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Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:29 pm
by CNDKiter
I have been flying a 12m 3G Screamer for the last year. Great kite for jumping, poor for unhooked. Sure it has pop, any kite will give you pop if you load up correctly. I noticed an immediate difference when I tried a proper wakestyle kite. I am switching to SS RPM for this reason. The other downer for the Epic, is the bar and chicken loop. Besides the bar being low quality the loop is way to small for hooking back into. The actual chicken loop tube material is a smaller diameter then other brands and the small loop quickly get a kink in it leading to an oval shaped CL that is stupid for hooking back in. Since I'm ranting I'll also mention the Epic swivel does not work. It is much easier to follow every back roll with a front roll. Besides the bar quality the kites are built awesome, super durable. Obviously the hang time of the screamer is amazing also but my riding style is moving on.

I registered just to make this comment, I get annoyed when there are only + comments about kites and not realistic reviews.

I hope Dimitry will get the bars up to spec and make a more competitive open c kite instead of defaulting every one to the Judge.

Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:36 pm
by UKSurf
CNDKiter wrote:I registered just to make this comment, I get annoyed when there are only + comments about kites and not realistic reviews.
Alot of the people writing about this brand on here are directly linked to the brand. I am sure they are well designed and will suit some people, but they are not miles ahead of the other brands - as some people like to make out. For me personally I would stick to the larger brands who do more testing and R&D on their products. I cannot believe that the number of hours that goes into testing and developing Epic is the same as that which goes into Slingshot, Naish, BEST etc.

Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:35 pm
by L0KI
UKSurf - You can go from thread to thread and slag Epic kites, if that is your thing.
You've switched and buy mail order..now you're a "team rider" ...awesome.
.
People buy Epic kites for how they fly, not because of price.
Screamers are powerful SLE's and MONSTER jumpers.
Renegades are quick stable surf/all around kites that work great for gusty conditions and are beginner friendly.
Epic customers get personal customer service provided directly by the owner and his small group of employees.
That is something that doesn't happen with big companies.
.
Kite companies all have designers who are self taught, using the same software, and they all go through a very similar process to bring kites to market.
Testing kite performance is done in the air, not in a lab.
Build quality is based on what a company decides to spend on the kite (materials/reinforcements/sewing)
Every big kite company has put kites out that suck, definitely the three companies you mention.
RPM trailing edges are still failing, they've had five years to test/adjust the build of that kite!
If you don't like Epic for whatever reason, that is your personal choice.
But your negative comments, on three different threads, just read like another "team rider" with an ax to grind.

Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 9:35 pm
by UKSurf
Oldnbroken wrote:UKSurf - You can go from thread to thread and slag Epic kites, if that is your thing.
I think you are a bit over sensitive. I said they are probably well designed kites but no kite will suit everyone. I then said personally I prefer to buy from the bigger brands.

Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:05 pm
by L0KI
Read your post again, not what you said, you misquote yourself in each statement.
After your 37 posts in the Infinity BS Claim thread, your name does alert my defensive side.
Since you got your new account, you've spent over one third of your total 95 posts, in one Epic thread
.... and here you are making derogatory statements in another Epic thread!
Your agenda is fairly clear.
Wouldn't it be more useful to provide input in a thread about some gear you own? ...maybe not.
My wife will surely be thrilled to find out I'm sensitive now though! :thumb:

Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:46 pm
by Dimitri M
I was thinking a 12m screamer. I have a 9m renegade and an infinity. I weigh 165lbs. Do you guys think thats the right size to fill my quiver? Also, has anyone replaced the 3 ring on the front lines of the Xtend bar with a swivel attachment? I was looking at replacing it with naish's or SS's swivel. I say this because when I loop my kite or do rolls my front lines always twist and I can never untwist them from the chicken loop. Dumb idea or brilliant?
Hello ShredThaGnar,
I see you are getting a lot of help from all the kiters which is great. This is why we have forums like this one. Any way just wanted to share my thoughts about these 3 different type of models in order to help you choose your next kite.
The RENEGADE was designed for an all around kite. For me it is my wave kite. I use it only in the waves. But people love the RENEGADE because it's good for everything you want to do such as jumping, wave riding, poping, unhooking, wake style and so on....
The SCREAMER was designed for going big. If you are looking to do big jumps, big handle passes, big boards off, big kite loops then the SCREAMER is your kite of choice.
On the other hand the JUDGE is a different animal. It is good for wake style and also for wave riding + having fun in different type of conditions. It doesn't have the hang time that the RENEGADE has and not even close to the SCREAMER jumps and hang time.
Rocky Chatwell who is one of our well know wake style riders use to love the JUDGE but after spending a lot of time on the SCREAMER and came to love the SCREAMER more because of the wake style tricks he can do in one jump since he gets more time up in the air. But it is not as easy then using the JUDGE kite.
Also for example I was in Cabarete few weeks ago doing demos and opening an EPIC dealer. If you know Cabarete you'll know how many kiters can be in the water at one time. Any way one of the Cabarete kids asked me if he could demo the SCREAMER 12 that I was using after watching every body coming out with a smile. So he did. This guy was doing triple handle pass and was going off. People could not beleive it on the beach. On the first jump he landed on the beach because he was not use to the hang time of the SCREAMER compare to what he rides. So after 40 minutes he came out of the water and asked his friend to ask me if EPIC was looking for riders since his English was not great. That day he did not want to go back to his other kite company which I won't mention the name.
So again it depends what you are looking and what's your style. Me personally I would recommend for you to go with the RENEGADE 13 since you already use the Renegade models such as the Infinity and the R9. But if you are looking for the hang time machine then go with the SCREAMER 12.

Now concerning replacing the (3 rings) that are on the bar. You can customize your bar the way you want. And yes you can replace them with any other swivel in the market. But also our Swivel is bellow on the CL. Any way we are almost done with our new CL since we have been using some one else CL for the past 3 years while working on our own EPIC CHICKEN LOOP.

Re: Epic screamer questions

Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:15 pm
by Dimitri M
Poster: CNDKiter
I have been flying a 12m 3G Screamer for the last year. Great kite for jumping, poor for unhooked. Sure it has pop, any kite will give you pop if you load up correctly. I noticed an immediate difference when I tried a proper wakestyle kite. I am switching to SS RPM for this reason. The other downer for the Epic, is the bar and chicken loop. Besides the bar being low quality the loop is way to small for hooking back into. The actual chicken loop tube material is a smaller diameter then other brands and the small loop quickly get a kink in it leading to an oval shaped CL that is stupid for hooking back in. Since I'm ranting I'll also mention the Epic swivel does not work. It is much easier to follow every back roll with a front roll. Besides the bar quality the kites are built awesome, super durable. Obviously the hang time of the screamer is amazing also but my riding style is moving on.
I registered just to make this comment, I get annoyed when there are only + comments about kites and not realistic reviews.
I hope Dimitry will get the bars up to spec and make a more competitive open c kite instead of defaulting every one to the Judge.
Again we make sure that all our kites comes ready to use once you take it out of the bag and set it up for the first time. I never had a hard time unhooking the SCREAMER compare to the JUDGE or the RENEGADE. Some times if some one is using a SCREAMER or a RENEGADE or a JUDGE but on another bar then you will need to do some minor adjustments on the lines by moving it by 1 or 2 knots or by pulling the "Depower Strap". For example last time I was on some one's RENEGADE 11 kite (3G II) but the person had a 2010 XTEND EPIC bar on it. So I had to pull the depower strap in order to trim it to be able to unhook so the kite doesn't back stall. So in few words if you mix things up then you will need to do some minor adjustments on the lines or pull the "Depower Strap".
Now concerning the JUDGE kite it. It's very hard to please every one. I had a customer that used to ride RPM and he demoed the JUDGE 11 and loved it. So now he just bought a JUDGE 11 and he is looking for a used demo JUDGE 8 to replace his RPM SS kites.
So in few words Mr.ShredThaGnar, the best thing will be for you to demo the kites before you do your final decision. But I do think the RENEGADE 13 will be more appropriate for you riding style.

Concerning the CHICKEN LOOP. We are very close to release our own Chicken Loop. We have been working on this project since 2010 and had to borrow a CL from another kite company while working on our own. Also once again it is very hard to please everybody. Some people like the CL that we have now and some don't. Some people love to have the "Depower Strap" bellow where the CL is and some don't. Some people like to have a "Swivel" where the CL is and some rather have it where the (3 Rings) are. The (3 Rings) are not a swivel. Our "Swivel" is on the CL.
Any way check this video to get an idea of what's coming in May.


PROTOTYPE EPIC CHICKEN LOOP.