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Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

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John Doe
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Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby John Doe » Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:56 am

Would like to solicit an unbiased review from someone on the Naish Pivot. I only ride waves, all kinds of waves. Looks like the Slash is the Naish wave-kite, but my thoughts are that the Pivot will go upwind better??? It's critical for me to have a kite that goes upwind easily. I know a lot of guys love them. The price is right on the 2017's right now. I currently have 2015 Gaastra Toxic which has been a great wave kite - goes up wind, very quick, lots of low end, decent drift etc.

Opinions from non team riders, non brand affiliated kiters appreciated:)

Dirk
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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby Dirk » Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:41 am

My opinion: If you only ride waves get the Slash. Going upwind is no issue at all. I now use the Slash at least in the small sizes as an all round kite riding a lot with a TT. I was surprised how good it jumps.
German Gleiten TV rates it as one of the best wave kites at the moment: https://gleiten.tv/index.php/video/acti ... /page/347/
Unfortunately it is all in German. They also state that going upwind is nothing you need to worry about.

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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby jonysan » Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:27 am

Hi John Doe,
Use Naish Pivots in 12m and 9m , I weight 76k, and use 12m from approx 11 kn to 21kn, 9m from 19kn -ish.
I use them with a surfboard/directional in waves from knee high to overhead, mostly onshore or cross onshore.
---
Basically put the kite in the air and forget about it ! incredibly stable, and drifts /stays in the air really well, which is important especially in onshore winds when it is easy to slacken the lines when carving off the top, or gybing in front of a wave, if I do mess it up, the Pivot seems to hang in the air long enough to "hook" the turn to tighten the lines, or with luck it drifts back and powers up again.

Going upwind, doesn't seem any problem at all, I ride a 5'8 F 0ne Mitu, and the combination goes up wind well, I also use it with an old Naish 5'2 Quad fin, that combination goes upwind like it's on rails, the board helps but the Pivot certainly doesn't hold it back.

Haven't tried the Slash, I get the feeling that I might gain a fraction more drift with the Slash, but lose somewhere else ?

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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby Bartolo » Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:04 pm

John Doe wrote:
Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:56 am
Would like to solicit an unbiased review from someone on the Naish Pivot. I only ride waves, all kinds of waves. Looks like the Slash is the Naish wave-kite, but my thoughts are that the Pivot will go upwind better??? It's critical for me to have a kite that goes upwind easily. I know a lot of guys love them. The price is right on the 2017's right now. I currently have 2015 Gaastra Toxic which has been a great wave kite - goes up wind, very quick, lots of low end, decent drift etc.

Opinions from non team riders, non brand affiliated kiters appreciated:)
I had the Pivots last year. Before I used a combo of Cabrinha Drifter for waves and Switchblades for jumping with TT. Because I wanted to try one allround kite instead I switched to the Pivots (2016). A number of people recommended the Pivot as a (very) good wavekite. After one season I have to say I don't agree. I liked the Pivot for TT riding. But certainly not for strapless waveriding. It's no fun when you are in gusting conditions (say more than 6 knots difference vs the avg windspeed) because the kite pulls so strong in the gusts you are being pulled of your board. In low winds the kite tends to stall a lot. And when you make a steep turn/ cutback where you have to send the kite thru the windwindow you have to always be aware of the yank the kite will give you after the turn. It is just not a very smooth turner. Drifting is so/so and you really have to keep attention on your kite so it won't fall out of the sky. Not all the time but it happens from time to time. When you had to send the kite thru the window it also didn't do so smoothly when it was not fully powered. It tends to slow down and almost stop in the middle, kind of hesitation and then bam! it increases it speed again.

Luckily I had kept the 5,5 m Drifter so when the wind was over 27 knots I could use it. Such a difference and delight!

