I agree that it wasn't a very scientific statement. I have no clue as to the volume these brands sell either, but I don't think it is controversial to say that the XR has done well globally on those leaderboards. Well enough to at least indicate that weight for those kites isn't necessarily that important for their performance in terms of jumping high.Faxie wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:53 pmIn the Netherlands I see a LOT of Edges in the leaderboards. More than the rest. Comparable to XR's. Rebels a bit less, comparable to Pivots. Orbits not so much. My guess it that it mostly matters where you're at.Havre wrote: ↑Thu Oct 14, 2021 9:01 amIt would have been cool to know more about a) the real benefit of losing weight (how much it matters) b) the trade-offs both in terms of durability and performance (is it necessarily so that less weight means "better" performance for all types of kites? I guess not).
XR6 and 7 are according to Green Hat among the heavier kites around, but also recognized as one of the better performing ones (in that segment). Arguably XR7 and the Orbit are the two best performing "big air" kites for advanced riders while the Rebel and Edge are significantly lighter, but less common to see winning KOTA, Woo leaderboards etc.
For the KOTA riders, it all about sponsoring. I don't think it would matter that much to them if they were riding XR or Rebel.