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Rider: Weight,Level (beginner,intermediate,advanced)
Style: Freeriding, Surf, Wake, Freestyle
Weather: ?-? knots
Build Quality: ?/10
Satisfaction: ?/10
Disclosure: (e.g. work at a shop/team rider etc)
My Comments: Just like to get some feed back from riders who use the FUSE:
Likes/dislikes, sizes used (sweetest size), conditions/style you use it in and any tweaks you made to make it better. Anything valuable really.
Even ex riders and why you changed.
owned 2011 7m and 9m fuses for 6 months, had flown converts,rebels, an evo and a Jekyll before hand and now have a quiver of vegas's having passed on my fuses to my younger brother.
they are an amazing kite to progress on capable of everything bar unhooked freestyle (never got around to unhooking in the surf) but yeah competent in the waves for sure and dialing in those hooked rolls n transitions. Heaps of depower, predictable and stable enough to learn on but in the hands of the wicked can be a powerfull tool to generate smiles.
wing tip has 2 setting, further forward for less reactive wave/free ride, further back for reactive high jumping. I used the faster on the 9 and the slower on the 7 and that brought the 2 sizes closer together (using the same size bar) making it hard to pick the favorite of the two. Being 75kg i enjoyed winds from 15-22 on the 9 and 22-30 on the 7, these things have a massive bottom end but can get scary when really overpowered.
kite drifts well down the lines (their are better kites for surfers who want to just surf the wave but for kiters who want to kite the wave the fuse is nible and fun and relaunch is a sinch) 100% flag out depower can take a little while to fully initiate.. and be sure to pump it firm as the bridle is long and inverting is easy (not a session ender like 5th line though!).
Boosting is off the hook, nothing generates apparent power like the fuse it screams to 12 sending you skyward with enough feeling to get you home safe (never tried looping it but i would recommend only for the experienced..)
its north so kite build quality is A-1 and the bar should last you a couple of hard seasons, dingle dangle cleat can be annoying and depower is sensitive and hard to find a sweet spot.
compared to the rebel it feels punchier and a little more fluttery but believe the hype they are VErY similiar. compared to the vagas it is user friendly and "sheet and go" as north put it (i.e get out there and just have fun). I gave them to my bro due to our hand me down money saver scheme and instantly regretted it, although i wanted to steer more towards the unhooked freestyle kite riding it took at least 3 solid sessions to get use to the vega's 'bad manner' i.e heavy bar, slow relaunch, no bottom end, inability to edge.
I now understand this was due to how awesome the fuse was.. dont get me wrong i love my vegas's now i understand them but the fuse does literally everything better except unhook (p.s you can try practice the fundamentals of unhooking on the fuse, but finding an edge will send you into orbit)
meh, there is probably more i could say but thats a bit to get you started :)
I ride surfboards strapped & strapless & had Fuses last season, demoed the 9m and really liked it so got a 10 & 7m. Never really enjoyed the 10, I got it to be my light wind kite...I found it turned too slow and stalled easily especially in light wind - the kite just felt too heavy in the air for the light stuff.
When there was some wind - most times on the 10, I felt overpowered.
The 7m is a great kite, if you like riding powered all the time.
I sold the Fuses & got Reo,s, which are the right kite for me ATM but every now and then I do miss the boost-ability of the Fuse.
Rider: Weight 88kg ,Level intermediate
Style: Freeriding, Surf, Freestyle
Weather: 15-33knots
Build Quality: 9/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: work at a shop/team rider
I have had the 2011 and now have the 2012 Fuses.
I ride a 10/7 quiver. At 88kg the 10 gets me out in 15 to 25 knots and the 7 kicks in at around 23 to 32 knots.
I like the simplicity of the fuse, it boosts big. Even in the 10m size its pretty agile and probably the sweet spot size, although I love the 7m, because of the added speed when you send it in high winds.
They sit slight further back in the window compared to the rebel (pretty much same kite but 5 line), and IMHO go upwind slightly better.
They are just a good all round kite, with good boosting ability.
North for 2012 tweaked the strut and batten placements so they have virtually no flutter.
Good freeride kite and worth a demo!
@ toppleover, after about 4 weeks the lines need adjusting, the centre lines will stretch ( same as all kites), but the knots under the bar floats allow the steering lines to be lengthened and brought back into trim.
Thanks for the tip toddls, but nothing to do with line stretch - the Fuse and I just did not gel, especially while riding strapless.
I agree that they are a good freeride kite that boost's well, but just not for me.