Anyone have any experience on this kite? I ride a 12 m FS speed3; 10m and 8m Cabrinha Switchblades. Love to boost big and play in the waves. Looking for a new tube 12m for those days where I am not afraid to drop the kite in the surf (vs the foil) and can still have fun boosting. I am 195lbs. From what I have read it seems to be a sweet kite. Don't really have any places to demo this kite.

Thanks -

Tony

The Rebel is a better boost than the evo IMHO...

Forget the Evo. It is such a slow borring beginer kite. The Rebel is world class, and great for waves because it is fast. It will not pull you away from the waves like the Evo.
Morten

I haven't ridden the Rebel but I'm currently riding a 9m and 13m 2012 Evo quiver so I can tell you what I think about the Evo.
A little background about me: I've kited for about 3-4 years and before riding the Evo I've been riding Naish Cults and Naish Parks allthough they were great kites the Evo is the best of the three in my opinion.

3 words to describe the 2012 Evo:
*Powerfull
*Smooth
*Easy

Powerfull - Because it has a great lowend, I've ridden 14m and 15m kites that has had alot wors power than my 13m Evo. Plus the jump on the Evo is really good, it's easy to jump high with good hangtime and still come down with good control in the soft landings.
Smooth - I can also add "stable" together with smooth and super solid in the air. No backstalling, no flutter in the wintips or canopy just rock solid.
Easy - It took me about 20min to get really comfortable with the Evo. The feel you have for the kite is great and you are in control all the time. My 2:nd session on the Evo I was so comfortable that I tryed and succeded my first "backroll kiteloop" and 2 weeks later I had learned the "handplant kiteloop". The comment about it being slow I don't agree with, I learned my kiteloops on the 13m before I did it on the 9m, on a scale from 1-10 in speed I would say 7.

The reason why I think it's so powerfull and stable is because it sits back in the window a bit, towards the power zone. And that on the other hand doens't make it the best upwind kite on the market, that is propably the only negative thing I can say about the Evo. But to clarify it's not a bad upwind kite it's just not as good as I would guess maby the Rebel or the Naish Park which I've ridden before.

I mainly just freeride and do oldschool freestyle. So the surf and wakestyle review of the kite I can't give you.

I would recommend the Evo to any of my friends, it's a fun kite that is easy to have a great time on

+1 on Purre
But i really dont miss a better upwinder kite!
Actually when people is riding 10-9's i can go on my 8 and wam surfboard easily upwind! And im not a skinny;) 85kg yeuhhh must go on a diet!
As some know i have a bussines working with evos, rebel and new neo's... Even that the neo its made for the waves i'll stick to evos much better all around kite! From beginner to advace, from freeride - oldstyle freestyle to waves!
And really well position on the second hand market!
It you are close to Tarifa at surfcentertarifa.com you can demo them for free!
Enjoy!

Thanks for all the feedback!

Hector - how do you see jumping potential for 2012 NEO versus EVO in 9 and 12meter sizes?

Evo better pop and hangtime! more bar feedback! For jumping Evo is the one!

I tried the 12m 2012 rebel and evo a few weeks back in the same conditions, 12-15kn. I still don't like the rebel because I find it slow and almost too stable, the 5th line also irritates me. The evo was much more exciting in its turning speed which I've always enjoyed in a kite. Rebel had slightly better hang time but Evo is very close. The evo tends to drift back a lot while in the air which is the only thing I didn't like. Both performed equally well on the waves and both loop very well. I found the Rebel did not have enough grunt for me, Evo had a bit more low end. I would choose the Evo, thank goodness there are so many kites out there, something for everyone. I've been flying switchblades and nomads for the past five years and demo-ing a different brand or two each year to see what they are all about.

Similar thread on KiteCrowd http://forum.kitecrowd.com/kitesurfing/rebel-evo-neo-fuse-202536.html

I particularly like Paulie_amoose's concise explanation of the differences b/w all of the North kites...

Neo - "Budget" 3 strut wave kite.
Rebel/Fuse - Flagship 4/5 line race/freeride kite.
Evo - All round delta kite

Not that hard to work out...

And the Vegas being the flagship C kite of course...