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Piq, Xensr or Woo?

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kiterocky
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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby kiterocky » Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:50 pm

swimmer wrote:
Tue Feb 20, 2018 12:30 pm
And you're thinking to 'measure' your jumps? I'm not being a 'downer' but for ~$300 invest in more time on kiting, and not 'gadgeting'.

The reason being is that I rarely check my height any more, it's like 'yeah whatever it says' after the sesh. The added value is actually low, once you pass the initial purchase excitement. Yes, I see my mates scores, but whatever, it means nothing because it does not say anything about:

STYLE

I do not think it will improve your jumping abilities either. Others might disagree..

:thumb: Totally agree.

It was fun for see jump hight the first several sessions but the excitement quickly wore off. I can see it being useful for some people but in my experience i became solely focused jumping high and chasing a big number rather than learning new tricks, improving my technique, style and having fun.

In addition these accelerometer based devices will produce many misreadings so i take any results with skepticism. Using only accelerometers to determine jump height will offer ball park values. There is probably a reason why Woo doesn't state any accuracy specs on their devices :lol:
Thats the point
:thumb:

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby Pemba » Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:25 pm

downunder wrote:
Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:21 am
^
Did Woo improved you? Really? How? Since you don't own one :)

That's like saying measuring a jump for a ski jumpers improved the jumping abilities ( still Olympic games?)

This is nothing personal, I'm just interested....
Should have put it a bit different, maybe like this. I have Xensr (but no apple watch) and Woo. It has stimulated and thereby increased the amount of jumping I do, so I assume it must have gotten better. But maybe not.

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby Sgallian » Tue Feb 20, 2018 7:52 pm

Was wondering myself about it...
So since we have to justify ourselves now when thinking about buying a gadget: wife wants to buy me something for birthday, but can't ask for an expensive new kite or board. Already got GoPro, harness, glasses, impact vest, helmet, well, all the noob's gadgets, since I've been kiting for a few years, but not consistently... So all that's missing is one of these devices... Am I allowed to even think about that, even if my STYLE is wayyyyy too awful to look at? ;p
Anyway, my 2 cents: since I can't even jump above 7m (I know because I tried the Trace...), I plan on working on that on my next trip, so I feel that one of these toys will allow me to see my progress as I try different timing, etc (but then, I may be delusional).
On paper, Xensr would be the way to go: GPS, so after session, you can replay where you did that sweet jump, and even see how the board moved in the space (well, supposedly...), and during the session, you can see immediately how was the jump you just did (with the aid of smartwatch)... BUT seeing all the problems with version 1 and 2, and the fact that they seem to have a ton of unsatisfied customers waiting for their replacement device for months now, you would indeed have to trust your golden luck to order one, if you even could do so. Looks like you cannot even order it in Europe, as distributors got fed up of being in the middle of the mess maybe... Really sad: for me it was really the way to go.
Trace: GPS check, jumps data, OK, but you have to wait the end of session to replay it (no direct feedback). Not many people using it.
Piq: now, this seems not too bad, you can see your last height... between your legs, and some are complaining that with water drops, not such an easy task. No GPS, community seems to be growing, best candidate maybe as of now.
Woo: no GPS, but most people using it, have to wait for end of session... There is this "freestyle" mode ( not for me yet: STYLE is lacking...) BUT, a single picture ( http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2397007) can make us wonder if we can expect an instant feedback (hopefully on android wear too), and since swartwatchs usually have GPS, we might even have a session map, like Xensr and Trace...
So here I am, waiting for someone to make the perfect gadget. Until then, I think I'm going to work on my STYLE without it...
On a side note, the Revl Arc seems like quite a let-down, and Quark not ready yet, so I may have to ask for a new pump, quite disapointing I must say, unless you have an idea? :)

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby Sun » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:09 pm

With the Apple Watch, you do not need a sensor. The watch is the sensor. Quite literally the only reason I purchased the watch. Made sense in my head: I can see the jump height instantaneously on my arm, with GPS track, with a free Xsenr app. And the watch only cost a little more than the plain dumb sensors. After using for a while I really like the watch for reasons other than kiteboarding. The heart rate sensor is particularly neat, and the pedometer feeds into my health insurance premium reduction program.

