Battle of the light weights - 10m Roam Alulla & 10m Duotone NEO SLS

The Test Days - 12-15kn onshore 1ft. With one front hitting 25kn gusts.

Board - 6ft Al Merrick Fish beard Twin Keel 35L (my normal surfboard)

Me - Dad bod 95kg

Theres been allot of Unicorn dust being chucked around in the excitement about the innovations in light weight materials being released this year. In particular Allula. Curiosity is certainly warranted what if this miracle material can really solve world hunger ??
Well I was lucky enough to fly the 10m Alulla Roam 3x in total and the NEO SLS 2X total. (Note I have flown the ROAM and NEO in various sizes in standard construction previously also)
One of the big assumptions has been around weight..and the lighter the kite the better it must perform.
One question I had was very keen to find out about is swing weight and whether this contributes to power on the power stroke. Its safe to say it does but just how much?
Also does weight simply make a kite better ? OR is it more still predominantly in the kite design. ??
Questions over durability ? Well yes I want a stronger kite? The big question in this is balancing stiffness out. To much stiffness can actually decrease performance of a kite.
THE NEO Its the Nissan Patrol of the kite world - it pulls hard and low with a smooth torquey feel. Add that with a couple of vin diesel tatts and mullet you are going to be ripping. The NEO is grunty, stable and a little slow moving perhaps for a light weight canopy at 2.5kgs. BUT fk me I am making up 30m each tack up wind in 13 knots through the waves. That alone is worth allot to me.the amount of 13-15knot days you normally are doing romantic beach walks on are now reduced. (and before all the key board cnts start I was there with people to verify wind etc etc.) In summary if you are already a NEO fan this kite is a no brainer. Be careful not to go to big as its grunty like a truck.a smaller size like an 8 or 9m might give you more wind range and on lighter days use the kite speed to generate power. Like I always say demo.demo..demo.
NEO-SLS Drift 9/10 Construction 9/10 Upwind 10/10 Responsiveness 8.5/10 Turning on Wave 8/10 Low End Power 10/10 Weight (lightness) 9/10 Price 10/10 TOTAL=73.5/80

Aulullalullla ROAM. The low bar pressure and responsive turning is dreamy.just like the unicorn pies I had imagined. The roam in general is a smooth fast performing on and off power delivery but this is even more noticeable in the lightweight construction around 2-2.2kg approx. The pull of the kite is bias to the harness and less on the arms, which you have to get used to because it can catch you off guard. The low end power is less than the NEO but its a lighter faster flying kite.
Aullula -ROAM Drift 9/10 Construction 9.5/10 Upwind 9/10 Responsiveness 9.5/10 Turning on Wave 9.5/10 Low End Power 8'5/10 Weight (lightness) 10/10 Price 8.0/10 TOTAL=73.5/80

In summary there's a ****yeload to like about either of these kites.and there is allot more to write about I have haven't included in this review. Its really exciting seeing strength and weight savings being achieved.

disclaimer- this is my view on what I have found so far and if you dont like it that's ok. Thanks to Action sports for the lend of the NEO and thanks to Bonny from the Ocean rodeo team for the rides on the Roam. Thanks for reading and resisting spell checking my review lol

A very hearty and well written review. Thanks for taking the time to add your input, it's much appreciated to hear how these new developments are starting to gel. Exciting times ahead especially for lightwind wave riding. I don't have a kite bigger than a 10 now because of all the foiling I do, but damn, I want to be riding waves too on those really light days. Light wind and big kites are a wave session killer. As much as I love foiling, (and I really do) I would still take waves and a surfboard session any day.

Ok good comparison but price is not a performance element. Without the cost factor:

Neo sls 63.5/70= 90.7 %
Roam 65.5/70= 93.6%

Clearly 2 good kites. Would suspect that the choice of More grunty vs faster turning will be more important than the price for dedicated riders.

I have a roam 12 and ride a tt and find it plenty powerfull. Personally would not be willing to sacrifice A bit of handling for a bit more grunt.Curiosity, witch kite between the 2 would you choose AndreC ? And why ?

PanaQc said..
Ok good comparison but price is not a performance element. Without the cost factor:

Neo sls 63.5/70= 90.7 %
Roam 65.5/70= 93.6%

Clearly 2 good kites. Would suspect that the choice of More grunty vs faster turning will be more important than the price for dedicated riders.

I have a roam 12 and ride a tt and find it plenty powerfull. Personally would not be willing to sacrifice A bit of handling for a bit more grunt.Curiosity, witch kite between the 2 would you choose AndreC ? And why ?

Yo Pana QC , Totally tuff question...thanks for asking. Umm I would probably go a 9m in the NEO then turning naturally improves and a further weight saving. IF I was always stuck in 12-15kn onshore conditions allot I would go the 10m NEO...If I was at Gnarloo in 14-16KN I would go the Roam..
Price isnt something I normally put in there but because the Alulla is rougly 35% more and the SLS is roughly 10% I think it plays a part in choice.

