Aluula? New Revolutionary Material from Ocean Rodeo

[jakemoore]

Wouldn’t a one strut or strutless be nice?

[jumptheshark]

Absolutely, to counter some sticker shock and get some “Best” like market penetration, they should put out a bare bones ultra light single strut, no excess build like clouds but at a reflective price point.

Market and price it just right and you net the bulk of the next wave of foilers. Something Drexler level rebel mixed with a bit of aerospace nerd to add some prestigious cover for the late adopters not ready for strutless/single skin options.

Likely be a killer kite.

[Pierrot]

Has anyone had a problem with stitches pulled apart?

Have you? I probably have 30 to 40 sessions (who is counting...) on my roam 10 and it still looks like new.

[grigorib]

Has anyone had a problem with stitches pulled apart?

Have you? I probably have 30 to 40 sessions (who is counting...) on my roam 10 and it still looks like new.

No, but a guy in FL complained to a friend that they do and I recalled discussion on bending the spectra and wondering if lesser elasticity would load stitches more.

[iriejohn]

Has anyone had a problem with stitches pulled apart?

Have you? I probably have 30 to 40 sessions (who is counting...) on my roam 10 and it still looks like new.

No, but a guy in FL complained to a friend that they do and I recalled discussion on bending the spectra and wondering if lesser elasticity would load stitches more.

So you heard about a guy in FL who supposedly complained to a friend that they do and now you're wondering if Spectra would load stitches more? Excuse me for being skeptical about this chain of hearsay.

[leeuwen]

If there is a big issue I would expect to have seen pictures on this site or social media by now.

No issues with my Roam Aluula 10M.
But its likely that many people with the Roam, like me, use them for foiling.
That is hardly putting any stress on the kite compared to a twintip.
Not sure how many people actually fully load up the current batch of Aluula kites since they are mostly for lightwind/wave/foil.
However looks like OR put in quite some effort in getting the stitches right so I would find it unlikely to be a widespread/design issue.

[jumptheshark]

Not to perpetuate the hearsay chain of thought, but I would imagine that a lot of the loading of stitches in LEI kites is independent of how they are ridden. The canopy and pigtails and line components are for sure far less loaded for foiling, but inflation pressure and in some cases lack there of with resulting kinking, is likely responsible for most accrued air frame seam stress.

Remember the initial strength and tear tests? They were certainly impressive and indicate pretty robust properties. It's kinda my hope Alulla airframes have a functional load capacity that eclipses what were able to get with the average large volume hand pump. New products almost have to be dummy proof these days.

[adamj2281]

Has anyone had a problem with stitches pulled apart?

Have you? I probably have 30 to 40 sessions (who is counting...) on my roam 10 and it still looks like new.

Ditto - I'm probably in the 25 session mark on my 12m Roam - a mix of session types, mostly powered up. Looks brand new. I will say the material seems to have sand stick to it easier.

[grigorib]

Have you? I probably have 30 to 40 sessions (who is counting...) on my roam 10 and it still looks like new.

No, but a guy in FL complained to a friend that they do and I recalled discussion on bending the spectra and wondering if lesser elasticity would load stitches more.

So you heard about a guy in FL who supposedly complained to a friend that they do and now you're wondering if Spectra would load stitches more? Excuse me for being skeptical about this chain of hearsay.

To be more specific - a kite shop told an advanced rider, in person that they already had three 12m Aluulas seams go apart and impossible to see any potential defect on a new kite.
I’ve seen seams go apart on two other 2020 kites too, but because of earlier discussion on Dacron vs Aluula stretchability was wondering if those are just single occurrences, potentially user-inflicted. Or if factories are making slips in thread/manufacturing quality, potentially for more than one brand (other two kites were Rally GT v1 and SST 2020 which I saw personally)

I’m sure majority of kites are perfectly fine, otherwise would hear about it earlier, but when a kite shop complains casually - it’s kind of bigger event.

[Matteo V]

Thinner material would force the thread over a sharper bend, though the seam could easily be thickened.

Aluula could also have an abrasive quality that could cut thread fibers with use.

Not much data on what is actually going on. Would have been nice to hear more about the development challenges, in detail though. All I ever heard was that Aluula was difficult to create, and had some serious hurtles to get over in the construction process.