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2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse)

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Robbylion
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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Robbylion » Sun Dec 08, 2013 2:09 pm

I had a couple of sessions on the 9 2014 Evo, with the 22m Quad bar. It was about 20-22 knots yesterday and 22-25 knots today, here are my impressions (70kg).

Note I've never ridden a Fuse, or even the 2013 Evo so I cannot compare. I only flew the 2014 Rebel recently.

Kite is grunty and powerful,
Light/Medium bar pressure on the kites's backline soft setting (moderate/high bar pressure on medium setting, no good for me)
Awesome upwind performance, kite moves forward in the window, really easy to point upwind with speed
Great lift (same as Rebel) and hangtime (a bit less than Rebel)
Reactive turning and pivot turning even when depowered
Fun note: it looks like a 3 strut kite (the 2 small struts, being so close from the tips, are hidden from the rider's perspective)

I still need to try it in 15-20 knots now, but I am not too worried.
All in all a great 4-line bridled freeride kite (I am not good enough to review the Freestyle capability of the kite :)).

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Robbylion » Mon Dec 23, 2013 9:29 am

Have anybody else demoed the new Evo, and interested to share their experience?

For me:
+ Great low end (I get the 9 out in sub-15 knots, for my 70kg)
+ Fast reactive turning
+ Good lift for jumps (but less than Rebel, and more difficult to load the board due to higher bar pressure during edging phase)

- Bar pressure at least medium (on soft setting) (that is a slight correction to my earlier post, I'd have liked a little lighter bar pressure) Maybe same as previous Evos?
- Kite needs trimming when the wind picks up

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby grey 2864 » Sat Jan 18, 2014 9:04 am

Hi have got a 7m and a 10m 2014 Evo , have been after a replacement for my Rebel as had enough five line issues over the years, have to say great bottom end and very stable top end considering it not a loaded 5 th
fly it on quad bar 24 m lines jumping and hangtime very good. but not as good as the rebel had a few sessions on the 7m in the uk squally storms of late , but only ridden the 10m once both under powered and over powered fly it on the middle rear pig tail , have to say bar pressure gets heavier the more powered up you get , might try the softer setting but will probably suffer poorer jumping performance which would be a shame .

overall I think for me the right choice felt very happy on it very quickly and a lot more grunty than the Dice but prefered the lighter bar pressure on the Dice , but they are very different kites and only wanted a two kite quiver and bottom end on the Dice was poor in my oppinon but deffinately comes a live at the top end :D

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Westozzy » Sun Jan 19, 2014 1:20 am

I keep hearing this. The bottom end of the dice is not poor. It may be poor for hooked in boosting of which the Evo is really made for. Use it for unhooked freestyle, or low water level powered Hooked in freestyle and wave riding then it is not poor by a measure of other kites designed for this purpose.

And yes I haven ridden the new Evo. Of course it has a better bottom end in terms of equivalent power for boosting. But it's atrocious in the waves, unhooks terribly and loops like shit.

They are not comparable nor equivalent kites and shouldn't be so.

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Pierrot » Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:13 am

Westozzy wrote: And yes I haven ridden the new Evo. Of course it has a better bottom end in terms of equivalent power for boosting. But it's atrocious in the waves, unhooks terribly and loops like shit.
.
Can you elaborate on :
"Atrocious in waves" (you mean like a rebel or worst?)
"Loops like shit"

Thanks
(I'm very interested in a 10m evo but have not tried it yet...)

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Westozzy » Sun Jan 19, 2014 3:54 am

Well it all depends, do you want functionality in the waves, whereby you will need to be attentive and adjust due to a kite with higher aspect that is bridaled (or fifth line) and geared to jump. Or do you want an intuitive wave kite where you can ride with controlled aggression, drift down the line and get close to the surfing feel as you can.

That's the difference. It's as good as a rebel in the waves.

It doesn't have near enough C in the canopy for true looping. It is very sensitive to bar throw input and initial kite speed before you loop, as all higher aspect kites are...even with some C in it.

If you are into hooked in boosting on 4 lines then the Evo is a suitable option.

If you are into unhooked freestyle or hooked in powered low water level freestyle and serious wave riding then the dice is a far better kite along the same lines as say the park and the rpm.

You can't have it all. Yes the dice in terms of old fashioned boosting comes alive in the middle to upper range. That being said a good technical rider who know how to load and pop can still get some decent air and hang time for old school stuff in the lower to middle range.

The Evo is an 'obvious' kite with 'obvious power delivery. The dice takes a more technical approach in Its lower end and indeed across the wind range. There is a lot of advanced potential built into the dice. But you gotta be good enough to unlock it,

As a side I had a good crack on the latest rebel 12m in some good winds. Didn't think they could improve the 2012 model, but they have. Sweet big boosting, great hang time but with so much control in the glide at the bar end. It still out boosts the new Evo hands down.

...and again we had it in the waves...was fine until we pushed it, then we entered dice territory...

There is a kite for everybody, but this bullshit about the dices low end has got to stop. It's not true.

People are confusing kite design and it's intended use with obvious low end grunt.

But for old school massive boosting I'd still be on the rebel, we found the top end of the Evo limited, kite started to misbehave. The rebel though, just rock solid, had it out in much bigger winds hence stupidly scary height and glide.

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby surfboy1968 » Sun Jan 19, 2014 2:18 pm

I have tried both the 2014 Dice and Evo..... I have flown Evo's for several years and each year they get a little better. The only problem I had with the Dice was that it tended to pancake in the gusts ? Maybe cause its so light, 3 struts???? I tried everything I could to correct this but nothing worked? I am a bigger guy, 195 lbs but never had this problem with my Evo....The Dice is money in the waves for sure but my Evo is certainly not horrible in the surf. I dont have any problems unhooking with the new Evo, it just needs to be trimmed right ! You can do low flying hooked in tricks just as easily with Evo. New Evo loops much better that previous years too. For me the Evo just works better. The Dice takes a little more work to dial it in.....Both great kites, gotta try them both and see what works for you and your conditions....

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Westozzy » Mon Jan 20, 2014 1:43 am

Funny we found the Evo misbehaved far worse than the dice in gusty conditions, as it flies of the front lines and is very sensitive to bar throw position. Could be your weight. Yeh if I was really heavy I suppose I'd want a more obvious grunt monster for sure. There is no way you can perform unhooked or hooked in tricks better on the Evo, (the older one was better for this). You aren't pushing it hard enough. It finds it's limits really quick in this area. The dice keeps asking for more. Compare to the dice in serious wave conditions where you are pushing it the Evo falls down real quick. Again it depends on how hard you want to go and how much you ask of the kite.

And yes it all depends on what you are after and where you are at in your riding and where you want to go technically speaking. The Evo will find its limits much more quickly. We liked the Evo to (preferred the new rebel) for the first hour or so. But when we started ramping it up, it hit a wall pretty quick.

And personal weight is a factor for sure, no doubt.

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby 14ToeSide » Mon Jan 20, 2014 4:43 am

I have had the 13 Dice out in 25-28 and didn't see any pan caking. I weigh 238.

14

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Re: 2014 North Evo review (in comparimsment to the 2013 Fuse

Postby Westozzy » Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:38 am

Yeh I was being nice, I didn't want to say bullshit. I to have seen heavy guys super powered on this kite. But you'd have to predict 5 struts may be more stable than 3.


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