Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Review Slingshot Rally 2016 10m

Find reviews of kites, boards and accessories
davedej
Medium Poster
Posts: 150
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:24 pm
Local Beach: Zandvoort, Netherlands
Favorite Beaches: Table view Capetown
Canos de meca Spain
Style: freestyle
Gear: North Dice 2016 5/7/9/11 m
Ride clash 140 2.1
Brand Affiliation: We Test Kites
Has thanked: 15 times
Been thanked: 9 times
Contact:

Review Slingshot Rally 2016 10m

Postby davedej » Sat Jul 09, 2016 10:52 pm

Review SLINGSHOT RALLY 2016 10M
Source:
http://www.wetestkites.com/2016/07/09/s ... -2016-10m/

By the looks of the pointy open Delta-C profile shape the Rally belongs in the hang time corner, competing with for example the Ozone Edge and North Rebel. The Slingshot Rally is around for about six years now, but we always wondered what its unique selling point is. The best we can come up with is the great low end together with its long, floating jumps. But we will remember it as a slow motion kite, because of its slow responses. We just had a go with it for a couple of hours, so this review is not the longest we have written.

Frankly we didn’t mind the test was this short. After a dozen lofty, but very long jumps while struggling to get the kite with all our efforts in front of us again at the landings, the tremendous amount of bar pressure was really getting to us. The bar pressure is also its big, and we mean huge, difference with the Ozone Edge, which also has great incredible hang time. Both are pointy shaped kites with five struts kites where the Rally even has a few stick shaped which successfully helps keeping the kite in shape in powered conditions.

As for build quality of Slingshot, no doubt about it generally is very good and there is not much to worry about. We just hope some day the Slingshot bar gets an manual twistable depowerline, so they can get rid of that enormous big and heavy swiffel (which in 2017 is replaced at one bar by a more simple version). The bridles cannot be adjusted but the back lines can be set at 3 positions. We, and probably everybody, will set them at “fast”, the last connection towards the tip.

Obviously kites shaped long and narrow (high aspect ratio) like the Rally will create efficient and powerful kites. But that usually also means large turning circles and less responsive kites. The Rally has en enormous turning circle. Meaning kite loops -for example- will take some time, and during the loop the pull isn’t as a proper kite loop should be; powerful and short. It is rather the same pull during the entire loop. The same is for the amount of power you get putting the bar up and down to power/depower. The power reach is long, very long. It does help in the air, to pull you up even more by just pulling the bar a bit more. But it will take some muscle power to achieve it.
For freestyle moves it misses out the necessary aggressive pull while building up the load by edging hard. Old school moves, like board offs or dead mans is more to the game of the Rally, but again it takes a lot of effort in the landing to put the kite forward to have a proper landing.

It was fun to be riding so powerful while everybody was just barely cruising with a even bigger kites. But as explained it is getting boring and tiring too quickly. Therefor we don’t understand that Slingshot puts so much wording on the Rally that it is the ultimate all-around weapon of choice for kiters across the spectrum. It is something arguable and personal what you think of a kite with a lot of such specific power, but to our opinion it is far from the most appealing kite for intermediate kiters to get the most fun out of an average kite session. Something an Ozone Enduro, Cabrinha FX or North Dice for example will suit much better for those kiters.

List Price

Slingshot Rally 2016 10m 1399,- US dollar (kite only)

User avatar
Starsky
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 4373
Joined: Mon Apr 19, 2004 12:12 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Ontario
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Review Slingshot Rally 2016 10m

Postby Starsky » Sat Jul 09, 2016 11:19 pm

Letting off on the bar as you send it forward for landing makes for a butter soft landing with some forward speed. Really pretty sweet when you get it figured.

All in all it is a very tame kite. Bar pressure is less of an issue on boards like foil or surfboard where you mostly feathering it anyway. Boosts to the moon with gobs of low end, but no real excitement in the flying. Agreed on the loop character, but you can certainly pinwheel it with enough input and it will do that will even less power. I think of it as a conditions tamer. What is scary on a C kite is just so easy on a Rally. Takes the stomach butterflies out of everything. Have grown to love the 9m (2015) for foiling but it has to be windy enough for the kite to fly well. They are neither lightweight, nor responsive. The up side of a boring kite is that it lets you really concentrate on the riding. Absolutely HUGE range. Really comfortable from 13 well up over 20 knots foiling. Scale up appropriately for other boards.

alford
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 816
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 7:53 pm
Gear: all brands
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 101 times
Been thanked: 46 times

Re: Review Slingshot Rally 2016 10m

Postby alford » Sat Jul 16, 2016 12:25 am

Swiffel? I think you mean swivel, old boy.

User avatar
iriejohn
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2618
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:04 pm
Weight: 80kg, 1.78m
Local Beach: West & East Wittering (UK South Coast)
Style: Make it up as I go along
Gear: Bars, Kites
Twintips, Directional
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Noviomagus Reginorum
Has thanked: 554 times
Been thanked: 284 times

Re: Review Slingshot Rally 2016 10m

Postby iriejohn » Tue Oct 25, 2016 7:46 pm

Starsky wrote:Letting off on the bar as you send it forward for landing makes for a butter soft landing with some forward speed. Really pretty sweet when you get it figured.

All in all it is a very tame kite. Bar pressure is less of an issue on boards like foil or surfboard where you mostly feathering it anyway. Boosts to the moon with gobs of low end, but no real excitement in the flying. Agreed on the loop character, but you can certainly pinwheel it with enough input and it will do that will even less power. I think of it as a conditions tamer. What is scary on a C kite is just so easy on a Rally. Takes the stomach butterflies out of everything. Have grown to love the 9m (2015) for foiling but it has to be windy enough for the kite to fly well. They are neither lightweight, nor responsive. The up side of a boring kite is that it lets you really concentrate on the riding. Absolutely HUGE range. Really comfortable from 13 well up over 20 knots foiling. Scale up appropriately for other boards.
I would generally agree with that (have 7m/2016 and 9m/12m/2017). They don't give you any surprises, they just work with direct feel because there are no pulleys (I will never buy a kite with pulleys, they just feel mushy to me). And they do drift really nicely in waves while you get on with the 'funny business' then respond instantly when you want to clear off. The 12m has excellent low end and on a 9m I'm still going fine when other 10's have given up. The 2017 9m and 12m do seem a bit 'tighter' and responsive than the 2016's (which I had). When it's 7m weather (25+ knots) everything's pretty quick of course.


Return to “Reviews”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 116 guests