Light wind kite testing!

[matth]

How about the 14.5 Flite , have you had a chance to take one for a spin? I weigh 180 lbs and think the 17 may be overkill .

[alexeyga]

Was the Infinity on the new Epic bar? The lines on the old Epic bar I had stretched like crazy and I could never keep up with tuning. Also, I had demoed the Epic kites several times and they always seemed out of tune and always messing with the knots on the rear lines to get the things to fly right.

Assuming that the tested Infinity was actually faulty and it is not actually supposed to fly that way - a question about which any average Joe should be scratching his/hear head about at this point is the fallowing - guys who did the review had a luxury to be able to compare that brand new (if remember correctly) - out of the bag Infinity with other kites and to notice that something was not quite right. Well, in real life one would've just bought the kite and flew it the way it was without ever knowing that there's something wrong... That doesn't really inspire any confidence in the brand (which some people already don't have), nevermind the fact that all other kites in the test flew straight out of the bag and haven't required any fiddling.

I'm kinda jiggling with the idea of replacing my 13m with something LW-ish around 15-17m, so I was really curious about the test in question. Thanks for the effort guys!

[SupaEZ]

On thing I hear repeated often my personal experience completely disagrees with is, "for X weight rider, the biggest kite you need is size Z".

We sell kites and I've been riding 7+ years (I lost track) and at 155-180 pounds, I've always found a bigger kite got me going earlier. It doesn't matter the brand or the model or the model year. For example I always get going in lighter wind earlier with a 17m Contra over a 15m Contra. I always get going earlier on a 15m Edge over a 13m Edge etc. Ceteris peribus, of course.

- Stafford

I agree that a bigger kite gets you going earlier....for LW i test with North Nugget 2013
I get going earlier on a Core Riot XR3 19m over a XR3 17m.....@ one knot earlier

If i still owned a SP3 21m...i would get going earlier over a XR3 19m....@ one knot earlier

Going earlier means...move the kite a couple of times...park it...keep on plane...stay & go upwind

I have been riding 14+ years ( not losing track yet) and at 165 lbs

[OceanAdventures]

How about the 14.5 Flite , have you had a chance to take one for a spin? I weigh 180 lbs and think the 17 may be overkill .

The 14.5 is solid, but if you weight 180 I would recommend just getting the 17m.

[davesails7]

The 15m Contra goes up wind better than the 17m, which is what we tested. A rider my size would only need the 15m.

Good to know thanks!

[matth]

How about the 14.5 Flite , have you had a chance to take one for a spin? I weigh 180 lbs and think the 17 may be overkill .

The 14.5 is solid, but if you weight 180 I would recommend just getting the 17m.

Do think I could with solid kite skills handle the 17m to 20mph? I would love to see photos of new OR bar , sounds nice.

thanks

[Burn45]

Thank you guys for the review!
Im a 6'3" 225 pounds guy who is in freeridind, wave, and freestyle. I got 7,9,12m North Evos...and was heading to buy a 2014 Turbine. After your review, i hesitate between the Ocean Rodeo Flite 17 or the Turbine.
My question: whitch of those two kites have the best built quality? By the way, im a Canadian and proud to see that Ocean Rodeo is on the map for light wind kites. Thanks for your time and help!!!

[SupaEZ]

Thank you guys for the review!
Im a 6'3" 225 pounds guy who is in freeridind, wave, and freestyle. I got 7,9,12m North Evos...and was heading to buy a 2014 Turbine. After your review, i hesitate between the Ocean Rodeo Flite 17 or the Turbine.
My question: whitch of those two kites have the best built quality? By the way, im a Canadian and proud to see that Ocean Rodeo is on the map for light wind kites. Thanks for your time and help!!!

You have a Core dealer up there in Canada
The review on the 19 was real good....but testers do not recommend because of twist QR
At your weight i would not even consider a 17 at all
I go from a 12 Rebel to a 19 XR3 Core...at 165 lbs !!!.....
....from 7-8kn up to18 kn without any problem (if wind happens to pick up )
So i think you could handle it....the power that is

[The Captain]

To the folks concerned about going too big...

SupaEZ is correct. Jumping up to a 19m (or 21m, or 17m) from a 12m is no big worry. You need to remember that the amount of energy in the wind is not linearly proportional to the speed. i.e.; your kite will need to grow exponentially bigger as the wind gets lighter to do the same work (pulling your weight through the water).

It will also take more kite just to keep the (larger) kite itself in tha air as the wind get lighter, aside from the larger kite needed to generate the pull required to tug you along in the water. Add it all up and the kite can get big, quickly.

And SupaEZ. I dont think they said anything bad about the twist QR on the Core Sensor Bar, just that it was noteworthy as unique.

[OceanAdventures]

How about the 14.5 Flite , have you had a chance to take one for a spin? I weigh 180 lbs and think the 17 may be overkill .

The 14.5 is solid, but if you weight 180 I would recommend just getting the 17m.

Do think I could with solid kite skills handle the 17m to 20mph? I would love to see photos of new OR bar , sounds nice.

thanks

Since the OR flys pretty far out of the edge of the window I would say yes, as I have had to ride a turbine in pretty high conditions switching out kites for my instructors when the winds change.

Also your board would play a part in what wind you can ride in. Email us at the shop and we can get you some pictures of the bar.