Ocean Rodeo Flite Impressions

[hudstur]

Bought the 10 - 12 - 14.5 for riding directional and foiling. A three strut kite that is lightweight, flys forward in the wind window, drifts well, and relaunch fast. The leading edge is thin with a great camber behind the leading edge. When luffing the kite you will notice that flutter only happens on the inside of the outside struts, keeping some power on each side of the middle strut assisting in control and bar feedback when depowered so as not to fall from the sky. The bridles have three pulleys and are shorter so as not to wrap if an inversion occurs(which could rip the canopy). The inflate/deflate valve is the aircraft large hole valve for quick and easy inflating and deflating. The manual states that when leaving on the beach for an extended period deflate the leading edge to reduce wear when flapping in the breeze. Also, prior to first inflation on a new kite to soft inflate 2/3 of the way and shake the kite to get the inside bladder to naturally form to the outside material. And never inflate while letting the kite just roll out by itself, always lay out the kite flat and then inflate as this procedure with reduce any twisting of the bladder. One will notice the outside strut placement are not so far into the center of the canopy as wingtips are mainly for turning enabling the center of the kite to capture more wind without obstruction of the outside wingtips. The inflate valve hat allows for the deflate to be open with the hat covering it so no debris enters the bladder. Ocean Rodeo have reduced the weight of the kite and even reduced the retail price.

[TomW]

All kites are too expensive. I refuse to pay full retail and only by kites on sale at least 30% off. Last 3 kites I bought at 50-50-40% off.
We need to start exercising our consumer power.

[Peert]

I agree to a certain extent.
Switch, Takoons, Storm, Gong they all charge significantly less than the big marketing budget brands like North, Naish, Ozone..
40 to 50% of the prices of the first mentioned brands is perhaps stretching it.... 650€ (or $) for a new kite send reasonable to me..

[hudstur]

Thanks guys for the feedback. However, I was hoping for additional comments on the content of the subject matter. Fair Winds!

[TomW]

Sorry for a bit off topic, but im referring to the price of the OR flight in Europe, and all major brands too. I probably would have gotten a quiver of flights, but the money is crazy.

[Rakky]

Continued off topic.... I wait till the mid/latter part of the current ear for last years kite to come on sale. Prices are approximately 50% off.
Every year the companies bring out new kites claiming this is the best design yet.

[TomW]

Continued off topic.... I wait till the mid/latter part of the current ear for last years kite to come on sale. Prices are approximately 50% off.
Every year the companies bring out new kites claiming this is the best design yet.

Never seen OR do this.

[Jwoo]

Ok...I'll bite. I have a Flite 12 and 14.5, along with Prodigy 12 and 9.5

I love the Flite's in light (steady) wind. They loop very well. If you need and extra boost, Flites will do nice fast powered loops, even in very light wind. They both flip over fast but smoothly when doing powered jibes, and they stay in the air in crazy light wind. With both I seem to be able to kite in lighter wind, and go upwind better than most other people on different brands. That said, I'm not a big fan of Flites in gusty wind. I've never used any other light wind kites, and maybe this is true for all of them, but I find the line between being comfortable and uncomfortably overpowered with the Flites to be very small during gusty conditions. Where I kite, the wind is normally super gusty, and for gusty conditions I like the Prodigy much better. I haven't had the opportunity to try a bunch of kites, but I've flown various, Ozone, North, and Cabrinha kites, and I find that in gusty conditions, the Prodigy is one of the most stable and fun kites I've tried. It flies similar to the Flite, but it absorbs gusts much better. It's easier to trim so that it won't overpower during gusts, but still allow me to power through lulls. If I'm hit with an unexpected gust or lull during a maneuver, I find the Prodigy allows me to compensate for a sudden wind change much easier than with any other kite I've had the opportunity to fly.

[nothing2seehere]

Thats good praise for the Prodigy and if you look at the new wind range charts on the Ocean Rodeo site your experience bears out - the prodigy has a much wider wind range. Can you compare the weights between the 12m models? Is the Flite much lighter than the prodigy or just a few ounces?

I'm fortunate to have had fairly solid conditions here recently so its been pretty easy to select something and work within its sweet spot. Fun kites when in their sweet spot. I'm looking to get something smaller so I'll have to add the prodigy onto that list.

[Regis-de-giens]

After 4 sessions on a Flite 10 m Gen 4 (2016), I must say it is a LEI that I love to use with Hydrofoil and TT ; But I have a remark / question on the relaunch : I have some difficulties to relaunch it under significant wind ( say below 12 knots but not sure) ; pulling on one rear line is not enough , and I have to pull on the opposite front line ; this allows me to save some low end relaunch, but quite technical and not comfortable to grab this opposite line;

So I do not know if its relaunch abilities are better or worse than average 2016 kites, but it is less efficient than my 2012 Rally and 2012 Aurish One; I know that One and Rally are light and compact (low AR, delta shapes), but I would like to get other user's opinion;

On the other feature, this kite is perfect to me.