Having said all this the other 3 factors that would make a big big difference over either kites comparible performance would be
-Rider weight (Heavier riders tend to prefer gruntier kites)
-Rider ability (Tacking and upwind skills pay the bills)
-Board choice (If you are limited on kites then get a light wind board...like a twin fin keel fish a few litres more than you normally kite)

bjw said..
I struggle with the rating 10 on price as wouldn't you compare to a similar weight kite like the Reo?

Not to troll, but I'd love to see some 6/10s once or twice in any review. Surely a 5 rating is just average, normal, similar to every other brand eg. construction on most brands.

I don't know. I reckon it should be scored against all kites (e.g. Foil/Freeride/C kite) rather than just against wave kites. So you might score 5/10 - for when drift is only as good as a regular freeride kite and 2/10 for when the turning speed is like a race foil kite.

I'd expect any wave kite to be scoring 7/10 or more on anything that's wave specific and only much less on stuff like hangtime or pop and slack for unhooked riding.

Whilst you can't see the minutiae of differences between wave kites so easily - you could see which direction an allround kite is taking. E.g. does the North Carve suit better as a wave kite or a boosting kite compared to Duotone Evo.

I get your point about construction though. Difficult to tell until you have a years use on it

COL said..
A Reo is not a similar weight bjw, it's 300g heavier than the heaviest one of these.

Not sure where you got that info from COL.
The Reo size for size is lighter than the Neo SLS:

"THE NEO Its the Nissan Patrol of the kite world - it pulls hard and low with a smooth torquey feel. Add that with a couple of vin diesel tatts and mullet you are going to be ripping."

Duotone's next marketing campaign has been sorted :)

anyone have the scoop on the bottom end of the NEO SLS???

Is it better or worse than the 2020 model?

I have read on kiteforum that it is less grunty...which in my book correlates to reduced bottom end performance...not interested on one of the zero pull wave kites..want something with power to whip into waves

I just tried the 12 Aluula Roam and it's night and day better then the Dacron 12, absolutely the best 12 m I've ever flown, look fwd to trying the smaller sizes, game changer for sure.

There certainly is a lot of guys here talking about who pulls the hardest.

KPSS Used said..

billygreen said..
anyone have the scoop on the bottom end of the NEO SLS???

Is it better or worse than the 2020 model?

I have read on kiteforum that it is less grunty...which in my book correlates to reduced bottom end performance...not interested on one of the zero pull wave kites..want something with power to whip into waves

No such thing as zero pull, not sure what you mean there? The Neo is not more grunty its just bigger than the number on the side of the kite compared to other popular models.
If you want a kite that you can whip turn onto an approaching wave, there are several waves kites that do this well, but its also a skill of the rider.
You can control power better on some kites and I'd say the Roam in Aluula, and the Reo V5 are the quickest turning, and best drifting that I've flown. Have not flown SLS Neo but mates say it is very similar to the non SLS version or previous year, still a great kite and still bigger than most others!

they're not my style. In my experience it is a powerful kite, more so than roam/reo. it is an oversimplification to assume that the square metre number printed on wingtip is the only contributing factor to the kites power. some will be more powerful and jump better (neo, nexus) and some will drift better without rider input (reo, roam, section).

who knows which brand is correct regarding the number on the side - I have only seen duotone/ozone comparison, and even then there is a well documented perception of the reo going back several years of needing to 'ride a size up', so could it be a case of ozone being smaller than the standard size, not the neos being bigger. if the prices for each kite size are benchmarked across the industry, i am more than happy to buy the neo a size down (because of more power) and save the coin.

Great review, and here's some feedback around these kites and light wind foiling. I've had the Aluula Roam 12m for 3 months now and also have a NEO SLS 9m for a month (owned and loved a few normal NEOs as well). Also ridden the Roam Aluula 10m quite a bit. My sense is the SLS 9m and 10m Roam have similar power - but when the wind drops the weight difference (10m roam is 1.9kg versus 2.6kg for 9m SLS) makes an enormous difference. Its pretty hard to drop the Roam which is great in marginal and flukey conditions. In terms of speed the SLS 9m is pretty quick, and the Roam feels a tad quicker which is most noticeable on the up stroke ... this is could be due to the weight but also the LE on the 10m Roam appears to be 2/3s the thickness of the SLS, so less drag for sure. In the surf I'd take the SLS (feels tougher) over the Roam, but foiling no question I'd take the 10m/12m roam. The 12m Roam and foil combo opens up heaps of Sydney days that otherwise are not easily kiteable unless you had a dedicated foil kite - so for me the Roam 12 gets used the most. Spending kids inheritance on kites I know, hope that helps.

edit: was just looking at the 9m Slingshot UFO no strut and it's just over 2kg - highlights how amazing the Aluula Roam 10m 3 strut is at 1.9kg.

