Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Foil Riders who have switched to LEI's

Forum for kitesurfers
pluvious
Medium Poster
Posts: 140
Joined: Tue Jun 18, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Postby pluvious » Mon Jul 28, 2003 3:51 pm

Props to PMU for at least taking the time to put his position down in a reasoned, articulate fashion. He may be an opinionated s.o.b. but a least he takes the trouble to make his case, albeit a case frought with suppositions, supperstition and plain FEAR! :)

Me, I've never flown inflatos. I'm an S and G arc guy all the way, and have never regretted it. In one and half seasons, I've learned faster, progressed faster, learned more tricks and boosted higher than most others I've know.

I've repaired my arcs exactly once in 1 1/2 seasons -- I had to apply some spinnaker tape to a 3 inch gash. Total time: 3 minutes. And I've botched more than a couple of launches and landings on account of my own stupidity, and the kites came through with flying colors.

Relaunch? A snap. Bridle tangles? Not a chance. Bladder problems? Only my Grandpa..

Just my 2c.

Fly what you like. Fly safe. Don't be a dick. Share the stoke.

User avatar
KiteGlider
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 829
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: NW Florida
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Postby KiteGlider » Mon Jul 28, 2003 4:33 pm

PAFF wrote: I have sail for 4 year`s now. I had 4 times i had to fiks my bladders...
Do you crash the kite on land?
:bye:
Hi Paff,
No crashing on land, just unlucky like I said. Normal use. Also the big Wipi 22.5m2 has a 43ft long bladder!
My friend's AB 8.4 has no problems for over 2 years, but he's finally getting split seams after VERY much use. He's riding an Aero 16 now.

My other friend flew the 11.5 FreeAir for over two years and always had a slow leak. Never tried to repair it, the kite was good for 3 hour sessions.
He sold it that way, told the guy, and that was fine, he just takes a break after 2 hours and adds some air.

Just luck of the draw, and gave me a bad experience. I'll grow out of it.
It's all good,
kg

Thatspec
Medium Poster
Posts: 64
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 4:38 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Gorge
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Postby Thatspec » Mon Jul 28, 2003 5:39 pm

It is really difficult to find those pinhole leaks in a bladder. Try a soapy water solution in a spray bottle. Also isolate a two foot area by twisting the bladder like a ballon in two spots. This will allow you two increase the pressure in the area you are searching.

Kiteglider, two years on a Wipika?! I guess it really comes down to hours of actual use. I only get out twice a week on average, four hours at a time, one launch, one landing, no water contact. After three months I'm doing a repair almost every session on an Airblast. Thats less than 100 hours of use. Bladder seams, areas around the attatchment points, tip material delam. Luckily the main bladder seam is holding well. The one time I did crash it, it tore clean in half right up to the main bladder. This was because of no reinforcement where the bladders attatch to the ripstop. once the bladder zippers off of there, it takes the ripstop with it. Yards of sticky tape later, it still works great. The Wipika guys were out the other day with demos. They look much better now but still some jellyfishing issues. I won't buy another. I will definately be looking at the RRDs. Have not seen any other kites with this kind of attention to detail in the construction.

Cheers, MT

User avatar
sq225917
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 8789
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2002 1:00 am
Kiting since: 1996
Local Beach: Cleethorpes, Hunstanton, Lytham
Gear: Eleveight and Flysurfer
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 8 times

Postby sq225917 » Mon Jul 28, 2003 7:07 pm

harks.


i made the switch from lei to flysurfer and then back again and i'll tell you what i thought. first off here's the order of kit.

wipika free air 7.1/8.9m
naish arx 11.5/13.5m
mast air 7/12m
warrior 7/12/16m
psycho 9/12m
f-one mach 1 15.1
fuel 2003 11/15m

going to foil from lei i found the kites faster to the edge of the window, less stable at the edge of the window, but much faster out of thr water and out of the car onto the water.

i never had any problems with any of my mast airs other than lines and pulleys wearing. never had to be rescued and never failed to relaunch the kite. and the 12m is the lowest wind kite i've ever used.still is.

the warriors were better kites, more depower much more stability and a little bit easier on the spine, the mast air 7m was a beast in 25mph. th ewarriors were also the easiest kite to relaunch i had tried, i never had one bridle twist, assymetric tuck that didn't undo itself with a quick shake. and the 16 m was nearly as good at the low end as the 12m mast air.

the psychos were a logical progression, stability didn't mean as much to me and the hangtime thing was more important than anything else. worht the stability price for the boost, and anyone who says these kites can be out hangtimed for a given height of jump is talking shit. i've flown and owned a lot of kites and nothing comes down as slow as one of these on full power.

had a brief debacle with the 9m titan proto. which i apologise to anyone who bought one on the strength of that reveiw. the serial kites were so different.

the got a mach one, which felt very simialr to the 12 psycho at the bar. the jumping timing was very similar and the hangtime was close-ish. but it was a total arse pain on the beach to pump up and put the lines on. and it still is every time i get a knot its a mare. i liked the mach one a lot but felt it lacking in upwards pull, it was too gentle after the psycho's so i went for something a little harder.

2003 fuels. i've continued to be impressed by the pull on these kites, the durability is top notch, if the safety was up to scratch it would be a brilliant package, as a shackle user this does not bother me. the fuel relaunch easily compared to the mach 1, but its still a total joke compared to the flysurfers.

so pros and cons.

flysurfer v's LEI's

set up
packdown
launch
relaunch in water
durability of material
range of adjustability
depower (psycho)
2nd hand value
hangtime
stability in shifting wind
modest kite skill
short depower
ease of adjustability of performance
simple jumping technique
permanant flotation
availability
jump height

if you want jump height and you have the skill try an lei, if you want faff free riding and none obselescence get a flysurfer. i went lei simply so i could let go of the bar mid jump and the dissapointment of the serial 9m titan. but i wouldn't switch back, yet, despite that pumping.

User avatar
Peter_Frank
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 12735
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2002 1:00 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Denmark
Has thanked: 1007 times
Been thanked: 1187 times

Postby Peter_Frank » Mon Jul 28, 2003 8:45 pm

Nice to see a relatively unbiased posting SQ !

They will always be biased by our "accidentally" experiences though :roll:

But your list does not say which type has pros, and which has cons ?

I would like to make a guess, at each list topic:

flysurfer v's LEI's

set up (foil)
packdown (LEI ?, or the same ?)
launch (foil)
relaunch in water (foil)
durability of material (???)
range of adjustability (???)
depower (psycho)
2nd hand value (???)
hangtime (LEI)
stability in shifting wind (LEI)
modest kite skill (LEI)
short depower (LEI)
ease of adjustability of performance (LEI)
simple jumping technique (LEI)
permanant flotation (LEI)
availability (LEI)
jump height (foil ?, or the same ?)


Regarding jump height I believe that foils can compete - although you seem to think LEI can jump higher ?

But I dont know what YOU meant about the other points ?


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ak200, alekbelia, alford, Bing [Bot], cglazier, droffats, elrizo, funalex, Google [Bot], knotwindy, Pitu, purdyd, suisd12, Windigo1, Xtream, zegermans and 537 guests