Any OR Crave reviews yet?

[matth]

This kite looks interesting for free ride, wave. Also wondering if it will replace the Roam...

[EastCC]

The Crave won't replace the Roam.
Roam IMO is better for onshore wave riding and foiling than the Crave.

If you are pure strapless in typical onshore waves and / or wanting a kite for foiling then the new 2020 Roam seems like the kite. Light bar pressure and the weight reduction this year has it drifting and responding to input perfectly, really liking this kite.

Crave has a bit more bar pressure, better boosting (it feels like it may be the best in the OR line up) better hangtime and better upwind. I have only tried the 10m Crave so far at the bottom end of its range so I can only comment on that, the profile and amount of FST change in each kite size.

Freeride, TT, strapless freestyle / boosting mixed with wave riding the Crave is a great option.

Both are really great kites, just different.

But hats off to Ocean Rodeo design team this season, there's some really great and noticeable improvements across the whole range of kites.

[adamj2281]

Here's my quick review, although it's incomplete at this point, I only have 2 sessions on it. I'll come back and give a more complete picture once I have some more time with it.

Background:
Coming off a full Roam quiver (7/9/12) - mostly into strapless surf and foil, with a bit of twintip mixed in (5% of the time). I am a big believer of getting kites that suit the wind range properly, i.e. 12m (75% foil/25% surf), 9m (65% surf probably, 25% foil, 10% twintip - when I feel like not being an old man and boosting), 7m - probably a split of surf/foil. It seems I like to foil when it's really light or when there's a bit of wind but it's flat, I just never really want to be overpowered on it. My 9m range really doesn't get a ton of foil use. My quiver this year will probably be 12m Roam/9m Crave/7m Roam

I was on the Razors before the Roams when I still did a bit more twintip riding, mixed a Prodigy in there for a year as well.

Initial Thoughts:
The initial thing you will notice is the smaller LE, the kite is light, and really agile in the wind. On a surfboard, it took a bit to get used to coming off the Roam, not in a bad way, it's just different. The Roam drifts really well, but it's not super quick to pivot and turn off a bottom turn. This is where the Crave shines, so....if you are coming into the flats and looking to redirect into a wave either by downloop or just a turn, it's much quicker and a tighter window than the Roam. I think it's very well suited for aggressive surf and I'm sure it will boost amazingly well. I mostly rode a surfboard, but when the wind dropped off, I brought out the foil. I'm not an expert foiler by any means, I'm barely half a season in, probably 15 sessions or so, but I can foil rather confidently, ride toeside, etc. I foiled with it a bit as the wind dropped, to be honest it was less than perfect conditions to try and foil, so.....I'll hold opinion back, but it seems the Roam is better suited with respect to a nice slow drift on the foil.

So, who's this for? If you are into a mix of strapless surf with some freestyle mixed in, this is your kite. I think in a direct comparsion with the other kites in OR's range, it's definitely got a quicker/tighter feel compared to the Roam, so you can redirect in a smaller area than the Roam, and then out the back it doesn't stall out as you drift down the wave (this is where the Razor would start to stall). If you are riding in mostly onshore conditions or foiling a large majority of the time, I'd go with the Roam. If you are in sideshore waves and going for a bit more aggression - Crave. Also, again, probably because of the smaller LE and overall weight, it feels incredibly nimble in the air. I'm going to fly it back to back with my Roam to see the difference and report back.

It's like they took the turning aspects of the Razor and toned it down enough to drift and be smooth enough to surf. Great for downloops into waves and quick redirects in the pocket.

I'll post a bit more once I get some more sessions.

[matth]

Sounds good, thanks for the reviews.....

[BrunoC]

I don’t have enough sessions on mine yet for a full review but I’ve ridden the 9m crave in gusty 7m conditions and ridden the 12m crave in light winds (14-16mph). All times on a Tona pop TT.

They are stable yet fast turning. the 9m depowers well and eats up the gusts without issue. Boost was excellent and hang-time noticeably longer vs. Razors.

My initial impression is quite positive. They seem like they will serve me well as an aggressive TT freerider who occasionally rides a surfboard in the ocean or in flat water.

More to come once I have a dozen or so sessions..

[matth]

I don’t have enough sessions on mine yet for a full review but I’ve ridden the 9m crave in gusty 7m conditions and ridden the 12m crave in light winds (14-16mph). All times on a Tona pop TT.

They are stable yet fast turning. the 9m depowers well and eats up the gusts without issue. Boost was excellent and hang-time noticeably longer vs. Razors.

My initial impression is quite positive. They seem like they will serve me well as an aggressive TT freerider who occasionally rides a surfboard in the ocean or in flat water.

More to come once I have a dozen or so sessions..

