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Hey,

can someone tell me the major disadvantages/advantages of a wave kite and/or the difference between a wave and a freeride kite?

So if you ride with your eyes closed, can you tell if you are riding a wave or a freeride kite?

thanks!

surf kite will drift well but wont have good upwind. has a lot of depower and tighter pivotal turning but not great jumping capabilities. surf kites sit deeper to the window where freeride rides closer to the edge. both should relaunch great

there are many types of surf kites that sacrifice one of these aspects to gain in another but thats a brief explanation based on a true drifting surf kite vs a standard freeride kites. there are some surfy freeride kites out there that sacrifice a little on the boost for better drift but most freekites i see now a days are generally geared for jumping, upwind, and windrange.

the main difference is power and drifting. When riding waves you want to kill the power ASAP and let the kite drift. The kite that can do all does not exist. For example I have a friend who is a kite teacher and has used Fone kites many years. He moved to a new place that is only down the line point waves. He had many discussion about kites. He now rides NEO only. One day he asked me how did you get to the take of zone so quick. We were on the water at the same time. Also he is a better kiter than me by far. My answer is the board vanguard tomo and the kite NEO. If you are not going to ride waves 80% of the time buy a surf kite. You want to jump , trick , etc and a few waves buy a free ride kite

thanks for the answer.

is the lack of up wind ability in combination with a directional board as bad as it is with a twintip board? i mean the up wind ability of directionals is by far better than the up wind ability of twintips.

At the moment im riding evos, and ive been ridden evos for many years and i have never felt the need to try something else. since two month i using a surfboard and it blows me away.. i like it 100x better, but im not sure if i need new kites to get the ultimate surf-feeling. I think the distribution is something around 70% freeride (strapless, waveboard - maybe a bit of freestyle) 30% wave.

vanille_pete wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:24 pm

thanks for the answer.

is the lack of up wind ability in combination with a directional board as bad as it is with a twintip board? i mean the up wind ability of directionals is by far better than the up wind ability of twintips.

At the moment im riding evos, and ive been ridden evos for many years and i have never felt the need to try something else. since two month i using a surfboard and it blows me away.. i like it 100x better, but im not sure if i need new kites to get the ultimate surf-feeling. I think the distribution is something around 70% freeride (strapless, waveboard - maybe a bit of freestyle) 30% wave.

Ive owned a ton of different surf kites and free ride alike. Its true most surf kites lack low end except the Neo,Pivot and Slash. Ive never jumped the Neo with a twin tip only a strapless surfboard but it feels like it would do the job. The Pivot and Slash are great at jumping and have a ton of low end. I hear a lot of people say the pivot has more power than the Slash but Ive flown them both side by side and found the Slash to have more low end. The Neo and the Slash drift way better than the pivot but the pivot is easier to land jumps with. It lets you down super soft. The Carbrinha drifters I had I couldn't get to jump to save my life but they do drift really good. If I wasn't so heavy and the top three I mentioned didn't exist I would consider the Reo or the SS Wave. Wave Kites are also great for beginners. The Naish Slash is my all time favorite kite to date. It does everything I need it to do and still has great low end and turns super fast ! Ive never ridden the Core surf kite but I hear its good too but also lacks power

There are plenty of wave/Freeride cross over kites out there which are awesome in the surf but also still perform well for boosting tbh I find them rocking up wind too.
Epic Renegade and Peter Lynn Swell are two such kites....both labled surf/freeride
I ride 90% of the time in the surf but do still like the occasional boosting freeride session too and both of these are awesome. We also use them in our busy school as they are both very stable, big wind range and super easy to relaunch

vanille_pete wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:24 pm

thanks for the answer.

is the lack of up wind ability in combination with a directional board as bad as it is with a twintip board? i mean the up wind ability of directionals is by far better than the up wind ability of twintips.

At the moment im riding evos, and ive been ridden evos for many years and i have never felt the need to try something else. since two month i using a surfboard and it blows me away.. i like it 100x better, but im not sure if i need new kites to get the ultimate surf-feeling. I think the distribution is something around 70% freeride (strapless, waveboard - maybe a bit of freestyle) 30% wave.

Just wait till you try a hydrofoil !!!!!!

From what I have ridden good wave kites are about depower,
depower quicker with less bar throw
drift way better when depowered
turn better when depowered

Great on a wave, almost useless freeriding
What you give up is mostly jumping ability, not really much difference upwind from the kites I have ridden. Maybe because of the board? but I don't think so.

Does your location have real waves? - do you see surfers before the wind picks up .
Do you want to surf waves with the kite?

If yes, you will absolutely benefit from a real wave kite due to the reason quoted by previous posters.

If not, you will not benefit much from a wave kite compared to a good all around freeride kite.

vanille_pete wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:24 pm

thanks for the answer.

is the lack of up wind ability in combination with a directional board as bad as it is with a twintip board? i mean the up wind ability of directionals is by far better than the up wind ability of twintips.

At the moment im riding evos, and ive been ridden evos for many years and i have never felt the need to try something else. since two month i using a surfboard and it blows me away.. i like it 100x better, but im not sure if i need new kites to get the ultimate surf-feeling. I think the distribution is something around 70% freeride (strapless, waveboard - maybe a bit of freestyle) 30% wave.

From yesterday's competition, yep, wave kites don't jump Of course it's the rider, but still, there are wave kites which jump well when powered and land quite softly.