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Airush Varial X

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mowaves
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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby mowaves » Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:55 am

I demoed a 12m last week... This was the best first impression a kite has made on me yet. Here's a couple things I noticed about it that stood out from other kites I've used. It had really smooth power and had a nice even amount of depower (it's not instant off, which I think is better because for example, if I hit a bump and have my arms outstretched for a moment I won't fall or sink in the water). Jumping was pretty sweet, but the best part was the landings, this was very special with this kite that I've never had on others. I've never had a kite place me down so gently ever and this one did every time! Bar pressure and turing speed seemed just right where I always knew where it was. Didn't get chance to relaunch it so can't comment on that. Not sure how it'd do in waves...I tried getting a feel for this by carving and riding at it, but couldn't really tell. Give this one a try for sure, looking forward to trying out the 9m too! Oh yeah, great graphics and colors on this kite too!....No brand affiliation or bias for me, I buy used kites, but I'll definitely be looking for one of these in a year or so.

s29feb
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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby s29feb » Sat Dec 03, 2011 11:44 am

The Razor is the most stable solid kite I have ever flown - this was me testing out my new Gopro HD2 yesterday (need to angle the camera down more) at Troon in Scotland - about 6 degrees celsius wind mid to high 30's typical gusty cold frontal wind we get this time of year and you can see how the Razor behaves. I'm 77kg and on a 135 SuperShinn :thumb:


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marlboroughman
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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby marlboroughman » Fri Dec 09, 2011 2:57 am

Thanks guys. I will go with Razor then. I kind of skipped the Vapor X because of the bridle. All my Vapors are set up on five lines in my own way. I can see in that video that the Razor has that float in the jumps, perfect.

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby s29feb » Fri Dec 09, 2011 6:49 am

marlboroughman wrote:Thanks guys. I will go with Razor then. I kind of skipped the Vapor X because of the bridle. All my Vapors are set up on five lines in my own way. I can see in that video that the Razor has that float in the jumps, perfect.
:thumb:

Yep and that is the 7m - the 11m and 9m are just as good.... if you get the 9m in the some great winds then it is a total weapon :cool2:

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby fuel » Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:34 am

marlboroughman wrote:Thanks guys. I will go with Razor then. I kind of skipped the Vapor X because of the bridle. All my Vapors are set up on five lines in my own way. I can see in that video that the Razor has that float in the jumps, perfect.
Depending on your weight and conditions you may get away with 5.5, 7 and 9m. I'm loving the 5.5 and is very stable in high-winds and jumps like crazy and got excellent low-end. Also feels like the other sizes except it all happens a lot quicker. :) I use it for follow the kite wave riding and couldn't be happier, but I still need to dial into the timing aspect on waves.

Someone posted on the UK forum that with the Razor its not a question of which is your favourite size, but rather what is your favourite wind strength.

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby s29feb » Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:26 pm

fuel wrote: Someone posted on the UK forum that with the Razor its not a question of which is your favourite size, but rather what is your favourite wind strength.
Yeah me :lol:

I'm John.B :wink:

They are an engineering masterpiece in that my 11/9/7 all fly on the smae 45cm bar and feel exactly like scaled models of each other (albeit the smaller being a bit quicker) so no having to adjust how you fly them across the range.

They are super sweet :thumb:

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby marlboroughman » Fri Dec 09, 2011 7:50 pm

Didn't mean to hijack this thread. I am sure Varial X is a sweet kite for going fast, boosting high and going upwind like a knife. But when you take my favorite kite (Vapor) basically off the market I have to vent a little. :lol:

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby kitenb » Sun Dec 11, 2011 5:57 am

I had a chance to try a few different 2012 Airush kites today: 10m Lithium, 10m Varial X, and 9m Razor. Winds were 15-24mph, averaging around 19 or 20.. I was mainly riding a 5'4 Airush Compact Surfboard, and then pulled out a Best 134 twin tip for a bit too. I weigh 170lbs.

Overall, all three kites are very nice, but very different. I have been riding over 10 years, and used to be a C kite guy up until a few years ago...Since then, I've been playing around with different C hybrids... So, I like the feel of a C kite, but also like a lot of the features of a SLE or C hybrid, or whatever you call it these days... I like to have some good depower, but not so much that the kite falls out of the sky really fast if you let go of the bar.

