the beach. So after a jump, dropped the kite by mistake, and I was ready for a good swim (with the kite still attached), after 10 seconds of swimming, Hello hello, someone's up and ready to go. So no problems there.
As for jumps....I was never able to obtain with my other kites as much hang time as I can now with this kite.
