Duotone Rebel 2019

[sarc]

"Lay pressure on the bar in a quick but gradual manner"
Great advice! I have the same experience with 2017 and earlier Rebels. If you just yank and fishpole it, it starts the turn too late and is even more gutless. I think since it's fairly high aspect the tips can stall if you initiate the turn too violently (I'm no aereodynamicist so I dunno). I do gutless loops because I'm old, fat ugly and decrepit but my technique is to turn the bar like a car steering wheel, outer hand pushing and inner hand pulling making sure that the outer back line never goes slack. Works fine for me.

[COOP]

Yep definitely agree with you teabagger, it's all about technique with the 5 line Rebels.
I've got the 2016 12mt and the 2017 10mt. I was timid with them originally and payed the price with some decent crashes which resulted in me bringing up my lunch. But you get the technique right by following it around it's not bad at all.
Front roll kite loops are my favourite ATM and on the 12mt it does it nicely.
The only time now I get a reality check is usually at the end of a sesh when I'm getting a bit tired and don't commit. Bang.....there goes lunch again.
The guys on the 2018 Rebels 9's and 11's loop them crazy good. They do loop a bit better than the older Rebels in a way of being a bit smoother and tend not to stall. The boys are doing very high powered backroll kiteloops and high jumps with a loop. I've used the 2018 11mt and I found it easier to loop than my Rebels.

[Miltsface]

Anyone have experience with both the new, 4 line Rebel, and the old Fuse, and if so, do they feel similar? I had a quiver of Fuses and loved them. Kinda wondering if they didn't use the last Fuse model as a starting point for the new Rebel.

[dracop]

The Rebel does a great job with kiteloops and powered kiteloops.

Megaloops on a newer Rebel is something I am working on atm in terms of a competition grade megaloop with a Rebel - I specifically mean bringing the kite to the same horizon level as the rider (so the rider as at the same height or altittude above the water) or even below the horizon (eg, the rider is vertically higher in altitude than the kite).

With really aggressive powered kiteloops the Rebel yanks but does not take your arms off like a Fuel for example. So far I am struggling to get the kite low enough to be considered a competition grade megaloop, I think the Adaptive Tip on the wingtips of the Rebel is what makes a megaloop tricky compared to other kites. I am trying to watch the megaloop vid but it does not load, more than anything I am curious what he did with the bar. Its too easy to get the kite to complete the loop and that means it is doing the full loop before it has enough time to dip to the horizon level. I can get the kite close to the horizon while doing a long darkslide, so that the kite is 1 foot (0.33 meters) above the water during the loop. Getting that same shape of loop in an aerial kiteloop has been difficult.

For learning kiteloops in general I think C kites and Open C kites are the easiest. Of all the C kites, the Torch is the gentlest because of that mini bridle attached to the semi-loaded fifth. The Fuel is a brute. Vegas can loop HARD if you know how to activate it. Once you get into proper megaloop territory (horizon or below), different kites will be easier or tougher depending on the design. Also, most pros train megaloops using short lines in the 18m-20m length, so watch out if you are attempting to learn megaloops on 24m lines. Using 12m lines makes it easier to megaloop but looks silly.

When discussing loops, alot of people are unfamiliar with the technical details of each of the terms, see below:

Definitions:
Heliloop - fishpoling the bar so the kite helicopters around 12 noon, creates a nice vertical uplift for gentle landings
Downloop - looping the kite forward in the same direction of travel as the kite rider was moving at start of the jump
Kiteloop (or uploop) - looping the kite using your backhand so the kite begins the kiteloop from the direction OPPOSITE of the direction you are moving in

Powered Kiteloop - beginning the kiteloop while still ascending upwards in your jump, giving the kite enormous energy to create a hard yank

Megaloop - creating a powered kiteloop so that the kite is at the same height or below the rider at the bottom of its loop, creating a massive horizontal yank, requires a secondary late loop to reposition the kite in front of the rider as the rider will pendulum swing under the kite other wise.

Late Loop - any time of loop whose main purpose is to reposition the kite in front of the rider due to the rider swinging underneath kite (pendulum effect). Once the kite overflies the rider, the lines go slack and the late loop is used to get the kite back into its normal position in front of the rider.

[dracop]

Found a better link to that vid:



He had two loops that could be discussed as potential megaloops, the first around 1:05 (which he crashed) and the other around 1:34 which he landed. The first one needed a late loop, looked to me like he just did not have the height to finish the LL prior to coming down, it looks like he is desperately trying to get the late loop when he hits the water.

The second one might not be quite at the horizon but he lands it nicely.

The rest of the attempts I would consider powered kiteloops for the most part.

Great video though and props to the rider!