How good is Nexus 2 for foiling?

[SolarSet]

Hi Team,

I got decent offer to buy new Nexus 2 10m with discount 25% as I’m looking for more all round setup for TT and foiling but I didn’t see many people foiling on nexus and heard some foiling opinion that Nexus is simply too heavy comparing to other 3 struts.

I was going to sell my XR6 8/11m and move to 3 quiver setup 8/10/12-13m with all 3 strut kite like Supermodel/Pivot or something similar but now I’m thinking about selling just xr6 11m and buying Nexus 10 and 12m.

Drawback of core kites it harder to self land with none around and this could be something I will do more often while foiling in the early morning

[leeuwen]

Disclaimer: do not own a Nexus so I will consider and a "normal/heavy three strut"

The answer depends on your wind range, riding style, and willingness to accept sub-optimal performance.
You can make most kites work down to about 10 knots freeriding BUT it will require more technique and relaunch will become more difficult depending on shape and weight.
e.g. doing a carve without downloop will be a lot easier/possible with a light good drifting kite but if you are comfortable with downloops it doesn't matter that much.
Also if you aim to ride waves with the foil you REALLY need a good drifting kite and sooner or later you will look at something that is build for drift.

If your aim is to go below 10 knots I would look at lighter kites for sure either being Aluula/Aluula Hybrid/One Strut/No Strut/Foil
Do note that you get extremely diminishing returns once you hit about 8 knots, going lower than 8 maybe 7 isn't really worth it IMHO unless you go racing.

Regarding self landing: in sub 12 knots with kite sizes aimed at foiling anything works basically.

Some other considerations:
* 25% discount is not out of the ordinary special so don't get to exited you got a "super deal" you need to take advantage off
* The bar throw is pretty short on the core bar. I did not mind with my XRs on twintip but on a foil I REALLY recommend a bar with the biggest bar throw you can find.
The ability to instantly depower your kite by just throwing out the bar or intentionally backstalling a loop is super convenient and I would never go back to a short bar throw.
* You might end up going for more or less foiling than you think and I would personally go with a single kite first and not replace your whole quiver.
Decide like after like 40-50 sessions on the foil what you want exactly, your taste of kites and kite sizes might change based on your foiling experience.

[nothing2seehere]

Not sure you Core kites are any more difficult to self land than other brands. Just rest on a wing tip and walk up the centre lines to the kite. Works reliably (provided you take your gloves off first)

Consider what wind speeds you are going to be riding in. E.g. 12m kite is bit for a foil and will need excellent kite flying skills to get the best of the bottom end. 10m kite is generally good from 9-10knots on a foil up to maybe 18 knots.

In my experience though, the XR6 is not the easiest kite to foil with and you'd be changing from the 10m Nexus to the 8m at about 15 knots so you'd potentially be on the XR6 for a good chunk of time whilst foiling.

In general though, the more surf suitable the kite - the easier the kite is to foil with - so the Nexus 2 should be at a similar level to a supermodel/pivot for foiling. Never ridden one though. Have you thought of picking up a secondhand single strut kite (Airush ultra/Naish Boxer/Duotone Mono) in 9-10m? There must be a good few kicking around on the secondhand market and foiling kites. My gen 1 Airush ultra is still mint condition because its only ever in light wind and hardly ever touches the water (unlike my twin tip kites) so you should be able to get something in good condition. Keep the XR6s for boosting sessions.

[Foil]

Nexus 2 kites are great kites, I owned 3 new generation 2 ones largest being the 11mtr, i say owned as the worry for me was foiling in light airs, and just the chance of me dropping the kite in, which I did a couple of times and realised very quickly they were super hard to get back up, and tested my swimming in powers, which are not great, so i tried out lighter kites that would work well for both Ttip and kitefoil, two main considerations this time was jumping on both Ttip and Foil, relaunch,and ability to hover up there in light airs, the Nexus was great at boosting and great fun on both Ttip and Foil.
I changed to Duotone Evo SLS, they do just what i was looking for, relaunch is ok, but not the best out there, others i tested were good at relaunch but useless at boosting, and the Evo was easily the most fun to use, super fast and reactive to bar input, on a par with the Nexus 2 in many areas, Nexus is a bit better in the waves,
if you are likely to drop your kite whilst light wind foiling,then the Nexus may not be the best choice, location conditions will need to be factored in to make a more balanced choice as will availability of rescue boat and ability to swim in with your kit, the smaller Nexus kites are much easier to keep in the sky, so if your a good foiler with great kite skills then go small and have fun throwing it around a bit more.

[SolarSet]

Thanks gents, I'm planning to foil mainly between 10 and 20kts I had soul and learnt how annoying can be foiling in less than 10kts when it falls from sky and getting it relaunch, no fun whatsoever.
My plan is to move to 3 quiver 3-strut kite setup and even had DT Evo on my short list but I'm not sure they pay enough attention to quality.

Its easier to self land kite on low V bar as you can pull easily one of the front line unlike on Core or DT bar where bar has high Y and getting right front line is more difficult.

[nothing2seehere]

Thanks gents, I'm planning to foil mainly between 10 and 20kts I had soul and learnt how annoying can be foiling in less than 10kts when it falls from sky and getting it relaunch, no fun whatsoever.
My plan is to move to 3 quiver 3-strut kite setup and even had DT Evo on my short list but I'm not sure they pay enough attention to quality.

Its easier to self land kite on low V bar as you can pull easily one of the front line unlike on Core or DT bar where bar has high Y and getting right front line is more difficult.

Its a single frontline safety. If you want to pull just one line that line goes right through your bar to the secondary quick release attached to your harness. Pretty convenient right? Not a landing method I personally like though as it doesn't scale up as successfully in my experience as the wind builds.

Also - how long are your arms? The V split point is normally further away than a stretched arm distance (max through + additional trim) so you are going to need to climb the lines anyway. Have you considered tether launching and landing? Might work at your spot and solve your launch and landing problems?

Failing that you can always just land the kite on a wing tip - unhook the chicken loop and walk upwind to let the kite flag out. Sure you have to reset all the lines after you recover the kite but its a safe and easy method to use to self land.

[SolarSet]

Gents whats better for foiling and TT XR 8m with 9/12m Nexus or 10/12m Nexus?

[ShaveTheWhales]

Gents whats better for foiling and TT XR 8m with 9/12m Nexus or 10/12m Nexus?

My friend is about 100kg and uses 9 & 12 Nexus..

[rnelias]

Gents whats better for foiling and TT XR 8m with 9/12m Nexus or 10/12m Nexus?

Get just one mid size 1-struct kite and it'll probably be the kite that you'll mostly use.

8-10m Ultra, Alpha or Boxer, depending on your weight and wing and it'll will make you foil from 8-16k with little effort.

Here I have an Elev8 RS 9m for boosting on tt and a 9m Boxer that I use for foiling. This Boxer has at least 10x more sessions than the RS and my bigger kite, a Bandit 12m I've just sold since it was collecting dust lately. I think It'll mostly depend on how you'll like foiling