2014 Zephyr vs Flite?

[heinzbush]

Cant comment on your particular question but does seem that the Zephyr is held up as the benchmark to compare other LW kites to...!

No, No and No... Zephyr lacks lowend, has been tested and reviewed tons of times, this is no secret! It doesn't mean it's a bad kite, but for best lowend steer away from the Zephyr!

[MACTNKA]

I think that sums it all up:) One last question.... When does the new OR line up come out?

[Westozzy]

Oh to add something slightly irrelevant (in my mind) I wasn't all that impressed with the OR bar all up, especially the material quick release mechanism. Seemed to take a fair bit of force to release...I'm not a fan anyway, but as I said relatively irrelelvant I'm sure it all works fine.(relative to the ozone megatron and north iron heart - we sat down with all three bars over a beer and played who can quick release the fastest...I know I know know wind right...)

You want a sub 12 kite, then the zephyr is out of the game I'm afraid. But its bloody good from there to 20.

[OceanAdventures]

Hey there, I made the video and yes...i know....i didn't really talk a lot about the features. point blank - the Flite is better in low end wind, Zeypher can be held down better in high wind. I ride the Flite and my friends ride the Zeypher, When it hits 15+ i put the Flite down and grab a LF Solo 12m or another 12/13m kite...when it hits 18/20+ they put the zeypher down and grab a 10m.

The Zeypher overall feels like a more "solid" kite, no pulleys great ozone construction and works well with apparent wind. The Flite feels lighter in your hands, does not back stall or hindenburg like other big kites do and feels more fun to me. The Zeypher runs on 27m lines and the Flite on 23m lines....OR should have put in easy attach extensions IMO to give it extra power.

The board is a big influence too, as well as current, weight ect ect.

we ride the 17m Flite and 17m Zeypher back to back a lot! and they are real close. We also sell the 17m CrazyFly Cruz which is not a crowd fav and the new heavy hitter 15.5m LF Solo (which I'm super stoked on and is real close to the zeypher).

It is all about what you are looking for...I would be willing to arrange a demo email me if you are interested.. AtlanticKiteboardingUSA@gmail.com also check out reviews on www.AtlanticKiteboarding.com (site under construction).

What video did you make I would love to see it?

Flite comes with 4m extensions which does add to the bottom end, we recommend you add them when you get your kite. The extensions are easy to add or remove and come in every Flite bag.

Flew the cruze, solid kite, still prefer the Flite. The OR bar is basic, but gets the job done and adds to it being $200-300 dollars cheaper than other kites in similar sizes.

OR doesn't have years so much, as that is said they will have a different graphic design later this year but the kite itself will not change so there will be no close outs as they sell pretty fast.

[ORSales]

The Zeypher runs on 27m lines and the Flite on 23m lines....OR should have put in easy attach extensions IMO to give it extra power

In fact - we do include 4m extensions with all of our Flite Kites. Open the bag and look inside the inside pocket of the bag. There should be a repair kit, spare parts and a set of 4x 4m line extensions.

Please let us know if you can't find yours and we will get them to you. We actually now ship the Flite with these extensions a bit better called out and a note explaining that we actually recommend that you add the extensions to your lines for best low end power.

I think that sums it all up:) One last question.... When does the new OR line up come out?

As mentioned above, we have gone to a "generational" approach to our kites as opposed to a "seasonal". We still release new kites each year but space the releases out to best work with our dealers to sell through what they have and avoid the otherwise very annoying habit of flooding the market with "clear outs"

We expect new Prodigy's this Sept 1 and new Flites this Nov 1. However, as per previous statements we are delighted with the Flite as is so expect only minor changes and yes - they are near impossible to keep in stock right now so not much opportunity for a deal.

Oh to add something slightly irrelevant (in my mind) I wasn't all that impressed with the OR bar all up, especially the material quick release mechanism. Seemed to take a fair bit of force to release.

I will openly admit that our bar is very basic. However, as XL mentioned it is also significantly less money than other bars on the market and makes the Flite a very good deal when compared.

The safety does actually eject very easily however so I am surprised by your observations... perhaps give it a go with a bit more wind. We designed the bar to be dead simple to operate and - more importantly - to reset when on the water. We also designed it with very loose tolerances to allow for sand to jam into the moving parts and for the safety to still work - a legit concern with some of the more "mechanical" designs out there. In fact, we even soaked it with water and froze it to make sure it would work snow kiting.

John Z ~ OR

[Westozzy]

Fair enough john, as I said I don't think it is a biggy and I agree,have you seen the price of bars this year!! Crazy!

[ORSales]

Fair enough john, as I said I don't think it is a biggy and I agree,have you seen the price of bars this year!! Crazy!

Yeah, bar prices are moving exponentially higher. You could probably write your PHD dissertation on the subject but it is largely a combination of increasing costs to produce things overseas; the ever increasing logistics issues with trade wars and tariffs coming back into vogue these days; the demand by consumers for a more "advanced" bar; and, the relatively small size of the market resulting in the mould costs for these complex parts needing to be amortized over a smaller number of overall products sold (compared to say - the ski & snowboard industry.)

Basically, kiteboarding consumers have (rightly) come to expect a high degree of 'spit and polish' on the products they buy but the market size has not grown significantly in the 5 or 6 years that this trend has emerged over. Meanwhile, during that time the cost of doing business with overseas production facilities has grown significantly.

Someone wise once said you'll never get rich working in the kiteboarding industry and I have to agree, but it has been incredibly rewarding in all other aspects!

[we]

The low ends on all the light wind kites are grossly over exaggerated. The low end of the 17m Flight with a 140 TT is probably 13mph to get up wind and 15 to have fun in the ocean. For lakes/shallow water, you might be able to subtract 2mph.

You probably can do 10-12 mph on a foil. I did not see a lot of difference on a Zephyr, Flite, Turbine, Edge, Velocity etc.

[adamj2281]

Quick note regarding the OR bar (Disclaimer: I've been riding OR for 4 years now.)

I'll agree it's a very basic bar, and have actually pointed out things that could be improved, however, I really enjoy the simplicity and have never had issues with the QR or the rollover. The bar gets the job done, and keeps costs down. A lot of the newer bars are over-complicating things and when I'm kiting, I want to not think about the bar at all.

Also, I really like the new above the bar trim , the cleat is very smooth and easy to use without a lot of dangling.

I will say I'd like a new swivel and some means of untangling the lines after a lot of spins. The other issue was wear on the depower line caused by the center insert, but it has been improved with the new bar.

[matth]

The low ends on all the light wind kites are grossly over exaggerated. The low end of the 17m Flight with a 140 TT is probably 13mph to get up wind and 15 to have fun in the ocean. For lakes/shallow water, you might be able to subtract 2mph.

You probably can do 10-12 mph on a foil. I did not see a lot of difference on a Zephyr, Flite, Turbine, Edge, Velocity etc.

Try a high performance light wind TT like a Wing or Cruiser PRO. You will drop that number by 2mph IMO.