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Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

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knotwindy
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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby knotwindy » Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:16 pm

Yea, the Ocean Rodeo bar itself, if it works as they say and ever comes out, with the rest of the Could system swapped out could be a really good set-up. Have to wait and see.

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby max » Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:47 pm

Starsky wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2017 2:24 pm
Instead of splitting the front lines like the BRM bar, I went with a front line leash splitter from an old set up that allows me to tune the bar with front line length.

any chance that you can add a pic of the front line leash splitter setup?

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Starsky
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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby Starsky » Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:23 pm

IMG_3483.jpg
and here is the blurb!

Blue safety line has a spliced loop for a clean loop to loop attachment to one front line within that black plastic piece. It has to be clean to slide through the release ball below the bar. The canal through the black plastic piece reduces in diameter halfway to stop the thicker blue line from sliding through and ends up with both front lines the same length. Tuning is easy. Grey line: Loosen @ the ring, break the back of the fig 8 stopper and slide it a touch longer or shorter, tighten and re snug @ the ring. This is a long throw bar with no trim so the grey line is set and forget. Once the grey line is done and your front and rear lines are equal, the blue safety line has to be set to match the grey. Its knotted to the ring in the double ball release below the bar in the same sliding stopper knot fashion and is hidden nicely within the black release ball. The grey knot at the splitter is the only visible knot. I'll trim that tail and melt the end into a cap once Ive ridden a couple weeks on the new line.

I also have this one on another bar.

http://www.bwsurf.com/product/the-bit/

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby max » Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:11 am

Starsky wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2017 10:23 pm


I also have this one on another bar.

http://www.bwsurf.com/product/the-bit/

cool . . . thanks Starsky

I prefer the idea of being able to adjust the fronts in some way. Some say that it is easy to get same lengths by stretching the shorter one by placing it under tension but i prefer a manual adjustment.

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby pikovsg » Mon Mar 27, 2017 6:46 am

BigSky wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2017 11:07 am
pikovsg wrote:
Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:05 pm
This is a silly post. How can this possibly be an honest review of the Cloud if you are using it with twintips???

Clouds are meant for hydrofoiling. It's like reviewing a 4x4 offroad jeep on a perfectly level granite road. What's the point?

I own and swear by Clouds but would not use them for twintipping.
It's this type of misinformation that inclined me to post in the first place. I see you are the kite police and a bro brah masshole too. Sorry to upset you but I've logged well over 100 days in every condition and really had a blast. I've had no issues going up wind unless I chose the wrong size board. I don't really pay attention to where it sits in the window. I just ride it and have a ton of fun. Here are a few photos from my outing yesterday. The sand bag is not necessary since Greg suggest simply filling the kite bag with sand and using that which I did until recently. I didn't like the wear that caused on the bag. These are small and pack a lot of weight and I really like them. Image

The small loop of kite line on the O-ring has really been awesome. It moves off to the side once I connect and I've used it in winds well over 30. I added a piece of clear tubing that used to protect fishing lures when purchased. It made it easier to connect when I was tethering to end the session. I got really tired of the mess (wet kite/lines) creating when punching out to end the session. Cheers. Image
:) Thank you for all the assumptions. Didn't mean to upset you.

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby KitingPolak » Wed Apr 19, 2017 4:42 pm

Starsky wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2017 2:24 pm
Over the winter I sourced the right parts and did the splicing properly to allow the integrated leash line to run through the ball cleanly.
Starsky,
would you mind sharing where you sourced the parts from? I'd but up for giving this a whirl, especially since I have a Cloud but no BRM bar.

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby topmick » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:38 pm

Here's a pic of my OR bar, with the BRM treatment - the swivel on the Ronstan pulley works great.
IMG_20170420_022906.jpg

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby Starsky » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:56 pm

The key pieces are the pins in the releases. Sourced em from old cabrinha leashes.
Everything else is easy to find.

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby cleepa » Thu Apr 20, 2017 5:08 am

Hello. Long time Cloud rider here. I started on the C1s, am now on the C2s and not too keen to upgrade beyond that. I am also advanced on a strapless surfboard, but a complete novice idiot on a foil and don't twintip anymore. So, for me the Cloud is a wave kite. I have 4, 5, 7, 9 and 12m C2s and at 185lbs use the 7m the most.
tmcfarla wrote:
Sat Mar 25, 2017 2:51 pm
I have 9m and 12m c2. I'm advanced on a strapless surfboard and beginner at foiling. I really like them for foiling in flat-ish water. On a surfboard, their upwind is not great (no problem on a foil). They relaunch well in flat water, but relaunch in waves is pretty bad. I probably won't use them again in surf on a bad shoreline. I really like them on a foil, they have great drift, great depower, stay in the air very well, and feel nice in the air. A lot of the concerns that people have about them are total non-issues. Fluttering does not matter in the least bit. Self launching and landing is fine, but I highly recommend a tether. Drift launching in flat water is fine. The probably aren't the best twin tip kites, but they do generate lift and you could jump with them. The only aspect of their flying behavior I don't like is the tendency to stay very low in the window when going fast, requiring a lot of back hand pressure.

They are not fun to ride overpowered. They have a fair amount of depower range, but no more than any other kite. They do cover this range very quickly and with very little bar throw, much faster than other kites. I think the speed with which they shut off power is their best attribute.
The quoted post is some really accurate info on their characteristics. I will add my own thoughts too.

On upwind: I mostly agree. Their upwind is fine if the wind is not holey. If it becomes too holey, you lose board speed and therefore apparent wind, which is what keeps these kites upwind. Gusts don't affect upwind in the same way as holes.

On relaunch in waves: I almost only kite in the waves. We don't have any particularly bad shoreline. I can't say for sure if that would change things for me, because the positive aspects of the Cloud are so good in the waves (fast turning, small sizing, drift, on/off depower, not pulling as hard when passing through the window). Because our wind is mostly side on or onshore, when I crash the kite, I am usually riding towards it, so crashing puts a lot of slack in the lines. Because of that, I am unlikely to have time between waves to tighten the lines again to try to relaunch, so my preference is to disconnect from the kite (with any kite). Better for me and better for the kite. So relaunch in the waves is not a huge issue for me. And the reason I say I am unsure if bad shoreline would affect my choice is that when I swim in, I always end up on the beach before the kite.

The back hand pressure tmcfarla mentions, I don't mind as much. The characteristic I am least fond of is their poor handling of holes in the wind.

One of the things I like a lot about them is their low end. It keeps me on much smaller kites than everyone else, which I really enjoy. I did try the C.5, which I found to have lost some of the low end of the C1 and C2. It seems like this might have been addressed in the Cloud D, but I've never flown one so I can't say for sure.

And as others have pointed out on this thread, one of the great things about the Cloud is Greg. He is very responsive to questions and will answer honestly. If he thinks the Cloud is not right for you, he'll let you know. And if he does, he will offer you a very guarded "it seems that you might like the Cloud" sort of perspective. Thumbs up for that!

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Re: Honest review of BRM Cloud kites

Postby tautologies » Thu Apr 20, 2017 6:00 am

Nice. I keep on hearing good things about the new version of the cloud. Getting me interested :)

The 9 is just such a nice wave kite, but I'm kind of thinking about the 8. Any one have experience on the new 8 they want to share? For waves?


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