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Royal Era vs Cab SBII 12m

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Er Presidente
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Royal Era vs Cab SBII 12m

Postby Er Presidente » Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:49 am

Finally had a good and long session on the Era 12m.
This year i decided to replace my Cab's with Royals.

Things i really LIKE in Royal Era
-Kite is fast
-Bar pressure is light
-Riding is so smooth and comfortable. You can even work the kite with one hand.
-Kite is stable...no hinderburg, if u fail a trick most likely is will stay at 12m waiting for input from you.
- look of the kite is outstanding
- goes upwind much better then SBII

Things i really LIKE in CAB SB2
- probably the best bar in the market
- very user friendly
- great depower capabilities
- nice bag, instruction manual

Things i DONT LIKE in ERA
- i like the safety system, but i dont like the Iron Hearth. I heard bad stories (unintentional release). I am waiting for Royal cust service to correct and fix the problem. Royal any news anout that?
- the chicken loop line is not covered by rubber (like Cabs) so I am afraid it will tear
- bridle lines seem thin. Either is a new material or seems less solid than Cabs

Things i DONT LIKE in SB2
- very slow kite even if the bar is 12cm bigger than the Era
- quality is an issue. I already ripped apart 2 Cabs in the water.
- when totally depowered, drag seems to be too much

hope it helps.

terrios666
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Postby terrios666 » Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:56 am

Funny you raise issue about the bar. Long term, holding a kite over a season even for two seasons, its the bar that you often have to replace.

I'm in the same boat as you, looking at ERA and North. By far, North has the better bar and just by looking at the kites you know that the North is going to last longer. I bet the same is true for SBII, durable and will last longer.

So far heard that the ERA is a mid-range kite, not built for ultra performance and not high end. Middle of the road, and so the performance shows as well. Nothing to get too excited about but nothing to piss you off either.

The EAR sounds kind of boring? No surprises to find out about down the road once more of the riders have reported back?

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islandstylen
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kite

Postby islandstylen » Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:48 am

SwitchBlade 3 ?? faster, lighter bar pressure. You are comparing a kite a year old with the latest royal.

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Dr.Gonzo
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Postby Dr.Gonzo » Sun Sep 16, 2007 9:03 am

terrios666 wrote:Funny you raise issue about the bar. Long term, holding a kite over a season even for two seasons, its the bar that you often have to replace.

I'm in the same boat as you, looking at ERA and North. By far, North has the better bar and just by looking at the kites you know that the North is going to last longer. I bet the same is true for SBII, durable and will last longer.

So far heard that the ERA is a mid-range kite, not built for ultra performance and not high end. Middle of the road, and so the performance shows as well. Nothing to get too excited about but nothing to piss you off either.

The EAR sounds kind of boring? No surprises to find out about down the road once more of the riders have reported back?
Seems odd things to say...

The North and Royal bars ar not so different so how can the North bar be better by far ? Same with the build quality... Royal and North come from the same sri lanka factory ... they Royal is plenty high quality build but not over-engineered at all, keeps it light, fast and keen. Both are better buit than Cab imho.

The only thing mid range about the Royal is the price... that doesn't make it 'middle of the road' in any other respect. The Era is most definately a performance kite and it is exciting. I'm approaching 10 years kitesurfing as well as 10 years in the business including many years testing kit... and the Era 10m buzzed the hell out of me from the very first time I lit one up... same for everyone thats tried 'em... and thats first hand experience not something I heard on the grapevine.

The Era is very fast and reactive and delivers exceptional lift with a lot of consistent power through turns... it also canes it upwind. Its a great handling kite and stable too.

You can also consider 10m in the Royal when pitching it up against many 12m... yes it can generate that much power. Bonus.

The Iron Heart release on the Royal firing too easy has not been any issue that we have experienced and I have had 3 10m Eras out and about on demo for 4 months or so... It is much easier to release when brand new but soon settles down... it is possible effect a release if you get badly twisted up and violently nailed. Not a bad thing and the 2 reports I read about it releasing on here both said that they were getting nailed at the time and it just happened to have saved their a$$ ... so no worries I think. The bar is a very easy recovery too.

Check this out for an obviously genuine review from a well respected and experienced kiter who buys new kites for fun and has owned most... I sent him a couple of demos to try...

http://community.flexifoil.com/showthread.php?t=128728

wndjnky
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Postby wndjnky » Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:03 pm

Is the Royal One boards the same shape as the Underground Flex?

Er Presidente
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Postby Er Presidente » Sun Sep 16, 2007 2:03 pm

Gonzo thanks a lot for your answer.
I agree with you, as you can see from my post, the Era is an amazing kite.
I gave it to 3 friends yesterday and they all love it.
I heard too that the release system gets better after a while. Will see.
I have another question about the bar.
With the 12m what bar size do you use? Royal recommend a 45cm, seems pretty small to me, can u tell me what u think?

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reinis
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Postby reinis » Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:25 pm

Dr.Gonzo wrote: the Era 10m buzzed the hell out of me from the very first time I lit one up...
sounds exactly what everybody is experiencing here.. some kites might look as if they might last longer, BUT as RYL states, it`s all about the rider :thumb:

blow me till sundown
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Postby blow me till sundown » Sun Sep 16, 2007 4:51 pm

Is the Royal One boards the same shape as the Underground Flex?
Pretty sure the Royal boards are the exact same as the Undergrounds.....but with different graphics.

I've got a 12M Era and have never flown the SBII. A friend as the SBII and loves it. To me, they look somewhat similar in the air. BUT, their performance may be way different. I'm not sure as I've never flown the SB II.[/code]

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Brent4336
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Postby Brent4336 » Sun Sep 16, 2007 5:01 pm

terrios666 wrote:Funny you raise issue about the bar. Long term, holding a kite over a season even for two seasons, its the bar that you often have to replace.

I'm in the same boat as you, looking at ERA and North. By far, North has the better bar and just by looking at the kites you know that the North is going to last longer. I bet the same is true for SBII, durable and will last longer.

So far heard that the ERA is a mid-range kite, not built for ultra performance and not high end. Middle of the road, and so the performance shows as well. Nothing to get too excited about but nothing to piss you off either.

The EAR sounds kind of boring? No surprises to find out about down the road once more of the riders have reported back?
Dude! Dont get one.... Your loss.

Classic misinformation post

Really looking forward to these kites, iron heart and all.

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singlemalt
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Postby singlemalt » Sun Sep 16, 2007 8:03 pm

terrios666 wrote:Funny you raise issue about the bar. Long term, holding a kite over a season even for two seasons, its the bar that you often have to replace.

I'm in the same boat as you, looking at ERA and North. By far, North has the better bar and just by looking at the kites you know that the North is going to last longer. I bet the same is true for SBII, durable and will last longer.

So far heard that the ERA is a mid-range kite, not built for ultra performance and not high end. Middle of the road, and so the performance shows as well. Nothing to get too excited about but nothing to piss you off either.

The EAR sounds kind of boring? No surprises to find out about down the road once more of the riders have reported back?
I'm not sure what you have against this kite but this isn't your first post trying to spread misinformation about the ERA. Try the kite first.


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