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spotz2 for heavy kiter?

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Guttorm
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spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby Guttorm » Sun Sep 06, 2015 11:40 am

Is the Spotz2 strong enough for a 108kg kiter?
Or is there other fast foils that are stronger and will fit me better?

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby Hawaiis » Sun Sep 06, 2015 12:00 pm

Spotz 2s are as strong as other brands on the market, if not stronger.

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davesails7
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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby davesails7 » Sun Sep 06, 2015 1:18 pm

General consensus I've heard is that the Sword 2 is stronger than Spotz 2, but I don't know what that is based on. I've heard a few people say they got the Sword 2 because they wanted to jump and didn't think it was safe to jump on Spotz 2.

I know Spotz had some quality issues when it first came out with Spotz 2, so I wonder if those few early breakages are what caused the concern?

I have seen some large guys riding Spotz 2, but I don't know how much they weigh.

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby Tone » Mon Sep 07, 2015 2:43 pm

davesails7 wrote:General consensus I've heard is that the Sword 2 is stronger than Spotz 2, but I don't know what that is based on. I've heard a few people say they got the Sword 2 because they wanted to jump and didn't think it was safe to jump on Spotz 2.

I know Spotz had some quality issues when it first came out with Spotz 2, so I wonder if those few early breakages are what caused the concern?

I have seen some large guys riding Spotz 2, but I don't know how much they weigh.
I am 106kg at the moment and the Spotz 2 is fine.

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby FrederikS » Mon Sep 07, 2015 6:28 pm

Bit of a hit an miss. Lots of Spotz 2 have been replaced, I have not heard about Sword 2s falling apart as a result of normal use yet. They usually break at the connection between mast and the fuselage where the stresses are greatest.

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davesails7
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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby davesails7 » Mon Sep 07, 2015 6:57 pm

Tone wrote: I am 106kg at the moment and the Spotz 2 is fine.
Do you jump with yours? (Feel free to PM me the answer so you don't publicly void your warranty :wink: )

I would love to jump, but I don't want to break it...

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby cglazier » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:58 am

I am happy of the performance of mine but there are two problems with the Spotz 2.

First there is a well known problem where the carbon area between the mast and fuselage becomes weak and fails. I had to have mine reinforced at a significant cost. A friend with the same problem sent his back to Spotz and they replaced it under warranty. His shipping costs were almost as much as my costs.

The other problem is some bonehead at the Spotz factory grinds down the Tuttle base edges on the mast to allow it to rotate forward and backward in the Tuttle box. I guess this allows you to change the angle of the mast, but it puts tremendous strain on the screws and the top of the board. Everyone here with a Spotz 2 has gone to a lot of trouble to rebuild the Tuttle part of the mast so it fits correctly into their board and distributes the load properly to the board. If you order a Spotz 2 I strongly recommend that you insist on a correct Tuttle mast connection, not one that has been butchered at the factory. (The Spotz 1 never had this problem).

:roll: CG

Maybe somebody who has bought one recently can advise if this Tuttle thing is still an issue.

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby Hawaiis » Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:15 am

I don't have the problem where the mast meets the fuselage, but mine does have the same problem where the mast meets the Tuttle box. The M6 screws kept coming loose and eventually striped the brass inserts. I had it replaced with 1/4" SAE. It still comes loose from time to time.

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby davesails7 » Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:56 pm

I'll get a picture of the Tuttle head on mine.

First 2 days out I was using non-stainless hardware because I couldn't find long enough stainless m6 bolts locally. The Tuttle fit was perfect, bolts weren't coming loose and no noise at any point.

Then I got my stainless bolts in the mail and I'm getting movement. The bolts aren't coming loose, but I hear a crackLing sound occaisionally. Seems to happen when I go from a downwind leg to upwind. The bolts are still tight at end of session, bUT that noise is disconcerting :-?

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Re: spotz2 for heavy kiter?

Postby IWB2 » Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:27 pm

cglazier,
the grinding of the tuttle base is not evident on the one i am using which is roughly 4 months old.


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