Im curious why dont Ocean Rodeo just make a Single Strut 9m allula kite, that will weigh nothing and be used anywind... guess what it would weigh and probably corner the market...

mikesids said..
I don't see the point of an Aluula single or no strut kite as it would sacrifice the great top end ...

So your saying that the horse & cart is all we need instead of the car to get to the beach - while you ride a "3" strut kite not 5. Come on get with the game plan here - and ride your 10m roam into a 3 knot deadzone...
I see the Duotone mono has a pretty good free ride windrange too.
Lets hope they dont get aluula to make your roam obsolete, along with your horse and cart

AndreC said..
Battle of the light weights - 10m Roam Alulla & 10m Duotone NEO SLS

The Test Days - 12-15kn onshore 1ft. With one front hitting 25kn gusts.

Board - 6ft Al Merrick Fish beard Twin Keel 35L (my normal surfboard)

Me - Dad bod 95kg

Theres been allot of Unicorn dust being chucked around in the excitement about the innovations in light weight materials being released this year. In particular Allula. Curiosity is certainly warranted what if this miracle material can really solve world hunger ??
Well I was lucky enough to fly the 10m Alulla Roam 3x in total and the NEO SLS 2X total. (Note I have flown the ROAM and NEO in various sizes in standard construction previously also)
One of the big assumptions has been around weight..and the lighter the kite the better it must perform.
One question I had was very keen to find out about is swing weight and whether this contributes to power on the power stroke. Its safe to say it does but just how much?
Also does weight simply make a kite better ? OR is it more still predominantly in the kite design. ??
Questions over durability ? Well yes I want a stronger kite? The big question in this is balancing stiffness out. To much stiffness can actually decrease performance of a kite.
THE NEO Its the Nissan Patrol of the kite world - it pulls hard and low with a smooth torquey feel. Add that with a couple of vin diesel tatts and mullet you are going to be ripping. The NEO is grunty, stable and a little slow moving perhaps for a light weight canopy at 2.5kgs. BUT fk me I am making up 30m each tack up wind in 13 knots through the waves. That alone is worth allot to me.the amount of 13-15knot days you normally are doing romantic beach walks on are now reduced. (and before all the key board cnts start I was there with people to verify wind etc etc.) In summary if you are already a NEO fan this kite is a no brainer. Be careful not to go to big as its grunty like a truck.a smaller size like an 8 or 9m might give you more wind range and on lighter days use the kite speed to generate power. Like I always say demo.demo..demo.
NEO-SLS Drift 9/10 Construction 9/10 Upwind 10/10 Responsiveness 8.5/10 Turning on Wave 8/10 Low End Power 10/10 Weight (lightness) 9/10 Price 10/10 TOTAL=73.5/80

Aulullalullla ROAM. The low bar pressure and responsive turning is dreamy.just like the unicorn pies I had imagined. The roam in general is a smooth fast performing on and off power delivery but this is even more noticeable in the lightweight construction around 2-2.2kg approx. The pull of the kite is bias to the harness and less on the arms, which you have to get used to because it can catch you off guard. The low end power is less than the NEO but its a lighter faster flying kite.
Aullula -ROAM Drift 9/10 Construction 9.5/10 Upwind 9/10 Responsiveness 9.5/10 Turning on Wave 9.5/10 Low End Power 8'5/10 Weight (lightness) 10/10 Price 8.0/10 TOTAL=73.5/80

In summary there's a ****yeload to like about either of these kites.and there is allot more to write about I have haven't included in this review. Its really exciting seeing strength and weight savings being achieved.

disclaimer- this is my view on what I have found so far and if you dont like it that's ok. Thanks to Action sports for the lend of the NEO and thanks to Bonny from the Ocean rodeo team for the rides on the Roam. Thanks for reading and resisting spell checking my review lol

Thank you Andre, what about the Neo SLS bar pressure compared to a regular NEO?
My impression is that it has increased significantly.

SaveTheWhales said..

mikesids said..
For the life of me I have no idea what you are on about ! Horses and carts ? Is it an OR slag off ?

Lets put it simply because you pretend to have no idea why your on a 3 strut kite - because of its light Aluula weight and performance is better than a 5 strut or other brands heavier material kites.
Thats called Research and Development - the same reason we dont use 2 line bars anymore.

If "ANY" brand including Ocean Rodeo develops a great performing Aluula 1 strut kite - it will make your heavy 3 strut obsolete.
Technology is a wonderful thing isnt it

Old thread I know .. just on single strut Aluula concept .. don't think they need to reduce weight further with single strut. Current 10m 12m roams 3 struts stay in the air in wind so light you don't have the power to actually get up on foil .. so power is the limiting factor, not whether kite is flyable.