Opinions on next Cabrinha kite

[jocol]

Hi all,

I have one Cabrinha Switchblade 12m, that got me into an independent level.
Now I am looking into buying a smaller 9m kite to improve my level, getting more confidence, starting with some jumps.

I was thinking in another Switchblade 9m, or maybe a Moto 9m. Maybe an Fx 9m?

What do you guys think?

Cheers!

[GJibb]

Don't read into things too much, buy a kite and go ride it. Maybe after a few years (depending on how often you get to ride) you'll know more specifically what you like/want. It's all hype. An early rider would be perfectly capable of using all three. An all round kite jumps great and you can learn everything you can on an aggressive kite.
Marketing messes with peoples heads too much. We're talking minute differences that the earlier user wouldn't entirely understand, let alone push it remotely close to its limits.
If you have a switchblade and don't mind its turn speed/harness pull, bar weight etc then the smaller one will similar but faster. If you think its aggressive then an all round kite like a Moto would be excellent. If you think its tame and boring and want a kite that you can make yank you all over the place then an FX will be fantasic.

If you are more concerned with just getting time on the water (which you should be) then buy the most all round kite you can find. It might jump 1m lower then a performance freeride kite but it still teaches you how to jump and you won't have any less of a smile. It might have half the line slack that a mid-freestyle kite has but you can absolutely still learn to pop and raley with it.

Don't waste time obsessing, and that's from personal experience. And people's opinions are absolutely dumb in the end. Time on the water is the absolute only important factor. Any kite since 2012 works the treat.

[SWO_kite]

Don't read into things too much, buy a kite and go ride it. Maybe after a few years (depending on how often you get to ride) you'll know more specifically what you like/want. It's all hype. An early rider would be perfectly capable of using all three. An all round kite jumps great and you can learn everything you can on an aggressive kite.
Marketing messes with peoples heads too much. We're talking minute differences that the earlier user wouldn't entirely understand, let alone push it remotely close to its limits.
If you have a switchblade and don't mind its turn speed/harness pull, bar weight etc then the smaller one will similar but faster. If you think its aggressive then an all round kite like a Moto would be excellent. If you think its tame and boring and want a kite that you can make yank you all over the place then an FX will be fantasic.

If you are more concerned with just getting time on the water (which you should be) then buy the most all round kite you can find. It might jump 1m lower then a performance freeride kite but it still teaches you how to jump and you won't have any less of a smile. It might have half the line slack that a mid-freestyle kite has but you can absolutely still learn to pop and raley with it.

Don't waste time obsessing, and that's from personal experience. And people's opinions are absolutely dumb in the end. Time on the water is the absolute only important factor. Any kite since 2012 works the treat.

This should be the 'stock' response to the question "which kite is best for...." to anyone who's been riding less than two years. Just replace the kite names with whatever is most relevant.

[Dave_5280]

........

[Blackened]

What these guys said. In addition to the above, an around freeride kite doesn't usually hurt as bad when you screw up. Building confidence and not fearing to fail is much more important.

Sometimes I still wish I had my larger Evos (Moto equivalent) for learning stuff.

[SolarSet]

FX would be considerably different for a beginner in going upwind and once he starts first jumps. It's a big ignorant to throw these kites in the same bag. For intermediate rider probably difference wouldn't matter as much as they can get more from any kite.

Moto and Swichblade, yes these two wouldn't make much difference for a beginner however, second one has better resale value.

[Lucaarsenault]

Hey Jocol,

Some good points above.

From my personal experience from flying the 3 different models. I'd say stick with the switchblade. The 9m is very fun size. It will also have a very familiar feeling coming from the 12m Switchblade. You'll feel right at home. Smooth, stable, predictable kite and as mentioned above... great resale value. Good kite for all-around.

[juanpasala]

Keep with the switchblades, grest all arround kites. Definetly avoid the Moto (even if they are discounted).
Only consider Fx if you are into freestyle/ kitelooping, if not the switchblade jumps higher, goes upwind better and is overall easier to manage.

[Neurovelo]

Keep with the switchblades, grest all arround kites. Definetly avoid the Moto (even if they are discounted).
Only consider Fx if you are into freestyle/ kitelooping, if not the switchblade jumps higher, goes upwind better and is overall easier to manage.

I was thinking on changeing my 12mt switchblade to the moto.
:/ most of it I use a twintip and a hydrofoil.

[Diego Gama]

I would go for switchable instead Moto. I had a moto, was my first kite but switchable is better for jumping is compared to my rebel 5 structures kite. You can learn kite well for jumping. You don’t need get much speed, you don’t need much space, the only struggle that is specific kite for jumping and really good upwind kite. Furthermore you will go an decide what you really want and what style. If you want just learn to jump best option is the switchable, avoid the moto as one of our colleague here said it’s difficult to resale it.