I finally got some rideable wind over the past 2 days. Got to ride the 12, 10.5 and 7.5m.
The winds were all over the map the past two days... yesterday when I was out, it was 13-18mph, increasing to 16-22mph.....
and today it was gusty off shore winds in the 13-22mph range, inceasing to 20 to 35mph range....
Don't have time right now to break down each kite, so here is the short summary that really applies to all of them based off of my limited experience on them:
-Bar pressure: I would say just right...not heavy, not super light...I always had a good feeling where the kite was....
-Speed of kites: All turn very fast for their sizes...Obviously in the higher winds, the speed of the kite would go up...but, even in the low winds, the speed was nice. Very nice for redirecting last minute to smack a lip...
-Stability in the air: really impressed with this. I rode today in some gusty 20 to 35mph winds... and the kite would just eat up the gusts... was never worried about it over flying in the gusts...
-Low End: The kites have great low end for their sizes. 12m is the biggest I need, and I live in Florida! I rode the 10.5 in winds where most guys were on 15m's... and I rode the 7.5m today in low 20's....
-High End: Don't know on the 7.5m or 12m yet, but I got close to the upper limits on the 10.5 today. I rode it when it was gusting to 35mph… I could still comfortably ride, and was never out of control, but it was a little much…I dropped down to the 7.5m, and it was perfect…
-Range on the bar: Some kites I have flown, fly very well when the bar is pulled in, but you can’t turn the kite for crap when you have the bar pushed all the way out…. And vice versa for some other kites… These kites work well whether the bar is pulled in, in the middle, or pushed all the way out…
-Jumping: I got some pretty high lofty jumps today. The kites definitely jump. Probably not as high as some higher aspect type kites, but jumping is not an issue…
-Overall: Very smooth, fast, huge range, easy to fly, and just fun… I am really stoked on these kites… I ride a surfboard 90 percent of the time, and these are exactly what I am looking for…
-Negatives: I really can’t think of anything negative on these yet…I’ve only had a few hours on each, so time will only tell. But, for everything I like to do on a kite, these kites have them. I guess the only minor negative for me so far, is not having an O shit handle on the bar...but not a huge issue....