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New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby EastCC » Wed Aug 18, 2021 11:17 am

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby Havre » Wed Aug 18, 2021 11:44 am

So September - which probably means November :thumb:

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby Gestalt » Wed Aug 18, 2021 12:45 pm

It will be really interesting to see what Ocean Rodeo comes up with. I have two concerns about Aluula making it into a Big Air Kite. First the kite may be too fast for an average user given the smaller leading edge diameter. I jumped on my 8m A-roam, and one small deviation in my wrist and the kite rocketed straight into the water. Even for example the Evo SLS 10m I found uncomfortably fast, unless you have your timing dialed in near perfectly it's not fun for learning to boost. The margin for error goes down substantially on a faster kite. Many pros like to learn new tricks on bigger 12-14m kites precisely because they are slower, before translating that down into 10-8m size kites in higher winds.

The other major concern is the range, and here i mean the top end range. AT the top of THEIR range A-flites and A-roams handle very well, but their top end is 4 or 5 knots lower than comparable non Aluula kites for a given size. The efficiency of the Aluula design almost makes them too good so they get overpowered much easier given their size. Not exactly a great characteristic for a Big Air kite you want to push to the limit.....Having a small super rigid structure in 30-50knot winds could make the kite extremely twitchy, I think having a little flex is likely a good thing.

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby StellaBlu » Wed Aug 18, 2021 2:11 pm

Gestalt wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 12:45 pm

The other major concern is the range, and here i mean the top end range. AT the top of THEIR range A-flites and A-roams handle very well, but their top end is 4 or 5 knots lower than comparable non Aluula kites for a given size. The efficiency of the Aluula design almost makes them too good so they get overpowered much easier given their size. Not exactly a great characteristic for a Big Air kite you want to push to the limit.....Having a small super rigid structure in 30-50knot winds could make the kite extremely twitchy, I think having a little flex is likely a good thing.
This is interesting and Im trying to find consensus around the top end for Aluula wings and kites. I have heard opinions consistent with yours - the kites and wings are too stiff and become unmanageable at the top end of their range, or in gusty conditions. I have also heard others say that the rigidity helps the kites at the top end of their range and actually extends the top end. Very divergent opinions on the matter.

P.S. Im mixing and matching feedback between the kites and wings, which may differ with respect to range.

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby knotwindy » Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:51 pm

StellaBlu wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 2:11 pm
Gestalt wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 12:45 pm

The other major concern is the range, and here i mean the top end range. AT the top of THEIR range A-flites and A-roams handle very well, but their top end is 4 or 5 knots lower than comparable non Aluula kites for a given size. The efficiency of the Aluula design almost makes them too good so they get overpowered much easier given their size. Not exactly a great characteristic for a Big Air kite you want to push to the limit.....Having a small super rigid structure in 30-50knot winds could make the kite extremely twitchy, I think having a little flex is likely a good thing.
This is interesting and Im trying to find consensus around the top end for Aluula wings and kites. I have heard opinions consistent with yours - the kites and wings are too stiff and become unmanageable at the top end of their range, or in gusty conditions. I have also heard others say that the rigidity helps the kites at the top end of their range and actually extends the top end. Very divergent opinions on the matter.

P.S. Im mixing and matching feedback between the kites and wings, which may differ with respect to range.
How many of these folks offering their opinion about the top end have actually tried the kites?
WAG don’t count for much. :jump:

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby StellaBlu » Wed Aug 18, 2021 4:04 pm

knotwindy wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:51 pm
StellaBlu wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 2:11 pm
Gestalt wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 12:45 pm

The other major concern is the range, and here i mean the top end range. AT the top of THEIR range A-flites and A-roams handle very well, but their top end is 4 or 5 knots lower than comparable non Aluula kites for a given size. The efficiency of the Aluula design almost makes them too good so they get overpowered much easier given their size. Not exactly a great characteristic for a Big Air kite you want to push to the limit.....Having a small super rigid structure in 30-50knot winds could make the kite extremely twitchy, I think having a little flex is likely a good thing.
This is interesting and Im trying to find consensus around the top end for Aluula wings and kites. I have heard opinions consistent with yours - the kites and wings are too stiff and become unmanageable at the top end of their range, or in gusty conditions. I have also heard others say that the rigidity helps the kites at the top end of their range and actually extends the top end. Very divergent opinions on the matter.

P.S. Im mixing and matching feedback between the kites and wings, which may differ with respect to range.
How many of these folks offering their opinion about the top end have actually tried the kites?
WAG don’t count for much. :jump:
All of them! I haven't tried the kite, which is why I need to rely on others who have. Ive also been asking people who have tried the wing, because as you can probably tell, the sample size of people with hands on knowledge of these products is pretty small.

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby Gestalt » Wed Aug 18, 2021 5:09 pm

knotwindy wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 3:51 pm
How many of these folks offering their opinion about the top end have actually tried the kites?
WAG don’t count for much. :jump:
I personally have the 8m,10m Aluula Roam, and the 17m Aluula F-lite. I have personally also flown the 12m and 14.5m Aluula Flite's several times each.

The 17m A-Flite starts becoming unmanageable past 15 knots, where a 17m Juice can go to 20 knots.

The 12m Aluula Flite as per experience and the website starts getting overpowered at about 17-18 knots. For a 12m that's crazy.

My Core xr6 12m can do rated 24 knots easy, and I can hold it down to 26 knots.

The 8m A-Roam, which has amazing power dump capability, flies solid all the way to 28knots. It's quite fun in the 25-28 knot range, but I wouldn't jump with it. I also would not dare take it past 28 knots. Where a Neo 8-m will go up to 32 knots in comparison.

These kites are very stable right up until you hit their threshold, but that threshold is comparatively low at the top end. At the low end it's a different story.

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby Havre » Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:08 pm

Very interesting.

How would you say the wind range is? I would guess rather small for something like the 12m? I'm not exactly sure when I'm getting uncomfortable with my 12m Enduro, but I would imagine mid 20s. And it is rideable down to 16 or something for me (being tall and heavy). So for the Flite to have the same wind range it would have to go from somewhere around 18 to 10. I kind of doubt that.

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby Gestalt » Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:25 pm

The 12m A-Flite is claimed to go down to about 11-12 knots as per the website. You probably would need a lightwind board and work the kite like crazy. I haven't tried it to see....Maybe on my next trip. Low end is pretty amazing on these kites.

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Re: New 5 Strut Aluula: should Ocean Rodeo make a big air kite for boosting, old-school, airstyle?

Postby Havre » Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:06 pm

Gestalt wrote:
Wed Aug 18, 2021 6:25 pm
The 12m A-Flite is claimed to go down to about 11-12 knots as per the website. You probably would need a lightwind board and work the kite like crazy. I haven't tried it to see....Maybe on my next trip. Low end is pretty amazing on these kites.
Almost similar to my Zephyr then. Or I couldn't get down to 12, but it would go somewhere around 18 (probably slightly above) and quite far down.

I wouldn't mind have a 12m as the low wind kite. Just feels a bit unreal.

We'll see I guess, but based on your description if the Rise is somewhat similar it sounds like a 12m or 13 would make sense as a low wind kite, but that I wouldn't go Aluula with for example a 9m. Could go Orbit with that one and I should be quite well covered for most conditions.


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