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Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

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alexeyga
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby alexeyga » Mon May 13, 2013 12:02 am

Well, Today, during what I call - "Montreal's Best", I've been riding the Renegade 7 with a none-working trimmer, despite all the care I did put into it... Just check the wind-graph, I was there from ~12 to 15. The trimmer was kinda holding in the full-trimmed-in position, until getting hit by a big gust or a nice jump. And let me tell you - jumping was fun! Especially when the trimmer would release half-way through the jump by it-self... that's something to handle!!!

Got my fix, but no pleasure what so-ever... (no I'm not blaming the gear despite what i might look like....well, besides the tirmmer....) And I still think I need to start shopping for a Renegade 5 as the 7m is waaaaay too powerful for a "survival"-kite. Even at 205lbs.

Dimitri, I'll message you. Though I do have hard time believing that clamp-cleat trimmers are harder to trim. The problem these might have - is that they get over-twisted without a real front-line spinner. Which isn't a big problem with the below-the-bar depower like SS's or Naish's and with shorter setups like Ozone's and North's. Which is still easier to handle than a jammed-up with twisted strap strap-trimmers. Had one of these Today as well - no fun!!!!

A friend of mine suggested a trimmer from his older XXXXX-bar, so i'll look into it - will try to either salvage the whole thing or at least the plastic buckle. Otherwise I'm still open for suggestions. The trimmer is 11.5" eye to eye, or the 30" eye to to the Y-split's lower eye.
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Dimitri M
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Local Beach: I travel all over the world.
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Style: MY OWN STYLE :-)
Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.
SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.
Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby Dimitri M » Mon May 13, 2013 1:38 am

Hello alexeyga,
How many days a year do you kite in 30+++ mph? Because I don't think you should invest on a RENEGADE 5 if you plan to kite in these strong winds only few times a year. If you plan to kite in the waves with a surf board then yes you should invest on a RENEGADE 5 and a surf board. I use the RENEGADE 5 in the surf in 25 to 40+ mph. But I use the RENEGADE 7 with a twin tip in 35 to 50 mph same thing with the SCREAMER 7. Also some times just to test the limits I use the SCREAMER 10 LTD in 27 to 38 mph. The reason I think I am able to kite in these strong winds is because of the new CL + BAR I have been testing for the past 17 months. With the new 4G XTEND BARS you will be able to hold a bigger kite then normal because of the depower throw. Any way I am 178 lbs and yesterday I was able to kite on the SCREAMER 12 (4G) prototype in 26 to 33 mph with out using the "Depower Strap".
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alexeyga
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby alexeyga » Mon May 13, 2013 2:15 am

Good point Dimitri, price-wise I can't really justify the 5m... We don't get to ride 7m kites that often to begin with, yet alone anything smaller. In all honesty, 35-40knts on a 7m is just about the most wind i'd like to be riding in anyways, 30+ days that we get up here are rarely stable enough to be riding-worthy as in real life it looks more like 22-36, go handle that!

That being said, I can't help questioning a longer bar-throw. At 6'3" I'm already finding the trimmer on the current bar is sometimes hard to reach, so I can't even imagine shorter riders fighting with the newer one. What's the feedback so far? If it's a 2-hands operation, might just well turn over to the below-the-bar setup. Yeah - I know it's hard to satisfy everybody - all people have different preferences, background and experiences... As a mechanical designer i'm fighting these same "give or take" issues on a daily basis as well.

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Dimitri M
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Local Beach: I travel all over the world.
Favorite Beaches: So many to list....
Style: MY OWN STYLE :-)
Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.
SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.
Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.
Brand Affiliation: Owner of EPIC KITES
Location: OUTER BANKS (NC) USA. Owner of EPICKITES
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby Dimitri M » Mon May 13, 2013 3:53 am

I know what you mean but even my 10 year old son Cameron is able to reach the "Depower Strap". So I asked him how he was able to reach the straps!!! I was very impressed after he showed it to me. So we decided to make a video on how to reach the "Depower Strap" while you are kiting for people with short arms.
Check the video and you will get a better understanding.

Last edited by Dimitri M on Mon May 13, 2013 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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nikalaitzian
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby nikalaitzian » Mon May 13, 2013 11:57 am

alexeyga wrote:Change of topic. About a month ago my buddy who rides Epic gear returned from his trip to Venezuela complaining that the trimmer on his bar stopped working - it simply wasn't holding anymore. So we contacted Dimitri and got it replaced - no problem here, great and responsive support as we're used to with Dimitri.