I have been careful to keep it under the sleeve of my wetsuit / rash guard when kiting. This should protect it from the direct water injection upon impact, and it keeps the heart rate sensor on my skin. When I want to see jump height, I just pull pack the sleeve and glance at the display. Works well enough.

I like the idea of a dedicated sensor on the board, but they just cost way too much for a tiny MEMS accelerometer, maybe a GPS receiver OR a display, and a battery. The watch has all those things plus a heart rate sensor, plus is useful outside of kite boarding, for about 50% more money. Was an easy decision to make at the time, and I support even more thoroughly now.

I would, however, prefer to be in the Woo ecosystem because more of my buddies have Woos. Meh.

I want to make it clear that I like the idea of a dedicated, purpose designed sensor for kite surfing. I would buy one if they were reasonably priced. However, given that there are options available in the market with MUCH MORE capability and are much more broadly useful, it seems like Woo, Piq, Trace, and Xsenr are just too expensive for what they do. I was very close to buying a Trace a few months ago, agonizing over the price a bit, and then I saw the Xsenr Sessions app on Apple Watch. Spending the extra money was not even painful at that point.

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby deniska » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:52 pm

While the standalone watch can work for jump height measurement in theory, on practice the task is way more complicated than in comparisons to "on the board" sensors.
Basically, the non-military GPS will not give you desired precision and using accelerometers attached to your hands - that will give you great randomization of results.
Can't wait for someone to try 2 watches (on both hands) and see how they do :-)

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby a99 » Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:53 pm

Impossible to right understand why the woo is most oopular despite that its most no live data sensor. Only ecosystem and attractive design of tops ? Or they were first in jump sensor market ? Why they cannot do live data on watch or display ?? We are living still in 21 century already not in 20, as woo seems from 20th century regarding absolutely indirect data metering.

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby maffhieu » Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:33 am

Woo 3.0 is coming very soon, maybe live data is coming too ?

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby downunder » Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:54 am

Well,

to be fair, I'm still waiting to read "how can a gadget improve your kiting?". Any gadget.

The only proper 'gadget' is a camera, which can tell you a lot. Also, let's not forget our kiting buddies. One buddy with a camera is worth 100(0) sessions with a gadget.

Have you all forgotten "an picture says more than 1000 words"? Why do you think all pros are heavily relying on videos! I recon Toby reviewed a million times his vids! No, he did not review a gadget results purely because they have no value as such. They are fun, don't get me wrong, but have no value.


Sorry, but after 2 years of using a gadget, I appreciate this: less is more. Less, as less things to worry about, maintain and care.

On this premises, buy whatever you want. However, I would be interested to hear the above answer after 200-400 sessions...

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby dylan* » Wed Feb 21, 2018 3:19 am

downunder wrote:
Wed Feb 21, 2018 2:54 am
Well,

to be fair, I'm still waiting to read "how can a gadget improve your kiting?". Any gadget.

The only proper 'gadget' is a camera, which can tell you a lot. Also, let's not forget our kiting buddies. One buddy with a camera is worth 100(0) sessions with a gadget.

Have you all forgotten "an picture says more than 1000 words"? Why do you think all pros are heavily relying on videos! I recon Toby reviewed a million times his vids! No, he did not review a gadget results purely because they have no value as such. They are fun, don't get me wrong, but have no value.


Sorry, but after 2 years of using a gadget, I appreciate this: less is more. Less, as less things to worry about, maintain and care.

On this premises, buy whatever you want. However, I would be interested to hear the above answer after 200-400 sessions...
its not really about improving your kiting, its just another toy to have fun. i bought a gps watch because foiling in circles was getting boring and it is neat to see the lines on a map and your top speed and stuff. it's cool to have your jump heights on a big boost day. just something else to play with to keep things interesting.. that said, i dont have a woo because the price is kind of silly for a toy (for me)

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Re: Piq, Xensr or Woo?

Postby downunder » Wed Feb 21, 2018 3:39 am

Ha ha,

but the posters claimed that it DID improve. Hence asking how, to clear the mud. As mentioned, I do not question a fun factor. It's fun read as well...
Last edited by downunder on Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:22 am, edited 1 time in total.


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