rider kiting for 12 years
Style: Freeriding, Surf,
Weather: 15to 26 knots
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure i buy my kites
My Comments:
anyone getting into kiting now is truly lucky. its a great sport and kites have come a long way from the 2 line beasts i started on.i upgrade my kites every couple of years and and have only bought kites i have demoed except for once (regreted that as didnt like the kite and sold it after 5 rides)ok now for the review north have really got it right i demoed the 2009 and 2010 and didnt like them but the 2011 is fantastic feeling is direct gone is the spongy feel of old turning is truly incredible the kite can be almost touchng the water and will climb back up with minimum input great for surfing when you over run the kite a bit . bottom end is great i have a 9m rrd obssession2010 and the rebel has just as much bottom end but turns better also cause it doesnt have any pulleys the throw is shorter which means you are more comfortable(as your not riding with arms stetched out ever)the pulleys do help in gusts though but ive been using the rebel in the easterlies in perth and havent had any dramas.you dont get something for nothing though so while the bottom end is great the top end suffers.They say 17 t0 36 knots but i have taken it out in gusts up to 26 knots and while i was comfortable i had it totally depowered granted i only weigh 72 kg and was on a surf board but i still think that taking this kite out in 36 knots would just be asking for trouble.better to change down.safety is great and is actually the reason i bought this kite. i ride alone mostly and being able to land solo is very important to me. always rode 5th line till the rrd and a dislocated shoulder and two broken fingers later i changed back nothing comes close to 5th line safety period.so all in all very happy with the kite so much so i just bought a 12 m but have only ridden it once so will post a review latter.thanks for the excellent service Darren.please note that this review is only my opinion some people might not like the way th rebel fies so please take the time to demo any kite before you buy.
