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How much are old kites holding me back?!

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fernmanus
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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby fernmanus » Wed Feb 14, 2018 7:43 am

For your budget, you are much better off buying lightly used LEI’s. I fly both foils and Lei’s. The newer foils are terrific, but on your budget you are going to get a couple of ratty foils, whilst you could buy 2 nice used LEI’s.

KristianE86
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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby KristianE86 » Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:46 am

I learned to ride on a TT using psycho IIs, but now ride psycho III and speed II. Psycho II's do not have a mixer thus the depower is marginal. Last year I learned to foil mostly using a psycho III 8m, so it is definitely possible to progress using 2008 era foil kites. The 2008 era kites flysurfers have ring lines, which shrink. The most popular cure is just to remove the lines.

One thing that people have failed to mention is safety. The voodoo and psycho II have back line safety, which is less than ideal for high wind emergencies - particularly if you have little room to land. If you decide to stick with them or buy speed II, I suggest adding a 5th line yourself. I would never put anyone on an old foil kite with a back line safety. The speed II front line safety is OK safety wise, but the 5th line is preferable.

Another thing people fail to mention is longevity. If a foil kite sits in a dark and dry storage, I do not think anything happens to it, but if you buy an old tube kite, the bladders are guaranteed to be brittle. It is important to keep this in mind, if you plan on keeping the kites for a long time.

I got my psycho III 8m last year for EUR 181 (including shipping, bar and lines) on ebay.de. Everything was like new. After a handful of sessions the kite started to turn hard left by itself and I fixed that by comparing the mixer side by side. After a short while the problem returned and I had to repeat the process. The 3rd time, I tried to "over correct" the mixer and for now it seems to fly pretty straight, but I think you have to be ready for this kind of issues with all foil kites - just like you have to be ready to patch and replace bladders on LEIs. There is no perfect solution. Even if you are rich enough to have servants, you will have still have to use your time to bring the gear to people who you can pay to fix your issues. The best strategy is to be a girl and use your boyfriends kites.

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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby noel1983 » Wed Feb 14, 2018 11:27 am

Thanks all this is great info and recommendations for me to look into and research.

Turns like a truck....too true! Definitely true of the Psycho 2 17m I sold a little while ago. Got some ok money for it (£150).

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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby jakemoore » Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:46 pm

grigorib wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:51 am
Modern kites are shiny Cayennes and not only girls but also guys dig it. Safer, faster, predictable :)
My earliest Flysurfers were RookieII and Cool. About Voodoo period in history. Folks were still arguing back then that fixed-bridle on handles are superior. Holy crap all those could deliver some wild power....
The Pansh I just took delivery of is no Cayenne but fits OP's budget. I think I'd prefer to fly my old Psycho 2! But maybe I'm remembering the fun times that kite brought me with rose colored glasses. I still keep an F-Arc for on occasional trip down memory lane. I will have it long after the Pansh is gone.

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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby noel1983 » Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:15 pm

KristianE86 wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:46 am
One thing that people have failed to mention is safety. The voodoo and psycho II have back line safety, which is less than ideal for high wind emergencies - particularly if you have little room to land. If you decide to stick with them or buy speed II, I suggest adding a 5th line yourself. I would never put anyone on an old foil kite with a back line safety. The speed II front line safety is OK safety wise, but the 5th line is preferable.
I learnt in '99 in Fuerteventura on Wipika Classics, 2 lines, and I'm not sure there was any safety!! That said I'm all for being as safe as poss so appreciate the point entirely and the benefits of the newer tech for safety.
KristianE86 wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:46 am

Another thing people fail to mention is longevity. If a foil kite sits in a dark and dry storage, I do not think anything happens to it, but if you buy an old tube kite, the bladders are guaranteed to be brittle. It is important to keep this in mind, if you plan on keeping the kites for a long time.
Good point I hadn't considered, as you can see from my original post I keep my kites a long time!

KristianE86 wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:46 am
I got my psycho III 8m last year for EUR 181 (including shipping, bar and lines) on ebay.de. The best strategy is to be a girl and use your boyfriends kites.
Good shout on ebay.de I'll keep an eye on that!
KristianE86 wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 9:46 am
The best strategy is to be a girl and use your boyfriends kites.
Whilst technology and surgery can do amazing things these days I think that options out for me! :)

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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby noel1983 » Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:24 pm

jakemoore wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:46 pm
The Pansh I just took delivery of is no Cayenne but fits OP's budget. I think I'd prefer to fly my old Psycho 2! But maybe I'm remembering the fun times that kite brought me with rose colored glasses. I still keep an F-Arc for on occasional trip down memory lane. I will have it long after the Pansh is gone.
Hi Jake,
What's your thoughts on the Pansh? What size did you get? What is it that makes you remember the Psycho 2 being better?

Cheers

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Re: How much are old kites holding me back?!

Postby grigorib » Wed Feb 14, 2018 4:30 pm

jakemoore wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:46 pm
grigorib wrote:
Wed Feb 14, 2018 5:51 am
Modern kites are shiny Cayennes and not only girls but also guys dig it. Safer, faster, predictable :)
...
The Pansh I just took delivery of is no Cayenne but fits OP's budget.
...
I still keep an F-Arc for on occasional trip down memory lane. I will have it long after the Pansh is gone.
I’d compare Pansh to a garage assembled dirt bike. Can deliver power, needs bit of maintenance and tuning but it rides in hands of a good pilot.

The Peter Lynn ARCs are supercool
My S-ARC 630 and 13m Guerilla II are gone but I keep T-ARC 130. I thought of selling 16m Venom II but I realized I’d be tempted to buy a Charger II just for sake of possessing an ARC.
It’s fun to play on 2008 kite amongst folks who were told by their dealers that upgrading their kites from 2016 to 2017 model is “revolutionary and total redesign” :)

For OPs question - I’d find someone like John Elkins and spend a buck to get kites tuned and tested by him. Foils like this kind of care and it’ll be more pleasure to ride them afterwards. Maybe get a fifth line safety for real safety.


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