I know its a bit early but I just got an email from a mate of mine saying he has ridden the ION 2 in south Africa and said that it rocks "the best all rounder kite ever!" he was so stoked with it and had so many good things to say about it that I am thinking of changing my Atoms to Ions. But I love my Atoms allot so I wanna do a bit of checking around first before I rush in. So I want to know if anyone else has had the chance to ride one yet?? if so what did ya think??????
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=3303
Damo,
Flexifoil will be debuting the Ion2 in Australia at Kitestock, make sure you come along to be the first to try it!
www.kitestock.com
Damo,
More good news about the Ion 2. Can't announce it yet 
but keep an eye out on www.kitestock.com 
Brooksy
Keep an eye on Kiteboarder magazine due out in a week or two. It has some info on the Ion 2 in product news.
Hoping to have it available for sale before Kitestock!
Pics and review material I've seen of it look impressive and think it is going to be a smart choice to get hold of one.
Give me a call if you are interested in making sure you secure the first to arrive as I expect there is likely to be delays initially due to demand
quote:
Originally posted by kiterepublic
Keep an eye on Kiteboarder magazine due out in a week or two. It has some info on the Ion 2 in product news.
Hoping to have it available for sale before Kitestock!
Pics and review material I've seen of it look impressive and think it is going to be a smart choice to get hold of one.
Give me a call if you are interested in making sure you secure the first to arrive as I expect there is likely to be delays initially due to demand
I will be bringing three pre-production Flexifoil boards to kitestock, along with 8,5 and 10.5 Ion2s and 9, 12 & 15 Atoms and hopefully a Fusion 2 if I can squeeze it in.
Hope to see you all there.
Cheers
Matt
Photos of the ION2 in action.
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=3368
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=3369
www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=3370
whats the difference ion2 v atom??
i'm interested in wave riding, hooked in
no dingly-dangly stuff
check out http://flexifoil.com/company/newsitem.php?article_id=102171 for more details. The main benefit of the kite is the ability to change from four line to five line to suit the conditions and your syle of riding.
If you are just into wave riding then the atom may be just as good for you. Until I get to try the ION2 I can not really comment on the differences compared to the atom.
I will try to get some independant reviews posted after kitestock so you will have some more information.
Kitepower will have some of the first Ion2's soon, and we will have a 10.5 and 8.5 on demo, as soon as they land.
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve
hey bolgo, think i saw you down at city beach carpark the other day.
i have the rasta coloured atom. mate these things are great in the surf either hooked in or unhooked.
i have found no need whatsoever for a 5th line. there is so much depower and they are so stable that you dont have to worry bout a safety at all. i even took the mini 5th line safety off they have and just run suicide making it the simplest 4 line bar.
if ya see me agen and i am riggin up you can have a quick fly on the beach. or come see me at the comp on sat.
be interesting to read reviews on what is different in feel or power etc. only thing i would ask for is maybe a little more power thru turns but you learn to ride with them differently to c's.
thx caution
forecast aint looking good thou
really trying to find out if there was any difference
eg waroo v pro, switchblade v xbow
but ion v atom
Steve,
Have you had time to take it out for a test ride yet? Would be interested to hear a review and comparison with the other kites you have in your stable....
The Ion2's have arrived. I managed to put up the 10.5m in both 4 and 5 line setups. (it takes about 5-10 minutes to switch over) The wind was under 10 knots so not able to use it on the water (i'm too heavy for that) In the light wind the kite performed really well stable and fast turning. played around doing some beach jumps and downloops and a couple of depowered kiteloops all of which impressed me.
The attention to detail on the kite is amazing. I will post some photos tonight (hopefully). The bag has the instructions for converting between 4 and 5 line modes printed on it, along with reasonable size zip up pockets to put the unused bridles or fifth line in.
I will let the masses at kitestock decide on the performance of the kite as I'm sure that my opinion will be considered a bit biased. But I think it will definitely surprise some people.
Tried the Ion2 10.5m in both 4 and 5 line mode at Kitestock. Unfortunately I got pretty variable winds and managed to stand on a pesky little cobbler so I would have liked more time on the water, but...
The bar is awesome. The grip is a little hard on the hands but it hangs on no matter what! Apparently it gets softer with a bit of use, but I loved it. The bar is clean, simple, easy to use. No bullsh1t hanging off it, easy to use safety and so clean. Simpler than an SS bar, even the good old 04/05 SS bar.
