What are the pros and cons of the Nobile 555 (KITE) ?

[jordan_aryan]

we had in totall 4 warrantie cases on kites in our sale area (germany; netherlands, austria and switzerland)
its a rate way lower than 1 %

i dont know where captain c is living but its hard to believe what you say..

codpiece and I are in brazil, cumbuco. the 666's are dropping like fly's.

seeing that were in the middle of f*ckin nowhere, its easier to pay 20 reais and get it repaired, than have no kite for the remainder of your holiday and get a warranty.

[briansuntrax]

I was in Cumbuco and surounds recently for 8 weeks, kiting every day with 666 9.0 and 12.0 both of which behaved impecably. I did not hear of a single problem with Nobile kites during my visit - mind you I also didn't see too many other Nobile kites during that time - but lots of boards, must be the most popular board brand on the water!

Anyway this thread is about the 555.........

[droffats]

I thought I posted a complete review of the 555 12m on here somewhere...

Anyway, here is the short version.

Pros:

Fast turning
Very stable
no funky bad quirks
seems to be the best features of all other kites -- narrow struts (Ozone), kook proof connectors (Cab etc.), convertible one pump or not, luggage style bag (RRD), below the bar spinning flag out line (Slingy), moveable stopper (Best, etc.), complete color coded blidle lines (Cab., etc.), the list goes on....
Fulcrum release
I personally dig the molded chicky loop
the keeper locks into position and out of position for easy unhooking and not having to either cut the keeper off, or have it flopping around

Cons:
Nobile didn't lie about the size like many companies are now doing. A 12m really is a 12m. That leads to feeling like it isn't that powerful compared to some other companies so called 12m kite.
Not the most monsterous jumps -- not made to be a huge jumper, so don't expect the world's greatest air and hangtime.

As far as construction quality. It is among the top tier kite brands. No threads hanging out, etc. I don't know how one of these could tear down the middle as the star is sewn in, not screen printed. A tear down the middle would go through all those sewn seems. That seems very unlikely (the 555 and 666 both have the sewn in star).

-Droffats

[gdmb]

Thanks a lot guys you've all been really helpful

Shame about the hangtime though As that was the direction I was hoping to go in

[Oleg]

Shame about the hangtime though As that was the direction I was hoping to go in

Do not worry about jumps and hangtime! I am more than happy ...
Regarding hangtime, .....my favorite size is 555 16m.
Here some photos of 13 year-old boy and our local riders. (555 and NHP kites)

[Newbiediary]

minor quality issues irritate me and get me wanting to try the new 2009 to see if the managed to get over them otherwise no more nobile kites for me. 2008 were not up to standard with other brands IMO

I own a 12m and a 9m 555. Happy overall, but since they were not exactly cheap I would expect more of everything. The bar is the thing i hate the most. I've had better bars from 2006....

Kites have absolutely no low end. When others are on 9 and 7 's i'm still riding my 12m. So high end is very good. Maybe you need to choose kites one size bigger. if you are ok on a 9m from any other brand I guess you would need a 10m to replace it.

I would like to see more attention to detail from a brand like Nobile to be completely satisfied.

P.S. my 12m and 9m 555's are for sale.

[droffats]

Just shows how much is a matter of personal taste. My Nobile bars are my favorites. I use them on all of my other brands of kites.

As far as sizing, check out this pic. A 7m Omega side by side with a 9m NHP. Now, I know there are different ways of measuring kite size, but that can't account for all of this. This is why I think that Nobile (and Ozone) accurately size their kites and other brands understate. There is a sales incentive to understate sizes: "oh, this kite is so powerful for a 12m" etc.) Just like us fat Americans that now call a large shirt a medium because we don't want to admit to our selves how fat we are. But I digress.



-Droffats

[srrc]

You are right about sizing.
The thing is to be on the right size for you in the prevailing wind. Don't worry about what it says on the label. Or for that matter what sizes others are using.
My 12m 555 is quite quick through the air, so if I wave it about a bit it soon gets going and then 'cos it's aerodynamically good it stays going.
My previous 12m kite was a Cab SB2. That was very much a "park and ride" style power delivery, very different to the Nobile. A change of rider technique may be needed when changing from one kite to another in order to get the best of of the new one. Failure to appreciate this may result in disappointment.