Average Joe Kite Review- Light wind kites

[Flysurf77]

Core XR3 19
Pull (10)
Depower (6)
Tricks (8) Plenty of pop, and hang time from sent jumps. Not as prone to stalling out when looping unhooked, but the chicken loop is to small and becomes a struggle to hook in every time.
Upwind ability (8)
Bar pressure (9) very small bar with light pressure that still keeps you informed of where the kite is!
Turn speed (8) Unbelievable turn speed for the bar pressure and size
Other thoughts: Still a great kite and the gold standard.

If I were going to buy one today it would be the Ocean Rodeo Flight 2 (because of the value)
If I could have taken any kite home with me for free it would have been the Contra

My take on this kite as a non average ...75 days on that kite...@ 130 hrs
I ride on standard 24m lines (w/o 3m ext.)....weight 165lbs....kite always in tune..7.25 psi LE
Surfboards only w/ either the Nug 2013 or Whip 2011 5'5" .....TT's are wayyyyyyy gone

Pull (9)....Depower (9)....Tricks (8)....Upwind ability (9)....Bar pressure (8).....Turn speed (9)
Looping ability (10) Wave riding (9) Pumping speed (10)...Deflating speed (10)

That kite with it's short bridle requires to be flown with back lines as loose as possible
I loosened to the max by adjusting under the bar floats
Do not put on superfast setting on wingtip...fast is perfect..+ it helps to sheet out kite more with bar

Top end is truly 18kn and still in control of kite even at my light weight and a surfboard (strapped)

Using the standard lines while flying is great
Adding 3m. ext only gives longer dive stroke to permit heavyweights to get on a plane
A kite that big ends up a bit too low in the window on long lines when wind picks up

Thank you Ocean Adventures

SupaEZ,
What means ´´Pumping speed (10)´´? Is there different ways of pumping kites?
I would think it would come from how much effort YOU put to inflate the kite, but does this special kite inflates faster!!!?
Thanks

[SupaEZ]

SupaEZ,
What means ´´Pumping speed (10)´´? Is there different ways of pumping kites?
I would think it would come from how much effort YOU put to inflate the kite, but does this special kite inflates faster!!!? Thanks

My time and effort it takes with Bravo hand pump from North Kiteboarding...kite pumps fast + ez

2 way pump....counting full downstrokes...88 needed for 7.25 psi....and it takes @ 70 seconds

Even more impressive is the deflate

That 19 XR3 kite can be rolled up so fast ....wingtips to center...
....with air still remaining in those 5 struts ( not clipped of course)
...then folded in 3 trailing edge to LE.....the air in kite shoots out immediately to zero.....amazing !!

@ 50 seconds

This beats by a long shot the time it takes for getting the air out of a 21 Flysurfer ..(when i had one)
...a 21 SP only make you gain the low end of 6-7kn compare to my Core low end of 7-8kn

[knot_moving]

I was one of the reviewers. I've been riding for a few years but I'm not that good. I weigh right at 200 pounds & for the very lightwind day I was riding Jimmy Lewis flight deck. I've spent most of the last year learning to be semi-competent riding sector v2. I only ride about 20 days a year.
In my view all 4 are really outstanding kites -LW has really progressed in last 4 yrs.
OR Flite had lightest feel and my perception is they would launch in lightest winds. Turbine feels a little heavier - not just bar pressure but kite struggles a kittle trying to launch in very light winds. Didn't notice this one way or the other on the Contra.
The flights seem to fly the most forward in the wind window I could stay the best upland on the flight also the flight would turn really fast and I could easily loop the kite whenchanging directions. The flight was not the fastest terms of my speed on the board I think I had the highest speed on either the Core or the Contra - they were both very close to each other.
I relaunched both the flight and the Contra both relaunched normally really easy in light winds. I watch the others relaunching both Core and the turban they seem to roll right up on the wingtip relaunches.
I really liked the simplicity of tge Core bar - except! It doesn't have a push away quick relear so I can't recommend it. The flight bar is outstanding. The Contra barn is good I'm really not a huge fan of their trend system but it works. I HATE HARE HATE the Turbine bar - first of all the swivel is crap and will corrode and lock up after about three months of use (and is a pain in the ass replace ) secondly the below the bar trim system as the wind get comes up is extremely difficult to use. I toik me a weekend & $80 in parts to convert my bar to an above the bar 4 to 1 trim system.
One concluding comment is that these kites were really fun across the really broad range of users from the semi-competent to Roger who's been riding since they had two line kites back in the dark ages of kite boarding.

Now how bout someone get together a broad range of riders & surfboards & do a similar thing??

