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Does she want 5 line or 4 line?

Rebel and Xr have heavier bar pressure than the fuse, Rebel is a faster turning kite.
All mentioned have excellent re-launch, would say rebel and fuse have slightly better low end but the rebel probably has a greater wind range.

All have great upwind ability and rebel is the most responsive on the steering.

In regards to recovering when under flying, sounds like she needs to fly her kite better to stop slack lines.

Core is cheaper although not by much nowadays I think the choice lies between the fuse and rebel which brings the decision to the question at the top.

I think I'm qualified to answer this one having owned and flown both. Bar pressure much of a muchness especially in the 7 m range. Both good quality kites. Rebel better though. Rebel much much more forgiving in surf, stable and eats gusts like they don't even exist. The xr will pitch forward and try to fly to the edge of the window in gusty conditions. No comparison is smoothness and power control. Rebel jumps much higher and far more forgiving in the landings. Rebels fifth line can kill the kite completely, four line still powerd up... But but but drop it in the surf and beware of the fifth.

The xr is has less grunt and for that reason is not bad as a beginners kite. Prob has a mo forgiving top end, bottom end the rebel will kill it without even trying. But the rebel is a handful at its top end...which I love!,

Due to the fifth I would be deciding on the fuse versus the rebel...

But to get a far more informed view call darren at aks, he knows a lot more than I do, well at least he can explain it better.

Cheers for the feedback fellas , will give Darren a call to pick his brain on it.

Leaning towards a 7 meter rebel at this stage.

cwamit said...


which two has easiest of water relaunch ?

which has least effort to pull in to power bar pressure ?

which has least effort to turn kite pressure ?

which has most low end range ?

which has best upwind ability ?

which jumps best and which design will recover better if rider goes under the kite while in the air - something she does still on bigger jumps?


thanks for any feedback

{edited to add some more questions}

Hi Andrew, sorry I missed your post, I'll throw in my thoughts.

which two has easiest of water relaunch ?

Both the North kites and the Core XR are hard to pick an easy relaunch winner, I'd say all about the same. All three are effortless. Push bar out and pull in one back line leader. Dead Easy!

which has least effort to pull in to power bar pressure ?

I would think that both North's have bar pressure in the lighter end of the moderate scale (if that makes sense) The Core XR2 has lighter bar pressure than the Norths and sits squarely between the Ozone Catalysts and North Rebel.

which has least effort to turn kite pressure ?

All three kites have similar effort required to initiate and maintain a turn. Biggest underlying difference is the directness or responsiveness. The 5 line directly connected Rebel is most sensitive to steering input. Both Fuse and XR2 have that slightly delayed/disconnected feel so the turn is a bit less instant due to bridles. I find Rebel a tad too sensitive for my style but this can be adjusted by making a change to the back line turn pressure settings. I kninda like that slight delay from the bridle when freeriding as the kite will stay put if you make inadvertent inputs to the bar and requires less attention. For waves and freestyle, the directness is the goods.

which has most low end range ?

The best bottom end would be the XR2 or Fuse but only by a bee's dick. We haven't carried out absolute bottom end testing between the three kites in 7m size so working on an overall feel from other sizes. It would be VERY close between the three.

which has best upwind ability ?

Gees! Close one. I think the Rebel, then Fuse and then XR2. Too close to really discriminate and to put the XR2 as least would paint it as lesser than the other two, this is not the case. I think the difference is almost immeasurably too small and to pick one over the other is maybe misleading to the others. They are all great.

which jumps best and which design will recover better if rider goes under the kite while in the air - something she does still on bigger jumps?

OK, this is a close one, the Fuse has slightly better boost and hangtime over the Rebel and XR2. I think the XR2 will jump well too and again, this is sort of subjective. All three kites are so similar that there is little difference.

SUMMARY

The differences between these three kites are very minor. North of course has unchallenged pedigree in terms of quality and performance and would be the top brand in the world. They design their kites to be the top performers in their class, they spare no expense with materials and design in both the bar and kite construction. Difference between the Rebel and Fuse (especially in smaller sizes) comes down to, "Do you want a 4-Line or 5-Line kite?" "Direct or less direct feel".

Core makes kites for the masses and only in two models, for freeriders (XR2) and for aggressive freeriders/freestylers (GTS). Both kites aren't aimed to be the pinnacle of performance in either category, they are designed to be a good, easy kite with comfort and performance for the majority of kiter's in each category. Both kites can easily be tweaked with simple bridle change options which take seconds.
The Quality of Core kites is excellent although with less of the shiny bells and whistles of the North.

The difference in cost of the kites is small and reflects the finish of the products, mostly in the bar and lines.

There are basically no bad choices in these three, it'll come down to do you want to pay for the additional whistles and bells and polish of the North or not. The Core XR2 maybe sits ever so slightly further back in the wind window which may offer an ever so slight advantage of stability in a slack line scenario.

You already have North gear. Assuming you have a couple of bars, this will same you bucks. A Fuse or XR2 will require a 4 line bar (Fuse can fly on 5 line bar, but I think it'd be better as a purely 4-Line).

Just my thoughts for what they're worth.

DM

Had to finish quick back in class, 'Launch I meant boost...

Also I might be wrong here and probably are, but the bottom end of the rebel is the thing I like most about it. If it says 16 knot start, you are almost staying upwind (I'm 85 kg and growing), I found the XR2's wind range bottom end a three or so knots optimistic. Bottom end of the rebel is awesome which is paramount where I kite and the estuary always reduces the 'fill in' expereinced in perth.

But again could be wrong.

Darren is right about the direct feel, the difference is chalk and cheese. The delay suites some, not me. I got frustated on the XR for the bridal delay, but some prefer it.

The thing is at this early stage of kiting you probably don't know your style, nor will you be able to appreciate these differences (maybe you will, but guessing on my own history), nor will you be able to take these kites to their full potential, within the next season or so.

So honestly you are choosing between kites of high quality, that are stable enough to help progression, and their performance will also help this progression be fast. So go with cost, availablity and go through a good retailer like AKS, for service support.

good choice ,the rebel is the better kite .as the fuse will hand it to you if you u dont get the timing right ,and have flown the core and nah .good try of a north, but not the real dealhave also flown this years rebel and fuse plus evo

i think scoobs cancelled his fuses and ordered the evo after his test run

And compared to rebel whats the main diff.

cwamit said...
should get her to demo... but that would ruin her surprise

Ummmm I think you might have done that already.
Im sure she knows your tag by now

puppetonastring said...

cwamit said...
should get her to demo... but that would ruin her surprise

Ummmm I think you might have done that already.
Im sure she knows your tag by now

she doesnt look at the forums, only uses buy and sell or checks weather, come to think of it most local kiters i know dont read the forums.

terryzarmzof said...

bout time u got a kite that isnt made for grandpas rhinodude

no this terryzarmzof...''you are a father ' one day you will be a grandpa, any way my old granpa kite still beats a walk on your naish pooarks