Had a couple sessions with the Roam 12.
90kg rider on a TT who freerides at home and carves waves when travelling. I bought the sail to replace an Enduro v1 hopping mainly to get better handling in that size whith a hope to make 12m wave riding an option (to date 10 m appears to be the fun factor limit) Was hesitant between choosng flite and roam for the 12 (did get a 14.5 flite) but leaned towards handling for the wave potential.
Tried it freeriding in freshwater with Very gusty 12-20 knots with onshore breaking chop.
In short it fulfills my xpectations. Flies like it’s on autopilot. Smooth power delivery and xcellent flying dynamics. Has all the power I need to TT at my weight, not grunty but plenty powerfull and so efficient. Flying is direct, fast, loops more pivotal than enduro (even in wave mode) does not flap when crossing the window in onshore riding. It´s a verrrry predictable kite, plug and play. Got the feeling of a highly maneuverable cross over kite. Jumps well with similar feeling hang time to the enduro in wave mode (perhaps a bit less than freeride mode). For those who desire more Freeride grunt and hang time the flite 12 would potentially be a better option but the handling isin’t as sweet. For me the roam checked all the boxes of what I wanted and I would recommend it for those who like to actively fly their kites, prefer all arpund finesse over grunt, the handling is simply awesome. Just to say ,at this point would be interested in demoing a roam 14 (to replace the flite) when they come out.
After trying both the flite and roam my feeling from the limited outings done so far is that although the aluula kites handle well in the high end, the trimming is sensitive and offers a large throttle adjustment, the kites become bar heavy in gusts as the power surge is felt more than absorbed. Don’t know if it has been the recent gusty conditions but have been adjusting trimming more often than i remember. To date my xperience is that these kites shine more in the lower end of their wide ( extended ) range and would probably gain in using a click type bar Adjustment to maximise trimming. I use an Ozone bar and to date never felt that a click type adjustment would be beneficial.
Can’t ait to try this sail in real waves in less than perfect wind conditions, but with the covid all our trips have been cancelled.
A few details...Would be nice to increase the range of use to have a bridal adjustment like on the reo/enduro/nexus. Not a fan of the kite bag material or size nor with the boston valve and strut clips that are hard to handle, but they do the job.
To the question is it worth the price difference...for me yes, no doubt for our large sails (we don’t foil). Could well live with dacron versions and do not plan to change all the rest of the quiver (I share 5 other sail with my wife) to aluula because of price and arguably (and for now) potential repair complication if ever needed when traveling. I know they are probably tougher but in waves shit happens and during past trips did need to have local repairs done.
As I stated in a previous post.....got the Golden grin.