[knot_moving]

Sorry about the spelling I did most of this voice texting it's not quite perfect yet

[SupaEZ]

Sorry about the spelling I did most of this voice texting it's not quite perfect yet

knot a problem....nicely done voice report ...knothing 2B sorry about

[UKSurf]

I think you should do some more reviews. It definitely made me interested in the Ocean Rodeo kite - which is not a brand I have thought about before. One thing that always makes me cautious about kite reviews is the bias. To be fair you might have a bias towards the kites you stock although you came across as a reasonable sort of chap in the video and I think if you thought a particular kite company was making the best lightwind kite you would want to stock it. I would have also liked to see the VarialX race, Fat Lady and Nitro 3 in the test (although I think the Switch kite might be harder for a shop owner to be totally unbiased on).

I do honestly think Dmitri needs to comment in this thread about the situation regarding the Epic Infinity in this test, this is not good publicity.

[OceanAdventures]

I think you should do some more reviews. It definitely made me interested in the Ocean Rodeo kite - which is not a brand I have thought about before. One thing that always makes me cautious about kite reviews is the bias. To be fair you might have a bias towards the kites you stock although you came across as a reasonable sort of chap in the video and I think if you thought a particular kite company was making the best lightwind kite you would want to stock it. I would have also liked to see the VarialX race, Fat Lady and Nitro 3 in the test (although I think the Switch kite might be harder for a shop owner to be totally unbiased on).

I do honestly think Dmitri needs to comment in this thread about the situation regarding the Epic Infinity in this test, this is not good publicity.

Thank you for the compliment on the reviews. All the kites we reviewed are ones we carry, one big reason we were very impartial.

Our next big review I think will be on race kite high aspect styles.

Switch is a kite in good conscious I cannot review. As much as I would like to think I could be impartial, a companies that seems to want to bypass and hurt local shops who are the ones doing the most work putting kites in people's hands, such as Switch and Best, are companies I don't think I can be impartial about.

People running shops are not doing it to be millionaires, just trying to make a living doing something we all enjoy.

Support your local shop!

[UKSurf]

Thank you for the compliment on the reviews. All the kites we reviewed are ones we carry, one big reason we were very impartial.

Our next big review I think will be on race kite high aspect styles.

Switch is a kite in good conscious I cannot review. As much as I would like to think I could be impartial, a companies that seems to want to bypass and hurt local shops who are the ones doing the most work putting kites in people's hands, such as Switch and Best, are companies I don't think I can be impartial about.

People running shops are not doing it to be millionaires, just trying to make a living doing something we all enjoy.

Support your local shop!

I dont know if switch want to "hurt shops", they are really just providing their products by a different avenue. I think the people who damage shops trade are the people who provide the same products that shops sell via an alternative route, such as schools selling kites at a reduced price or brand reps. I dont know why you dont like Best though

[Dimitri M]

Hello guys
As you can see, XLKites has taken it upon themselves to conduct comparative tests of light
wind kites, and we applaud them for gathering these informations and video.
At the end of the video they made, you can see Mr.Curt talking about the INFINITY having problems for not flying correctly and what they had to do. So I'm anxious to receive the INFINITY back so I can see what the issue is and will be more than happy to provide a kite they can re-test. I stand behind all of our products we produce and I'm always willing to send demo kites around the world because I know their performance and I know what the INFINITY kite can do in light wind conditions. I'm sure once they re-test the INFINITY, they will be able to see it's true performance because of all the testimonials we have had in the past from magazines, kiters and team riders from other kite companies.
I've not been able to inspect the kite as of yet since I'm on my way back from our overseas factory ensuring that everything is as I expect, and that the Epic products have the quality that we've all come to enjoy.
Once I'm able to inspect the kite I'll provide feedback to you and the XLKites as to what the issue was with the INFINITY. If anyone has any questions or would like to test out and INFINITY for yourself and see what this kite is all about, always feel free to contact me at dimitri@epickites.com because that is the best way to decide if the kite is perfect for you.

P.S. Curt, Roger, Phil, Mike and Andy,
Once again thank you for your time and patience. Will check what 's wrong with the INFINITY this week and if I can't fix it, will send you guys a new one as soon as possible.

[alexeyga]

In light of the fact that some of you had a pleasure witnessing me really enjoying that Epic's quality that everybody come to enjoy... and in light of the fact that out of 5 kites tested 4 just flew straight out of the bag without question it would be interesting to see what kind of warranty is offered with these kites, so:

Epic: 3 months
Core: 6 months + another 6 months if you register the kite
Slingshot: 1 year
Ocean Rodeo: 1 year
Cabrinha: 1 year

To some that says a lot more about "quality" and these who don't live an windy areas should really do their homework before investing in gear.

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