Hi Guys,

Thought I would write a review of my new Rhino 4 20M kite. This forum helped me a lot when deciding what to get for my big kite so I thought I woud share my feedback.

I have been riding for a about a year and a half now. I have been on mid aspect Airush kites until this recent purchase. I was under the impression from all my readings that medium to low aspect kites are better for gusts than high aspect. How wrong I was.

The Rhino 04 is such a well built kite and seems very durable. They did not miss any details on this kite that is for sure. The materials are top
notch as are the all the seams and other components. The pump with the metal shaft and pressure gauge is great. This takes out any of the guess work when inflating. Just pump it up to the prescribed PSI and you are done! On top of that deflation is super easy thanks to the deflator sticks.

Initially I thought these kites were heavy and would probably not fly well. It turned out to be the best flying kite I have ever flown. This kite just sits perfectly in the window when on shore and is extremely stable. On top of this there is less bar weight and it is easier to turn than my 16M!
It does actually feel kind of heavy when carrying it around on shore but once in the air it just sticks there... even in lulls of 6MPH or so. In gusts and lulls the kite adjusts position in the window nicely and power delivery to the rider remains smooth.

In terms of riding it is very easy to use. This kite just pulls you upwind if you want or lets you cruise effortlessly in light winds. I take this kite out in anything over 10MPH and less than say 17MPH. Below 10 I go downwind but I am on a small board.

basically I bought this kite so I could ride all those light wind days when no one is even out at the local spots. The only downside to this is I am having to teach folks how to launch me. I feel this is safer than self launching especially with a kite of this size.

I am glad to answer any questions you have about this big kite. So far I have had 3 sessions with it and I can not wait to take it out again. My only complaint is that the thing is tough to get back in the bag. It can be done but you really need a flat area with no wind or it will just drive you nuts. I just roll it up and leave it in the car out of the bag.

All for now

- Nick

I know this is no the Used gear section but I suspect if you were to look there you would find one of these great rhino 4 20m listed! - Thanks

Nick,

Today was my first day on this very same kite. I weight
195 lbs and the wind was at about 8-10 mph. I am riding the kite with a 2004 "Ocean Rodeo Punch-out" bar. I had some technical difficulties getting the lines at the correct distance as the kite did not like the lines at the same length. I had to reduce the rear lines about a foot, this helped, but I am not convinced that it feels quite right, even when using the power strap.

How do you have your lines set up? Same lengths or are they also different?

Thanks.

Gabe

hi gabe, i had the same problem. they recommend = lines at full power but setup like this the thing flys on the front lines so much it is hard to control and you get almost no power into it at full power. set your lines to that you can pull in about 2 inches past even on the back lines and it should be close. i have found that the sweet spot is just before the kite starts to slow down when you are powering it. once it slows you are just stalling it out... if it starts backing up you are way past.

just make sure that you always have some extra depowerability via the strap before trying to go out with it.

- nick

hi gabe,

one more thing... if you get it perfevctly dialed let me know the lengths you get and i will measure mine to see if we have a consensus. i have a 16M R4 as well and am curious if they like the same setup or not.

so, how do you like the kite?

- nick

Nick,

Lets keep in touch to exchange notes on the Rhino. You can email me at letsride2@cox.net.

I will get back to you on the line lengths. I think I have nearly dialed it in. I had a great day this past Sunday with 14-15 mph winds and gusts up to 19 mph. This kite is a upwind monster! Speed monster! Wind range monster! Have you water relaunched yet? I heard that it is nearly impossible. I will probably find out next weekend when I go down to Baja MX.

Late,

Gg

I have expirienced the same deal with my R4. I had the rhino 2 and I have tried different settings and honestly it doesn't fly even close like the R2. No power in less than 13 mph.

I am selling it to get a v4 20.

Cheers and best winds!

Rogere

really? i am riding great with this kite even when it lulls below 10mph. as long as gusts are over 11 i am good to go. weight could be a factor though... i am 175 on a 140CM HC board and i am definitely finessing it when in the low winds.

- nick

I have happily flown my R2 20 maybe fifty times last summer and now have ridden my RIV 20 about 3 times. The problem is that now that I have a Rhino IV 16 I don't need the 20 anymore. The 16 has 90% of the power of the RIV 20 but turns 5 times faster. When the wind is light I just use a big board and the 16 instead of my regular board and and the 20. I can do all kinds of tricks on the 16 while my friends can only barely jump on their 20s.