That being said, Yesterday, during a very gusty session where I had to be in the trimmer at least twice on every tack, the damn thing has stopped working on my bar as well, and this bar has about 20-25 outings on it so far... :angryfire:

As such, I can probably get another replacement, which cures the symptoms for a while, but doesn't solve the problem altogether - which is a 2cents piece of plastic. So I'm looking for a more permanent solution and some input from these who's already replaced their trimmers with something else. Given the simplicity of the whole thing - it looks pretty straight forward. A simple clamp-cleat trimmer from Ozone, North or even F-One should be pretty easy to adopt without any extensive custom work.

For Today's sessions, which is promising to be just as gusty, i've roughed up the teeth on the plastic buckle with sandpaper and sprayed the strap with a hair-fixative to make it harder to slide - will see how it goes...

Feel free to share your thoughts and experience.
SOLUTION!!! just 5 bucks from any music shop :naughty: :naughty:
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Toby
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby Toby » Mon May 13, 2013 12:07 pm

love the shot with the guy looking up to you ! :thumb:

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Dimitri M
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Local Beach: I travel all over the world.
Favorite Beaches: So many to list....
Style: MY OWN STYLE :-)
Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.
SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.
Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.
Brand Affiliation: Owner of EPIC KITES
Location: OUTER BANKS (NC) USA. Owner of EPICKITES
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby Dimitri M » Mon May 13, 2013 12:54 pm

On another note a lot of people have been asking me how old my son Cameron was when I started teaching him how to kite? Well... he was still in diapers. Any way, these photos might give you an idea of the progression of how I was able to teach him how to kite in order to share the same passion with me. Again please be careful and don't put your child in danger. Make sure the environment is safe to teach your child + use the proper equipment for kids. And please be safe.
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Cameroon Pumping1.jpg
Cameron with NEw Kte board.jpg
Cameron geting pulled by Trainer kite.jpg
Cameron still in diapers.jpg
Cameron on Dad back.jpg
Cameron and Dimitri draging hands at sunset.jpg
Cameron and Dad.JPG
DSC_0011 1.jpg
Cameron on S7 (4G) prototype.jpg
Cameron in ocean.jpg
Cameron unhooking kite loop.jpg
Dad showing how to venture in the waves.jpg
Cameron with Dad.jpg
Cameron strapless.jpg
DSC_0008 1.jpg
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DSCN5563.jpg
DSC_0496.jpg

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alexeyga
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby alexeyga » Mon May 13, 2013 1:26 pm

Dimitri M wrote:I know what you mean but even my 10 year old son Cameron is able to reach the "Depower Strap". So I asked him how he was able to reach the straps!!! I was very impressed after he showed it to me. So we decided to make a video on how to reach the "Depower Strap" while you are kiting for people with short arms.
Check the video and you will get a better understanding.

Well, like i've said, if it would require an average Joe both hands to operate the trimmer - which it does, you might just as well pull the plug on the whole thing and go for the below-the bar trimmer, while dropping all the gunk above the bar along the way. The bar will end up a lot cleaner, simpler and cheaper to make this way, while retaining the super-long bar-throw. You will also save your-self the hassle of having to forward all unhappy customers to the above-mentioned video. It doesn't matter if a 10-years-old can operate the thing under ideal conditions, what matters - is that if an average noob can reach and adjust the trimmer while being hit by a 15kts gust, while getting dragged downwind and while trying to keep the kite under control all at once.

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Dj A-Ron
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Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby Dj A-Ron » Mon May 13, 2013 1:28 pm

Cameron getting him and I arrested...
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User avatar
Dimitri M
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4785
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 1:00 am
Local Beach: I travel all over the world.
Favorite Beaches: So many to list....
Style: MY OWN STYLE :-)
Gear: SCREAMER 7/9/12/14 for Free Style. Not to forget the SCREAMER 10 LTD for my one go kite.
SURF 8 & 12 for the waves. RENEGADE 6.5 and 9 for all around kiting. And some times I use my son's JUNIOR PRO 4 when it blows 45+ for the waves.
Just try the EPICKITES and you will see for yourself.
Brand Affiliation: Owner of EPIC KITES
Location: OUTER BANKS (NC) USA. Owner of EPICKITES
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 14 times
Contact:

Re: Epic Kites 3rd Generation. 3G II

Postby Dimitri M » Mon May 13, 2013 3:53 pm

alexeyga,
Its very hard to please every body. But once again you will see that maybe only 2% of the kiters would like to have the Depower bellow the bar, which is nothing to make a change. So in few words most of the kiters don't like the depower strap bellow the bar. Too much line hanging around plus can get very dangerous. The best depower is above the bar so every thing is clean bellow in case you need to release the CL. Also with our new 4G XTEND BARS you will be able to customize it and make the lines shorter by making a new knot and moving everything down. So every body is happy. Or you can always get the JUNIOR PRO XTEND BAR.
:thumb:


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