Armstrong XPS Wing release.

Got my hands on a 4.6 XPS yesterday. Now just need some wind. Feel nice and light. I'm stoked

Question:
I have a WMFG 4.0 pump maybe 3 years old. The connection on Armstrong is the bayonet mount. You can read the wing pressure at the bottom of the down stroke briefly. Same behavior as Slingshot I had before. With the F-One wings the pressure holds in the hose so it is easier to fine tune pressure.

Curious if the Armstrong Pumps hold pressure in the hose in between pumps?

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Foilnut said..
Got my hands on a 4.6 XPS yesterday. Now just need some wind. Feel nice and light. I'm stoked

Question:
I have a WMFG 4.0 pump maybe 3 years old. The connection on Armstrong is the bayonet mount. You can read the wing pressure at the bottom of the down stroke briefly. Same behavior as Slingshot I had before. With the F-One wings the pressure holds in the hose so it is easier to fine tune pressure.

Curious if the Armstrong Pumps hold pressure in the hose in between pumps?

Not sure if it's the same as my duotone but for me I replaced the pressure gauge per directions someone else posted - after that the gauge maintained reading better.

amazon - GAUGE Stainless Steel Liquid Filled Pressure, Back Mount 1/8" NPT, 1.5" FACE DIAL, WOG Rated (0-15 PSI) a.co/d/3NL3C51

Thanks for the comments. Did some testing ,the issue is the inside dia of the hose fitting onto the XPS wing. I tried a F-one pump and hose. No issue pressure held while pumping. The inside dia on the F-One was about 0.012" smaller. My F-One pump is old though so may get a new one.

Let me know any feedback on those with Armstrong pump and XPS wing ;O).

Finally had some wind and took my new 4.6m XPS out on the water yesterday. The wind was a bit lighter than I expected at 12 - 15 knots (gusting 22 knots) which is usually where I'd be choosing between a 5m or more likely a 6m sized wing for my weight (63 Kg). I've only flown one other wing brand (Takoon V2 3.5m/5m/6m) and would describe myself as a competent beginner-intermediate (gybes, foot swap, toeside, waves), but not tried jumping yet as more interested in wave riding.

The rigid handles on the new XPS and tight canopy meant that pumping felt really efficient and I was up flying no problem. Initially I felt the rigid handles were a bit too responsive, compared to my previous wings' soft handles, and I seemed to feel every gust of wind. I remember thinking at the time that perhaps rigid handles weren't for me! After an hour of getting used to the new XPS wing I began to enjoy it much more, it had a very intuitive feeling and almost perfect force distribution between front and rear hands when flying. Was out on the water for 2 hours and didn't really feel any more or less hand fatigue than compared to soft handles. Probably less tiring as the load was more even between both arms and the XPS wing can be flown with both arms outstretched in what feels like an efficient riding position due to the angle of the handles.

Gybes were better with the rigid handles as they were easy to grab and help to yank you round the turn. Flagging the wing out on the pillar of the front rigid handle was quite nice too. The XPS wing generally felt very light, almost weightless, and stable when flagged out.

On the downsides, I'm not convinced about the window though as it was only usable for me at my height (1m72) when the wing was flying quite low, with the wing tip almost touching the water. It was easier - or maybe I'm more used to - just lifting the wing up to see rather than moving it down to look through the window. There was only one other person out on the water at the time so I didn't have to look too often. I'd consider replacing the windows with standard canopy ripstop for a bit more longevity as the plastic does seem a bit weaker. My other wings have one-pump inflation which is quicker to inflate as I could attach a battery operated pump with auto cut-off and leave it going while doing something else. The bag is also a very tight fit and to get the wing in requires careful and tight rolling with all air squeezed out. Armie demonstrates how to do this in the video that was posted earlier.

So far I'm glad I made the purchase, albeit this was to replace an 18 month old 5m wing which has 50 sessions and over 100 hours usage so almost any new wing would feel great in comparison! I was also considering the F-One Strike V3 which is similarly priced, I'd be interested to know how it compares to the XPS.

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flightjunkie said..
What's up foilers.

I just got a 4.6m XPS. Weighed it with battens in and leash on and it was 5.419 lbs.

I was hoping for a 1/2 pound lighter.

looks good. Hope to try it out tomorrow. long time lurker, first time poster.


instagram.com/stories/flightjunkie808/3134104903327955815?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

I'm sure weight are given for all brands without leash, since it's something that is selected based on personal preference. Just like bicycle weight doesn't include pedals.

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MidAtlanticFoil said..
Yeah Flightjunkie! Nice review!!

Thx!

I'm a few sessions in, and it's a great wing. Plenty of low end and flags out great. And I love the handles and the tight canopy.
-Flightjunkie

Armstrong XPS review from Chris at Poseidon Watersports in the UK.

Got 4.6 and spend over 3h riding. I think hype is not just hype. This is amazing piece of art.

Canopy is tight and there was zero flutter. Tacking is very easy. This wing floats like it was clued to sky. I'm not a big fan of windows but from these you can easily see large area so at least they are just waste like in some wings. I'm not sure about bottom end, but I found this easy to pump on the foil and due to easy handling jibing and tacking was effortles even in lulls without dropping.

It took me an hour to get used to handles because of their square shape, which first felt strange but overall they are gentle for hands.

Only major problem is that now I want to change two other sizes to XPS

Anyone tried out the 6m? I've got a 4.8 PPC which is great for 15knts & above however I was thinking of a 6m for those lighter days. I'm hoping it can handle the odd gust & be able to spill some wind out if needed

Nuzzo cruising the 3.5M in solid 25-30knts. I'm riding the 3M OR.

