... I can answer my own question now:
Rider: Weight 120 - 125 kg, Level (intermediate advanced)
Experience: 10 years
Style: Freeriding, Surf, Lazy Cruising
Weather: 10-15 knots
Water Conditions: Small onshore waves with chop and swell out back
Build Quality: 9/10
Satisfaction: 10/10
Disclosure: Pay for Gear
Board used: Airush Cypher 5'10" strapless and one front strap
My Comments:
I've been looking for a while for a replacement of my beloved 18m 2011 Dyno which I loved as it had all the performances I wanted from a kite, power and upwind being my favorite bits. I have tried a bunch of other kites and all nice but lacked the most important (to me) parts until I finally came across the 17m 2013 Dyno.
Construction is usual North quality and clearly lightly built kite but has re-enforcements where its needed. Time will tell if it stays togeather under me and my heavy weight but since it doesn't use alot of the light D2 material in the LE like the old 2011 Dyno, should be fine for me. An unusual thing though, the leading edge is dacron for most of the length but the last part from the end strut to tip is the light D2 material. I'd say they are trying to make the tips lighter without loosing the strength so therefore makes it turn quicker. The lighter the kite, the better it will fly but you don't want it too light as it'll break on you. Having only 5 struts was nice pumping up wise and being really skinny, took bugger all to pump up. My old 2011 Dyno was massive compared to the 2013 so even for a big kite was no big deal. The trailing edge has the same double layer canopy material, just like the Ozones in fact. The 2012 Dyno had a 2 inch strip of dacron but this is added weight. Zephyr and Edge has the same double layer canopy material with no dacron layer so I figured if its good enough for them, its good enough for the Dyno.
They have a new pump, really nice and a step up from the old plastic cheapies of old. Nice new guage too so much better than the old ones. Our tropical conditions makes the shaft heat up very quickly so would wear out the seal and gum up the shaft so the new ones seems to have a much better seal and didn't heat up as bad. I would guess this one is going to last longer. I usually have an electic pump but with this new girl, being easy I don't miss the electric pump. Time will tell so we'll see hey!
The kite came with the 2014 bar. First thing I notices was the middle was thicker and I guess its to make the depower rope hole bigger for less wear. The grip is nice too and with less fancy seams, the simple dimples makes it grippy and hopefully less prone to coming unglued and pealing. I even liked the red line across the whole bar to tell you if you have the bar back to front. Not that I change the bar width but it was so easy to click, spin and click back, on the fly adjustment, I did it just to see how easy it was. The 17m likes the wider setting by the way. Will experiment when its windy and I'm on my TT jumping, just to see.
This years Dyno is by far the best Dyno incarnation and although I haven't tried it with a TT as yet, I can feel it will work fine. On my first trial run the wind looked really light so went to grab my Sector but then at the last second decided to take my surfboard instead, just to see if I can push my personal envelope 'how low I can go' with this combination.
From first sweep and park, the immediate feel was it was much faster in the dive and static power developed instantly the moment I stopped the sine and just pulled the bar in. I felt in the same winds I would have to sine a little more had I been using a 19m Edge or the new Zephyr, the kite didn't have pure pull bar and go like the old 2011 Dyno, you still had to sine a little but not as much sining as you would with the Edge or Zephyr, in fact exactly in between the Ozones and old Dyno. There was also more bar feed back compared to the Edge but similar to the Zephyr which I liked alot. Not once did the kite feel like stalling, no matter how low the winds were. My old 2012 Dyno would stall at the drop of a hat and had to be riding fast to stop it from happening.
The next thing I noticed was I was going across the water very fast for the given lowish wind, in fact I had to put my front foot further forward on the board to keep it from bouncing around too much. For some reason I would usually put my front foot in a certain spot, and if riding fast I tuck my toes into the only strap I put on the board but with the 2013 Dyno riding faster, I had to keep the front foot further forward. I found I could ride fast and strapless easier than with other kites. Hard to put into words why.
Bar pressure is less than my old 2011 Dyno and similar to the Ozones which is a great thing when your feeling in a lazy cruisey mode. Being a direct feel like the Zephyr it was easy to feel without looking to know where the kite is and I could concentrate on looking for little waves to slash. Its not C kite directness but for a big light wind kite, it was good enough for me to forget I was on a big kite,,,,, very similar to the Zephyr actually. I find the Edge a little disconnected and only felt normal once your riding fast.
Power and upwind is clearly this kites forte. I would say it has the best upwind of any kite I have ever used in my kiting career,,, by far. When I flew the kite on the beach I parked it at 12, and to test if the kite would back down in really light winds, I pulled the bar all the way in, and bugga me the kite went forward not back. I thought the thing would over fly and hindenburg but it didn't. I had to stand side ways to see where it sat and check out the angle and man this thing flew sooooo far forward without falling, in fact I was sure it flew past the zenith and yet just sat there. Until I get a picture I can't say for sure but it looked like it from the pilots view, past the zenith. Anyway, it really flys forward so its the reason why you can charge upwind on this kite and just as important to me, doesn't stall when you pull the bar all the way in.
Power development gets better the faster you ride but not as dependant on speed as the Edge. The old Dyno 2011 you could ride super slow or super fast and power was more or less the same so the old Dyno suited TT as well as directionals having heaps of static pull. But the 2013 Dyno is inbetween and has just enough static pull that people like my missus who doesn't want massive power but also like to ride slower, still have plenty available. Sine a few times and get a heap of board speed with apparent wind and it starts to really pull, but again, not too much. Being heavy I don't mind being over loaded but alot of others don't. The bar felt lighter the more board speed I got which was similar to the old Dyno.
I ended up playing in the waves and although not as quick to turn as the new Zephyr, was close and coupled with the nice direct feel, the kite is really playful, not the full on race kite I was imagining before I actually used it. There was a guy out on a 17m Edge with a TT and I did a couple of tacks with him to see the differences in speed and maybe because I was on a directional, but I had heaps more speed on him on a reach or downwind and similar upwind, but to put it in perspective he is at least 50kg lighter than me too. If I used this kite on my big Sector V3 66, I felt like I would get warp speed for sure, it is a race kite after all.
I did a couple of size comparisons with a new Zephyr and even though they both have 17m written on them, the Dyno is clearly bigger. I will compare it with the 19m Edge later when I can but I would say the Dyno is closer to 18m in size. Doesn't matter what it says I suppose but I'm happy and its a great light wind kite and being agile, it's lots of fun too. I haven't tested the jumps yet or if it folds on me in hard turns/loading so I will test when I can.
Its a damn good kite so far and more time will tell if its the best kite for me so I'll come back and report again later but, so far so good!
cheers for now, Robbie
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