There are a lot of really great kites out there right now. It’s not about what you ride, or even how you ride, it’s about having the stoke and sharing it. Well, I’m stoked so I thought I would share.
A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I decided that we wanted Flat, Bow, SLE style kites. I’ve been riding for a few years and, but my girlfriend is all new to kiting. So I did the research…sort-of… and this is that story.
I have heard a lot of discussion about SLEs and how they don’t perform as well as C kites. I hear stories about too much bar pressure, not enough bar pressure, pulleys, bridles, etc. I was concerned that I wouldn’t get as much out of an SLE as other style kites. But I was willing to give up a little on performance for safety and convenience.
I like to travel and I like to kite when I do, but I don’t like taking a huge quiver of kites with me, and possibly two different boards. With two of us kiting the amount of gear would be compounded. Being able to take fewer kites was a big bonus.
Safety was a big concern. I wanted the safest kites for my girlfriend to learn on. I considered buying her an SLE and buying myself a new C kite but I decided that I needed to be flying the same kite I was teaching her on.
With all of these reasons I was still concerned that SLE kites were going to be a fad, granted a big fad, but I didn’t want my new quiver to go the way of the pickle-fork (no offence to Jimmy).
Needless to say with all of these concerns, I didn’t want to break the bank, I wanted to find good kites, but I wasn’t planning to build the full quiver. Best to keep some cash in reserves to spend on next years next generation SLEs or one of the top of the line C kites.
I bought the latest Kiteboard magazine with the new kite reviews. I dog-eared all the pages on SLEs, and started comparing.
Some companies had these really long de-power straps with extra extenders, others had pulleys, some even had both. One company even had a bar with a bungee cable to help keep the bar pressure down. I read an article in a British mag about how SLEs are less efficient, and how they don’t jump as well. I started to rethink the whole SLE thing, but what is the alternative? 5th lines? No thanks, not my style.
The biggest complaints people made about SLEs is that they didn’t feel like their old C kite. Some of the kites could split the difference. There were hybrids out there that de-powered, gave more range, but would still feel more like a C. I wondered if the SLE kites could actually have more range.
So I made a list of the features I did want, and the ones I didn’t.
The first thing I noted that I really didn’t want was pulleys on the bar. They may be a good feature, but I really was concerned about bar pressure for learning. I also didn’t want a kit with bar pressure that was too light. I don’t tend to watch the kite as I ride, I want to be able to feel where the kite is in the sky.
I tried out a couple of kites that had reverse chicken bone’s that went on your bar hook, and really light bare pressure. I never new where the kite was, there was no real grunt, or torque, and I knew that wasn’t for me any more than the really heavy bar pressure with pulleys at the bar.
I was actually very disappointed with one all but excellent bar design. It had a dynamic line that went from the chicken loop, up through a ring or pulley and back down through a cam cleat. It was beautiful. An advanced rider could leash to the line on the other side of the cam cleat and if you let go, then the bar would go all the way up to the ring just as if there were no stopper. But there were two really big downsides, first there were pulleys on the bar. Second, I didn’t completely trust the tension fitting in the stopper. I wasn’t totally sure that the dynamic line would really travel through it if it were jammed up against the bar. A third issue was the wind range advertised for this kite.
I wanted a reliable de-power system that didn’t have a 5th line, or a bar that couldn’t spin. I really liked the idea of a dynamic de-power line with the control behind the bar, and the leash attached to this dynamic line. I realized that you could have a static stopper that did not need to be punched through some tension fitting if you had this kind of leaching system on an SLE kite.
I figured I could buy a similar bar or modify a bar to have this dynamic de-power leash system.
So my list of requirements became in no particular order:
• Relatively Inexpensive.
• Modern Kite construction with good quality design.
• No Pulleys, or 5th lines on the bar
• Bar pressure not too light or too strong.
• Large Wind Range for a very reduced quiver.
• Dynamic de-power leash system
I only found one kite that met all of these requirements, and in many ways out-performed my wildest expectations.
That kite was the Ocean Rodeo One.
Relatively Inexpensive:
The price is only slightly higher than the cheapest option.
Modern Kite construction with good quality design.
Ok no one pump on the One, but if you have it laid out with other major brands you wouldn’t think that the One was any less well constructed, in fact you might notice that it’s completely bomber.
No Pulleys or 5th line on the bar:
Nicely accomplished. Along with the simplest bridle system I can find on the market.
Bar pressure not too light or too strong:
The bar pressure of the Ocean Rodeo 9m I have flown was ever so slightly greater than that of your average high performance, high aspect ration C kite. It definitely was not too light., and the flying characteristics of the One, while much more sled like than a C, were not as exaggerated and twitchy as some other brands I have tried. The kite was very stable.
Large Wind Range for a very reduced quiver:
I put the 9m up in 8 -17knts averaging about 13. I’m about 72kg. I thought there would be no way I would have enough power for much but a down-winder on a Cabrinha lab rat 141. I was overwhelmed. Not only was I powered, I flew upwind. Jumping was not exactly the same as with my old C kites (and I’m no Wienman) but it was so easy, high gliding jumps with all the yank you off the water thrill.
Dynamic de-power leash system:
All of the necessary parts are there. All that was missing was a little ring on the dynamic line to hook the leash to. It was easy enough to add though. I also added a plastic stopper to help in pulling the line free of the cam cleat. It sure beats trying to fab the whole thing on my own.
By this time you probably think I am pimping this kite. You are right I am, but I don’t work for Ocean Rodeo, I am just really excited about the kite. The one thing I would like to see them do better is the bar.
You can’t beat the value!
Jan
. If this is true, should I cancel my order for a 12m ONE? I dont think I need a kite for lighter winds than 4m/s...