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northy1 said..
Anyone ridden the Strike v3 vs the new XPS care to feedback? These 2 i think are the reference currently for flagging out / wave riding?
(i am ignoring Smik here as they are not seen in the UK)

I have both and if you're only looking at these two i'd probably give a very slight edge to the Armstrong on these 2 parameters.
You couldn't go wrong with either but the Armstrong feels slightly lighter and it's a lot cheaper.

That said, nighter hit home run for me and I'm going to sell both. At this point in time I think both companies are holding back.

The handles on both are inadequate compared with what's already available on the market imo and the newly designed Strike would
probably see the biggest performance boost with a proper hard handles. I might even keep it just to modify and test this.

The Armstrong feels cheap (materials wise) in comparison to the F-one and I suspect it will not hold as well.

I'm now looking at the new Ozone Flux for wave riding. That would be a comparison I'd like to read about.

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MokesMax said..

Foilnut said..
Got my hands on a 4.6 XPS yesterday. Now just need some wind. Feel nice and light. I'm stoked

Question:
I have a WMFG 4.0 pump maybe 3 years old. The connection on Armstrong is the bayonet mount. You can read the wing pressure at the bottom of the down stroke briefly. Same behavior as Slingshot I had before. With the F-One wings the pressure holds in the hose so it is easier to fine tune pressure.

Curious if the Armstrong Pumps hold pressure in the hose in between pumps?

Not sure if it's the same as my duotone but for me I replaced the pressure gauge per directions someone else posted - after that the gauge maintained reading better.

amazon - GAUGE Stainless Steel Liquid Filled Pressure, Back Mount 1/8" NPT, 1.5" FACE DIAL, WOG Rated (0-15 PSI) a.co/d/3NL3C51

I would NOT recommend that gauge!

It is cold temperature sensitive, mine became every inaccurate in the winter. The digital gauges I've used have been 99% accurate year around. www.amazon.com/Pressure-Connector-Protector-Uharbour-Accuracy/dp/B07CXMBXRP/ref=sr_1_4?crid=GEF1QFZRU3ES&keywords=digital+pressure+gauge+0-15+psi&qid=1689448118&sprefix=digital+pressure+gauge+0-15+psi%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-4

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burchas said..

northy1 said..
Anyone ridden the Strike v3 vs the new XPS care to feedback? These 2 i think are the reference currently for flagging out / wave riding?
(i am ignoring Smik here as they are not seen in the UK)

I have both and if you're only looking at these two i'd probably give a very slight edge to the Armstrong on these 2 parameters.
You couldn't go wrong with either but the Armstrong feels slightly lighter and it's a lot cheaper.

That said, nighter hit home run for me and I'm going to sell both. At this point in time I think both companies are holding back.

The handles on both are inadequate compared with what's already available on the market imo and the newly designed Strike would
probably see the biggest performance boost with a proper hard handles. I might even keep it just to modify and test this.

The Armstrong feels cheap (materials wise) in comparison to the F-one and I suspect it will not hold as well.

I'm now looking at the new Ozone Flux for wave riding. That would be a comparison I'd like to read about.

"feels cheap" and "suspect" it won't hold as well.


any other amazing subjective and predictive speculations to chuck in the mix ?

Just had the opportunity to run in an 8 race wing regatta over the weekend and ran the 4.6M XPS with the 725/935M/60F/140dart. Ended up getting 2nd out of 16 racers. The winger who got first was running a 7M Takoon and Lift 120 and was just a bit faster - and he was really strong to hold down that set-up! Wind was 15-20 knots and dropped off for the last two races, which hurt me.

The 4.6M felt great on the first 4 races (slalom), allowing me to hit 22.2mph and feel really comfortable. Lots of lead changes and fun ** talking with friends mid race, taking wind etc. Race committee may have missed some start violations, which is a bummer, as I know I had to come off foil on at least once to avoid a violation.

XPS feeling really comfortable pushing speeds to my max (not that fast compared to some on this forum). Next race, I'll probably size up my wing and maybe go smaller to the HA525 or MA625. I've been riding the 1750MA mostly lately, so it was fun to get on some small wings and push it!

I think the material and quality is really nice on the wings.

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northy1 said..

burchas said..

northy1 said..
Anyone ridden the Strike v3 vs the new XPS care to feedback? These 2 i think are the reference currently for flagging out / wave riding?
(i am ignoring Smik here as they are not seen in the UK)

That said, nighter hit home run for me and I'm going to sell both. At this point in time I think both companies are holding back.

Curious to ask what Wings do you rate higher / why?

PS
See F-One just released the new Swing v3 - i think for me that looks more appropriate than the Strike (and closer to the XPS) as its wave / luffing focused..i dont jump or race and i still keep hearing comments (anecdotal) about the new v3 strikes poor low end and tips hitting the water...im currently on strike v2s

The Armstrong is a better all around wing imo. Better at keeping me afloat and moving on a sinker in the lulls while hunting for gusts.
Transitions were more direct and smoother with superior pistol grip control. Both luff very well but the Strike trailed better when changing directions.

The thing with the V3 is that I have to be properly powered and very much in accordance to the company specs.
With the V2 I could get away with a full size smaller while floating around hunting for gusts, especially with on-shores.
With the Armstrong I could go more like half a size smaller than the V3. I was riding Yesterday with the 4.5 Strike v3 and the 4.6XPS.

If the Swing V3 is closer to the Strike V2 on the low end characteristics it might make a better comparison to the XPS.
Already sold the XPS now looking to sell my 4 and 4.5 V3 strikes. I don't jump or race either so no point.

for reference: I'm 90+kg average intermediate skills riding a 5'7.5" x 22" x 72L board and a 1050cm2 foil