Here are my thoughts:

9m Razor: Very solid feel, fast, but not crazy fast. Amazing depower for a C kite. Way more than I remember when I used to ride them. On my twin tip doing some wakestyle stuff, it was perfect. Tons of pop, great for unhooking, etc.. On my surfboard, it worked okay, but I couldn't park the kite and get enough power. I had to work it up and down, and then had plenty of power. It was probably more of a 11m Razor day, but it still worked. If I was a wakestyle guy 90% of the time, this would hands down by the kites I go with. You can't ask for a better kite for that style of riding.

10m Lithium: Just rode this on my surfboard. This has a pure delta feel to me...it is definitely solid, and has a good feel. It was very powerful compared to the 9m razor. I could park it and just go... In the turns, it is more of a pivot turn...a little bit of a lag compared to the Razor when redirecting the kite. Tons of depower, and you can pretty much shut off all pull with just a push of the bar. I can see why a lot of guys like this kite. A few other guys tried the other kites today, and a lot of them liked this kite the best. But for me, I just am not used to a delta type of feel(the pivot turns and tons of depower)..

10m Varial X: Rode with twin tip and surfboard. This was the perfect kite for me. It felt like a perfect blend of the Lithium and the Razor. It has a lot of depower like the Lithium(but not too much depower), and it has the direct feel of the Razor. It jumped great, turned with steady pull thru bottom turns, and just felt good. In the parked position, it didn't have as much pull as the Lithium, but had way more pull compared to the Razor. I could park and forget about it. Just very comfortable to fly. Also, it is a strong 10m. I cannot normally be fully powered on a 10m in the upper teens. Of the three I tried today, this was hands down my favorite.

I made a short 3 min video trying to show the Varial X in action. I will try to post it soon, if my internet cooperates...

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby kitenb » Sun Dec 11, 2011 6:11 am



Here is the short video from today

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Re: Airush Varial X

Postby fuel » Sun Dec 11, 2011 7:58 am

kitenb wrote:I had a chance to try a few different 2012 Airush kites today: 10m Lithium, 10m Varial X, and 9m Razor. Winds were 15-24mph, averaging around 19 or 20.. I was mainly riding a 5'4 Airush Compact Surfboard, and then pulled out a Best 134 twin tip for a bit too. I weigh 170lbs.

Overall, all three kites are very nice, but very different. I have been riding over 10 years, and used to be a C kite guy up until a few years ago...Since then, I've been playing around with different C hybrids... So, I like the feel of a C kite, but also like a lot of the features of a SLE or C hybrid, or whatever you call it these days... I like to have some good depower, but not so much that the kite falls out of the sky really fast if you let go of the bar.

Here are my thoughts:

9m Razor: Very solid feel, fast, but not crazy fast. Amazing depower for a C kite. Way more than I remember when I used to ride them. On my twin tip doing some wakestyle stuff, it was perfect. Tons of pop, great for unhooking, etc.. On my surfboard, it worked okay, but I couldn't park the kite and get enough power. I had to work it up and down, and then had plenty of power. It was probably more of a 11m Razor day, but it still worked. If I was a wakestyle guy 90% of the time, this would hands down by the kites I go with. You can't ask for a better kite for that style of riding.

10m Lithium: Just rode this on my surfboard. This has a pure delta feel to me...it is definitely solid, and has a good feel. It was very powerful compared to the 9m razor. I could park it and just go... In the turns, it is more of a pivot turn...a little bit of a lag compared to the Razor when redirecting the kite. Tons of depower, and you can pretty much shut off all pull with just a push of the bar. I can see why a lot of guys like this kite. A few other guys tried the other kites today, and a lot of them liked this kite the best. But for me, I just am not used to a delta type of feel(the pivot turns and tons of depower)..

10m Varial X: Rode with twin tip and surfboard. This was the perfect kite for me. It felt like a perfect blend of the Lithium and the Razor. It has a lot of depower like the Lithium(but not too much depower), and it has the direct feel of the Razor. It jumped great, turned with steady pull thru bottom turns, and just felt good. In the parked position, it didn't have as much pull as the Lithium, but had way more pull compared to the Razor. I could park and forget about it. Just very comfortable to fly. Also, it is a strong 10m. I cannot normally be fully powered on a 10m in the upper teens. Of the three I tried today, this was hands down my favorite.

I made a short 3 min video trying to show the Varial X in action. I will try to post it soon, if my internet cooperates...
nice video and reviews. Nice to see some turn for turn riding which you are doing nicely with good timing in the mush. The 10m VX turns quicker than I thought it would.


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