Now, I am not meaning to say that the kite is absolutely bad, because it is not. I liked it for freeride/jumping and it may probably be more suitable when riding with straps especially regarding gusts. But my guess is that most people who advised the Pivot where stoked with Naish but didn t maybe use a real wave-kite before since Naish only launched the Slash after that. I think if you once have been riding real wave-kites you will be disappointed when switching to the Pivot. I also noticed a number of them on kiteforum are now advising the Slash themselves over the Pivot for waveriding.

I sold my Pivots and bought a set of Eleveight WS and I couldn't be more happy! Smooth, powerfull, fast steering, pivoting and drifting, never stalling, absolutely lovely.

I don't know about the Slash or it's upwind ability but I for sure wouldn't recommend the Pivot if waves are your only thing.

Dirk
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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby Dirk » Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:10 pm

I ride both and love both. Slash turns even faster, drifts extremely good, has very constant power while turning. Overall feels even smoother. Super stable in the air in rough conditions, but the Pivot is also good in this.
You loose a bit of the jumping abilities, I guess mainly hangtime if you use the kite as cross-over kite. As I wrote above the Slash still jumps pretty good. I was out with the 7m on Sunday in 25-35 knots on absolutely flat water. My kite buddy estimate the jumps at 8-9m. I don´t know, it felt really good, hangtime was decent and altogether something I did not expect from a wave specific kite.

Pellesurf
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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby Pellesurf » Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:26 pm

I both freeride and ride waves. I'm at Pivot since 2015 and really like them for freeride with TT. Unfortunately, I do not have so much experience of riding waves and have never ridden with a real wave kite, just with my Pivots. I ride strapless on Naish skater 5`9 and agree with Bartolo's description in part. I have never felt a problem with stall in low wind, and then I use my Pivots for hydrofoil in very low winds. The pivot has a very good ability for going upwind.
Pivot drift but not as good as a real wavekite, I think. There is an unpleasant slack in the lines and a feeling that the kite will fell down when riding with the waves, against the kite. I think that the power transmission in the pivotturns is soft and powerless, but gives much power after the turn.
The pivot is forward in the window, Slash seems to be a bit deeper. I experience that the Pivot as stable, even in gusty winds.
I do not think that Pivot is an optimal wave kite; there are better alternatives if you only want to ride waves. I have ordered a Slash 7a instead of my Pivot 7a, only to ride waves. Also ordered new Pivot 9 and 12 for TT freeride and HF.

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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby xray » Tue Nov 28, 2017 5:46 pm

Disagree on Bartolo
Own Pivot 5 and 8. I ride waves mainly and only above 45 knots strapped and that said the last time even strapless in those (gusty) conditions. The Pivot hardly ever pulls me of my board and if so it was mostly my own mistake. I ride it because of its versatility, it drifts more than decent in the waves but you can also jump it insanely, Kevin Langeree just had a 28m high jump on his Pivot 9. The low-end is where it stands out, 8m is my largest kite and even in 16-17 knots on a twin tip I'm having a blast. My 2 cents...

jonysan
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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby jonysan » Tue Nov 28, 2017 6:11 pm

Totally agree with you Xray, if the kite pulls you off your strapless board, it's not the kites fault, It's your riding.

I have a couple of Pivots, which are great, would like to change to 2018 Slash, in Yellow/Grey, reason, I like the colours, and people might think I am better than I am !!!

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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby ThickAir » Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:57 pm

Totally disagree w Bartolo and agree w Xray. I'm coming off Neos, probably the best wave kite in the world and Pivot is right there. If Naish's marketing department didn't tell you there was a better drifting kite, you'd never notice the difference. I've slacked the lines tons of times, bombing down a wave face, riding directly at my Pivots and never came close to getting one wet. As far as turning goes, Pivot is the best I've ever experienced - not surgy at all. You need lessons and practice, Bartolo.

John Doe
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Re: Pivot Unbaised Review. Good Kite For Surf?

Postby John Doe » Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:37 pm

Thanks to all that have chimed in. It helps to hear from real riders!


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