Postby pikovsg » Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:34 am
Here's a type of review you guys may have been waiting for.
I used and tested the 15m Ultra heavily for 3 months. Tested the kite in super light wind days and in multiple conditions vs. strutless BRM Cloud D 13.4, OR Flite 15, Epic 2018 Infinity, 2018 Mono 15m, Flysurfer 21m, Concept Air Pulsion 12m, and Neo 11m. I was super excited to try it, but ultimately sold all of the above kites and kept the Cloud 13.4 D and Infinity. (Infinity for twintipping in marginal conditions)
The Ultra a well built and balanced kite. But the BRM Cloud proved time and time again - it's better than almost everything the Ultra does. By a long shot. The Cloud is about 35% lighter which is just HUGE during marginal conditions. Ultra - 7.0lbs, BRM - 4.8lbs. The Cloud flies in 5 mile winds. The Ultra doesn't. That could pretty much be the end of the comparison right there.
Here are a few more details. Turning speed is significantly slower than BRM (and to some extent Infinity and OR Flite), but better than kites like Mono, Neo and foil kites. Power delivery at the peak of the window is great, power delivery at 3 and 9 o'clock is quite weak. The Ultra tends to fall out in light winds at the edge of the window. Drifting is decent, waves just ok, foiling just ok, foiling marginal conditions just barely ok. Somehow, even the durability of the leading edge and the canopy material is better on the Cloud. The two things Ultra does better is boosting and hangtime. But if you're just looking at boosting and hangtime, there are plenty of other better kites for that - Neo, Drifter, Infinity, etc. The strutted Cloud D is also not bad at boosting and hanging out in the air, losing about 15-20% turning speed and drift in the process, and gaining a bit of weight as well with the added strut.
Ultimately, the Ultra is a good kite and is a decent effort by Airush. Unfortunately, it's not the kite many of us have been eagerly waiting for. The Cloud D is that kite, in my opinion, and there's nothing else quite like it at the moment. I would go for the strutless or the strutted D.
Last edited by
pikovsg on Sun Apr 29, 2018 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.