Bar pressure was good, lighter than my 06 Vegas, but not too light. I liked it.
The kite was super smooth, very responsive and felt quick. I would have loved to have tried it in 25 instead of the variable 18 knots I got. It is incredibly well built with reinforcing everywhere you need it and none of it was excessive or seemed heavy. Flexi thought of great things like simple to remove bladders if you do damage one, little rigid bits of webbing over the trailing edge wing tip to stop line catching, simple instructions printed on the bag for the 4 to 5 line swap over, velcro to put the bridle safely away when packing up or on the beach to avoid catching on the kite, wear protection everywhere including light weight dacron in the canopy about an inch either side of each strut! Has to be the best built kite yet - looked tougher and more durable than the bench mark Slingy. They also have one way valves, one for filling and one for dumping, one pump system with strut isolation valves all covered up and out of the way.
4 line the jumps were big and floaty. It still ripped you off the water like a C but felt way more floaty, and more hang time. The depower loop throw was a little long for my stumpy arms, but can be adjusted by re-tieing the bowlines.
Still unsure about the amount of throw at the bar. The kite was tuned so that the bar was at the optimum position mid way on the rope, meaning you could over sheet it if you pulled in fully. But the wind was light, so the over-sheeting and stalling the kite may have been exaggerated. And to reduce this all you had to do was pull in on the depower and move the point of over sheeting further down towards the chicken loop.
5 line play time was cut short by the cobbler, but it felt good. Hopefully I'll get to play on an Ion2 again soon!
I loved it! Now to sell my kites...
What did everyone else think?
is the bar the same as the atom or have they adopted a larger, tapered hole simular to the norths? that was the only drawback i had with my atom, bar friction. removed the safety thing and ride suicide now, helps, but not quite there yet.
James
The Ion2 bar has the new bigger v-core hole (similar to the fusion2) which has pretty much solved that problem. I hope to have some of these bars available soon to offer as an upgrade for the atoms too.
i have ridden and i have liked DAMO IF YOU DONT GET THEM YOU ARE mad i had the 8.5 on 20m lines at safety bay on the 5 line setting by far the best kite i have ever flown after the liquid force mig but is still the best "bow" in my opinion
I believe you Kite Boy....I also like the 10.5m...now where is that kite?
Karve, is it still in Marg. River? I could take it back to Perth via Esperance....oh please tell me where that kite is.
I just bought a 10.5 rasta ion2 soo excited about getting it on the water...full review to com.
Our deom 10.5 has been taken over to Dolls by Col, for the demo day, I'll be there shortly with some other kites and boards.
let us know what you think SCI, another local rider who has an 8.5 is raving about his new Ion2
Cya and
Goodwinds
Steve
quote:
Originally posted by sci
I just bought a 10.5 rasta ion2 soo excited about getting it on the water...full review to com.
Flew my new Ion2 yesteday in Perth, frontal gusty wintery day and had a f@cking ball!
Only got the chance to ride it in 4 line mode but was stoked! Very smooth throu the air, comfortable bar pressure, very quick turning a lot like an 06 Vegas. Jumps were HUGE and hangtime was amazing! I haven't flown bows much, but this hangtime was incredible!
It handled the gusts amazingly well, and overall I was really impressed. Just need some decent conditions.
More info to come when I get my next session in!
I know what you mean Brooksy!!!!
I was on a 16.5m Ion2 yesterday in 13 - 25 knts and didn't even have to pull any depower on.
With my 130 kg wet and on a 145x40 or 130x40 board i was lit. I thought it turned a bit slow then I realised when i got back to the car that I had the short bar from the 10.5m with me. I can't wait to get it going on the right bar.
There is no wind because I bought a new 10.5M kite, oh well.
I have rigged 3X only, but so far so good.
Likes>
1. Plug and play in 4 or 5 line...it IS idiot proof, surprising such German precision coming from what I think is an English company.
2. 20 or 25 meters lines, the extentions are nice.
3. Bag is very well thought out.
4. All materials look top notch and construction spot on.
5. Simple bar set up.
6. Cam battons make it very smooth in the air.
7. Best commercial leash I have seen.
Dislikes>
1. It is not as easy to relaunch like a bow in light winds.
2. Think that the large chicken loop should not be an "etra."
