Kiteforum.com

I'm a fan of REOs V4. Really good kites for wave. I own 5m, 7m and 9m V4. 8m and 10m V3. My quiver are basically all Ozone.

But Ozone did terrible with the 5m. For me it was obvious that the ratio wasn't properly made in order to keep the performance of the bigger brothers.

The kite is extremely fast but back stall too early with some pressure on the bar. It's the only size this happens. It feels very unbalanced, having too much power or too less, steering too fast or not steering. It's hard to find a wind condition that match the kite. I tried and tried but cannot like this kite.

When I ride my old cabrinha 2012 5.5m, what a performance compared to this shitty small Reo.

Very disappointed. Looks like they made a small 7m without any adjustments for the small size.

My V4 5m was purchased in 2017, no repairs.

Selling it right now. Hope there's BIG changes for the V5 versions. Also hope they use x4 Teijin and a better inflating valves schemes.

Exactly my observation.
I have the 5/7 V4 and had the 5/7/10 V3.
The 7 V4 is a dream
But the 5 V4 is useless for me. Either too much power or no power delivery, hardly anything in between. Sold the 5 quickly after some tries.
Unfortunately I had sold the 5 V3 before I received the V4.

Still looking for a substitute for the 10 m V3.
Recommendations anyone?
North Mono is not it

Does anyone have an experience with Reo V4 4m and Enduro V1/V2 5m?

Im using Reo v4 in 9, 6 and 4 meters .I use all these kites with 15 m lines and 50 cm wide bar, in all wind conditions above 20 kts.
4 meter kite i use it when its well above 35 kts and having maximum fun aproaching 45-55 kts, when water dust start to fly around.I can just say that i realy like these kite size. Maybe you need to try them on shorter lines in stron winds.To use these kites with more than 15 m lines is simply a nonsense, from my experience.

I have a 2015 ( I think) Reo 5m and had it out once on my hydrofoil. I had same experience, and was thinking I need more skills at flying such a small kite. But the behaviour you describe is exactly what I experienced....

I've had small kites with a tendency to backstall on the normal bar. Can be worse and more noticable on a small kite for example if your rear bar lines have shortened. I found putting a small pigtail to extend the rear attachment did well.

Shorter lines and also shorter bar may make a difference, as might using the hard steering setting might also help.

so which size bar are you using on your 5M ozone REO v'?

Bit of an old topic, but still relevant (well to me anyway). I've a Reo V5 5m and it has been seriously hardwork on the SB but an absolute dream on the Foil.

After reading up on its specs, Ozone recommend a 38cm bar (I'd been using a 47cm). So I cut down an old North bar to experiment with and the characteristics of the kite whilst in SB conditions were dramatically improved.

Can’t comment on the Reo but for small twitchy kites in awkward conditions (gusty and washing machine sea state) I use a different set up and approach. ( Normally I would choose to have backstall available with small kites.)

I set the rear pigs longer and tune out all backstall. I try not to work the kite as hard as I normally would (sort of concentrate on feeling line tension rather just working the bar). Also if very gusty I try to ride out the lulls by flattening the board rather than moving the kite, leaving the kite position alone just maintaining sheeting angle until the wind kicks back in, or the lull is so long you are forced to move the kite. (Talking strong wind not hydrofoil.)

Obviously this is no panacea, but it might be something to play with whilst you sort a kite you like.

i have found the 5m ss sst to behave as you describe. regardless of triming, the kite feels punchy, stally, and hard to use. i dont think bar width matters for this, only for turning speed, which i dont have complaints about. i only use it with a foil.
i dont have any other 5m to compare to.