What are the differences?
Which are the strength and weakneses of them?

The Rally is more fun! Faster, wider wind range & easier to jump.

The RPM has more street cred, though. So people will think you're more of a badass if you fly that one.


I'm just kidding. I actually haven't flown the 14M RPM, but I do love my 10 & 14 Rallys. Replacing my 6M though with a 7M RPM.

The Rally is going to much quicker through the window which will allow power to be generated easier then with the RPM. RPM is more park and ride... Which is great for riders looking for more passing the bar or just want to park the kite to unhook ride down a slope or barrel. The Rally can park but is much more comfortable hook-in and pivotal turning. In super light winds the Rally 14 will out perform the 14 RPM. Both relaunch well in light wind due to 3 strut design and large pocket profile in the wing tips to allow the kites to "pop of the wing tip," both reverse launch.

Both are sick kites for both snow and water and it really depends on what design you really want. Or mix your quiver up with some smaller RPM's and bigger Rally's or even the Turbine.

which do you think will be better for wave riding, Light cross/off wind, Head high , strapless 6` plain poly sorfboard.

Rally

interested in a 14m rally- but heavyweights on a 3 strut kite seems like trouble as far as crumpling the leading edge under load and fast turning it

I'm 180 lbs and love my Rally 14M. Have to be honest, on rare occassions the 2011 did do some funky things in unique situations (top end of kite, leaning full weight into it) but SS said they took care of it in 2012 and I haven't seen it since.

I was skeptical as I couldn't find a difference in the kites, but I have had my 2012s (pictured above) out in similar loaded up conditions and the canopy is rock solid for me. Even in 2011 the wingtip fold was a momentary event that didn't impact flying, although, didn't make you feel good.

Hope that helps. That 14M is great.

looking around the web for reviews on it ran across matt nuzzo's opinion from real's site and he addresses deforming leading edge

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Pros: Split Strut; Easy relaunch; Quick turning speed; One-Pump

Cons: Wing tips pinch under load; Stability is an issue when you slack the lines; 14m lacks low end

We got the Slingshot 2011 Rally in an 8, 10 and 14m about a month ago. Over the past month we have had the chance to test these kites in a lot of different conditions with a lot of different riders. This is what we found.

2011 Slingshot Rally Tech
The 2011 Rally is slating itself as an Open Delta C shaped kite in their crossover collection. This means that it has really swept back wing tips. It is a simple 3 strut design that looks like they brought back the Split Strut design. The canopy is sewn into two spots on to the strut, that makes it really strong. The bridle system is very very simple with few attachment points and a direct connect trailing edge bridle attachment point. This will allow you to move the trailing edge attachment for increasing or decreasing turning speed.

The bar is the same bar at the 2010 RPM Comp Stick. They are clearly marked on the bar with bar length and line length. The big the bar gets the longer the lines get. This is really nice for the larger sizes. The swivel on this kite is super beefed up too. I did have some sand jam it up on occasion, but it works most of the time.

How does the 2011 Rally ride?
The Rally felt like a faster turning Best Kahoona with not quite as much stability as the Kahoona. It has a light weight feel in your hands that adds to its quick turning. The Rally is stable within the range that you can push the bar, but once you go past that it falls out of the sky. I found this out when I slacked the lines coming down the face of a wave and the kite fell out of the sky. For the target rider this stability should not be an issue.

The power delivery was pretty smooth. It did not yank you out of your boards or leave you looking for more juice.

The main issue that we had with the Rally was that the wing tips pinched under a lot of load. I experienced this when I rode the kite in side off conditions. When I cranked the kite through the power zone the lower part of the wing tips collapsed between the two bridle attachment points. I had the kite pumped up rock hard too. We had the same experience with some 200+lbs beginners on the 14m too. This really kills the power of the kite and made it do some weird stuff before the kite could recover at the side of the wind window.

Again, that's the 2011.
Call and ask him about the 2012 he tested.
He'll probably sell you an RPM, though.

I think Matt is honest and a good guy.
I am pretty sure everything he says in a review is true.
Do remember though, his shop also is the exclusive BWS dealer in the mainland US.
He may feel BWS is the best surf kite he has, and the rally is most targeted to freeride.
But those rpms are nice, too...