Nice!!! Sounds like a good fit for me....mostly TT, 25% surfboard. I have boxers for foiling, so all set there....

[adamj2281]

I don’t have enough sessions on mine yet for a full review but I’ve ridden the 9m crave in gusty 7m conditions and ridden the 12m crave in light winds (14-16mph). All times on a Tona pop TT.

They are stable yet fast turning. the 9m depowers well and eats up the gusts without issue. Boost was excellent and hang-time noticeably longer vs. Razors.

My initial impression is quite positive. They seem like they will serve me well as an aggressive TT freerider who occasionally rides a surfboard in the ocean or in flat water.

More to come once I have a dozen or so sessions..

Nice!!! Sounds like a good fit for me....mostly TT, 25% surfboard. I have boxers for foiling, so all set there....

Yeah perfect fit to that mix, also, I still think it's going to be better in surf than the Roam if you are in side-shore conditions and going for aggressive slashes and little airs. The Roam will still have a slight edge on drift I think, but you are gaining a ton of nimbleness. It's a really perfect mix for me on a 9m.

[SENDIT!]

I just got my first session on the 12m Crave a couple of days ago. I was properly powered and easily going upwind on my Mako 150. I fly lots of things from lots of brands, but love my Flites for light wind and use a 7 and 9.5 Prodigy when stronger winds provide the opportunity. Since I've only gotten the one session so far, my experience is limited, but so far here's my thoughts:

It's been a long time since I've spent much time on a C kite. The Crave gave me flashbacks to the explosive launch off the water that my old c kites would deliver. You know...that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach that makes you giggle like a little girl? Nope...me neither.

Unlike my c kites of old, this has pretty good hangtime, though not likely as much as the Flite. It's tough to say, but someone that was demoing it with me said he didn't think I was staying up as long. I didn't feel that way really, but...more time will tell.

Upwind seemed to be about the same as the Flite, so pretty good.

This kite is very responsive, so I think that kite loopers will be able to have plenty of fun. I got spanked a couple of times getting used to how fast it was when I was playing around with it.

Gut feeling: After one session, I'm thinking that I may replace my 7 & 9.5 Prodigys with Craves. The 12m Flite is hard to beat in light winds, so I'm not sure yet on that one. I look forward to getting some more sessions on it.

Side note-the other kiter demoing it with me told me that he's going to be replacing his 9.5 Prodigy with the Crave.

Hope that helps!

SENDIT!

[adamj2281]

Quick update on my last post regarding the 9m Crave. I've had 2 more solid, pretty lit sessions on it, both strapless surfboard. To expand on my notes before, here are a few more and who this kite is best for:

-Surf:
The crave is a lot lighter and more responsive than the Roam and Prodigy, more Razor than those kites. So........if you are looking for really quick redirects on bottom turns or powered downloops into slashes, this kite wins hands down. I'm making much more aggressive, tighter turns back into the wave face from the flats after a bottom turn. I slackened the lines quite a bit today and it drifted pretty well, not as well as the Roam, but it's a tradeoff.

I got it out in side-off winds as well, and it really excelled. I figured this would be an issue with the drifting of the Roam beating it out, but in side-off I want something that will crank upwind (which it does) and something that pivots quick along with down the line drift. It did really well, really the drift surprised me after the first few sessions, I think I just needed to find the right spot to sit it.

So, if you are into a nice mix of surf/freestyle this is your kite, if you are mostly foil/surf go Roam. Prodigy is probably best for a mix of old school boosting and surf.

PM me or reply if you have any specific questions.

[matth]

Quick update on my last post regarding the 9m Crave. I've had 2 more solid, pretty lit sessions on it, both strapless surfboard. To expand on my notes before, here are a few more and who this kite is best for:

-Surf:
The crave is a lot lighter and more responsive than the Roam and Prodigy, more Razor than those kites. So........if you are looking for really quick redirects on bottom turns or powered downloops into slashes, this kite wins hands down. I'm making much more aggressive, tighter turns back into the wave face from the flats after a bottom turn. I slackened the lines quite a bit today and it drifted pretty well, not as well as the Roam, but it's a tradeoff.

I got it out in side-off winds as well, and it really excelled. I figured this would be an issue with the drifting of the Roam beating it out, but in side-off I want something that will crank upwind (which it does) and something that pivots quick along with down the line drift. It did really well, really the drift surprised me after the first few sessions, I think I just needed to find the right spot to sit it.

So, if you are into a nice mix of surf/freestyle this is your kite, if you are mostly foil/surf go Roam. Prodigy is probably best for a mix of old school boosting and surf.

PM me or reply if you have any specific questions.

How was the bar pressure and depower..???