Eclipse thruster 12 (Honest Review)

[stompinggrounds]

Hey all,
Everyone will look at this post and think I am pimping, but this is an honest review. I am 165 lbs and i would consider myself and advanced rider. The wind was 15 knots steady with a lull around prolly 13. The waves varied but mostly 3-5 foot faces. I come from the flexifoil atoms, which to me is by far the best kite ever made.

Construction:

The construction on the kite is great, definitely not subpar, prolly a step below flexis and slingshots.The bag is great plenty of size, nice strap options, and it's extendable.

The bar:

To me the bar was great. The actual bar itself has different textures on either side so people can tell which side is the correct one also the bar has a large NO on the wrong side so for beginners this is a great feature. The actual bar is pretty thick. I come from the skinny grippy flexi bar which is awesome, so this bar seems to fat and soft for my liking, however i know this pleases some people. The depower strap is the classic pull pull which works flawlessly. The EZ lock is great for underpowered riding adjusting the stopper will have you litt in no time. It has other advantages that you will see later. Eclipse team rider Alex Fox has come up with a very cool use for the stopper. Some of the leashes that were sent out were defective, but dimitri sent me a beefed up brand new one instantly. I had it the next day, and so far no problems.

Flight:

Upwind i thought was actually better than my atoms. I felt a couple of time like i was trucking downwind, however it turned out i was well upwind of my previous tacks.

Speed was much better than my atom, it was extremely fast. Kiteloops became a joke. I could throw the loops as powered as i wanted knowing the kite would be fast enough to climb back to neutral allowing me to land like butter.

Stability was standard. I had heard from alot of people that it was a twitchy kite and i would have to watch it, but i was doing unhooked wake stuff, and found no problems. I do keep my hand up against my chiken loop line.

Feel:

Hopefully you guys will understand what i say when i talk about feel, its like bar feedback. The eclipse has very direct steering, and has an elasticy full feel that makes the kite feel very oft and relaxing in your hands. Great for beginners.

Boosting:

Im not a huge booster but i had been told that this is where this kite shines so i had to pull the trigger a couple of times. With the help of the kickers(waves) i felt like i pulled some 20 - 25 footers, in 15 knots on a 12 i thought that was pretty sick.

Overall:
I am very pleased, this kite is all i wanted and more. Speed, stability, and a good bosster to boot makes this kite great for the advanced freestyler, seasoned pro and even the beginner. A couple of small things the kite needs. I would love to see the kites have quality and build like a SS or flexi, and also one pump i feel needs to be an industry standard.
I will be pleased to answer any questions.

[Dimitri M]

Hello Stompinggrounds,
Thank you for your post and for your honesty about the kites.
What kites do you own? Do you have a NANO kite also?

All our 2008 kites will have ONE PUMP with the choice of SINGLE PUMP. We are working on making the ECLIPSE construction for 2008 way better then what we have now. This was our first year so because of all the input we have been getting you will see a big change on the quality of the kites and the graphics. The quality is going to be as good as the FLEXI kites so don't worry.
You can always get in touch with me at dimitri@eclipsekites.com if you have other ideas that you think might help us in the R&D of the kites and bars.
Once again thank you for your honesty.

P.S. Concerning the hang time do you think the THRUSTER had more hang time then your previous kite?

[KAWIKA]

Great reveiw! I have been flying the 12 since the first kites came out back in jan the thruster 12 is my favorite kite I have flown the 16 + 14 but still love the 12 even in light wind I can jump and get away with flying the 12 because the kite flys so fast I can make it generate its own wind and get planning on a 127.As for 08 I cant wait till the new thrusters are out I heard from eclipse that they are going to have a 8 thruster available I hope this kite is going to have the hang time the 12 does if so this kite is going to rock in 30+

[CameraGuy]

the 12 should come with a warning.


once you ride a Thruster it changes your riding and the way you look at kiting.
it might sound cheesey but the kite represents what advanced kiteboarding was missing.

i have been riding the 12m and the 16m for 2 months

I just off a 2 day quick trip to baja the wind was 11-14knots both days- 3 months ago i would have been beached the whole time bitching, moaning and walking upwind. The 16m teaches me 3 new tricks every time i fly it even crap conditions i'm able to pull stuff off and have big fun doing it.

the clam cleat thing rocks!

the 12m and 16m thurster will change your riding

[mykrowyre]

Something's fishy!

[Dimitri M]

We are almost done with the 2008 kites. You will be amazed of the quality and the way the 2008 ECLIPSE kites fly.
2007 was a very good year for us. We never expected to do so good the first year and I would like to thank the shops, riders and customers for all their support and involvement with the R&D. Because of all this you will be amazed with what is coming at the end of September.
This is a quick pick of the 2008 NANO 9.

[toyletbowl]

dimitri,

hope the trip to greece went well. looking forward to the 2008 kites.

can you explain a little more about one pump with the choice of single pump? do you mean riders can do it both ways on a kite, or buy it with one pump or buy it with standard pump? if it would be a choice, that would be cool to see how you did that with one kite.

one last request...please send some wind our way. lol

i know you have some pull above, right?

take care,

bob
http://www.kiteridersllc.com

[Dimitri M]

All our kites will have ONE PUMP with the option of removing it and use it as a single pump.
It is so hard to satisfy everybody. So the best thing to do was to put both ideas on the kite, and the customer can choice what to do.

[mykrowyre]

Have you done anything with the bar?

That was the only weak point of the gear that I saw...mostly the clam cleat.

Also, I heard that the lines are not all the same length on the bar... so the bar will not work with different brands without pigtails, and other bars will not work without pigtails.

Is that true, and is it the same on the new kites?

[Dimitri M]

Big changes on the bar and the lines and the safety. Once I have the final production I will post a picture. But yes everything is working very well and that is because of you.
Thank you.