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Rider: Weight 90kg,
Level: Intermediate
Style: Surf
Weather: ?-? knots
Build Quality: 8/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: Not affiliated
My Comments:
I have been meaning to do a review for a while now but only been able to rid the kite a handful of times.
I have the previous years 9m model but I hear the 2012 model is a bit more tuned up for better performance.
i use the kite purely for wave riding, used it in the WA surf comp. up at Wedge a couple of weeks ago and anybody who was up there knows how marginal the wind was. At the wave comp it was an option to go for more "Surf specifc" 12m kite or the 9m Ego, tired the the 12m delta kite and failed teribly - it was too slow and felt like a truck.
I changed to the 9m on my subsequent heats and found that even though the kite was smaller I was able to generate enough power to get me out and enjoy my sessions. The wide wingtips make the kite stable in the air without hindenburging in light conditons and in addition the wider tips make the kite turn a helluva lot faster than my delta kites. Once going the kite wants to keep on flying faster forward which I really like in a kite.
Feeling wise, the kite has two options - depower and c kite feel, the depower I would say is around 90% and the c-kite is vary much like c kites feel ( I have not flown a c kite in quite a while so cannot recall the feeling).
Bar pressure i would say is medium to lightish and turn quick.
Relaunch is about the same as any modern kite, maybe a little slower than deltas due to the square tips but I have had no issues as yet.
Construction I cannot fault, it has dacron in the right places and they managed to keep the weight down without any loss in quality. My model strut bumper guards are a bit dated in aeshetics but function well and keeps the weight down. I hear the newer model has molded bumpers etc.
If you are in the market for a new kite thats design is at least 2 years ahead of other companies with the "square tip design" i.e Reo's etc. have a crack at one, you may just like it.
Cheers
Rich
Wont be long now hope to demo late this week, will post my limited knowledge review after.
Bit tired of reading the Fluid guys glowing reviews, cant wait to try them and i hope there right.
80kg
Intermediate/Adv
Style: (generally jumps and hammering around whatever you call that kind of style)on TT(Nobile) 99% of the time
Build: 10/10
Satisfaction:9/10(so far in conditions listed below)
Disclosure: Friends with the rep.(a spade is a spade though, for the purposes of this review no affiliation)
Cant fault the build all looks/feels solid, dacron tape on trailing edge, velcro hat over valve(keeps sand out), large deflate opening(quick deflation), they have paid attention to some little details which is good, minor things like the the flagging line sits in a u shaped cleat behind the de-power so no chance of it getting caught in there like similar systems which dont have this.
3 speed settings which i didnt really see the point of being an experienced rider, but for noobs might be handy, didnt check the actual effect of the setting had it set on fast
2 bridle settings, 1.c kite setting 2.de-power setting, this did have a minor effect on performance with c kite setting giving a bit more grunt
Flew the 10m on fri in 13-16knts i could hold ground and go upwind albiet sending the kite pretty much all the time, i expected this mostly, but the upwind performance was great considering the light conditions
Same kite in 15-21knts sat, didnt even think about de-power, was fairly lit at times, bar pressure is light and although conditions were not ideal(gusty) when under power can fly one handed, very stable, very responsive direct feel, i wouldnt say its very fast turning speed more like med/fast
Downsides would only be short bar throw, i just didnt like it, used to longer i suppose, your hands get used to the knobbly grip on the bar which is probably not necassary and feels weird at first, thats all i could find and i looked for negatives.
Did fly the 8 for about 10mins in 15-21 but was underpowered, again had no probs go upwind, as usual a bit quicker than the 10, changed to the 10 as above cos i wanted more power
All in all i rekon they have got it right
I would like to fly it more to understand the ideal conditions for the sizing and when i do i will add to the review, i feel the the info on Fluids website is about right from what i have flown.
A must try for anyone looking for a new kite and i think probably will suit most standards of riders
