Blank kite test with Youri Zoon

[Sun]

That would be a good test modification. Don’t tell Zoon what the kite is at all, not even category. Have him fly them, then tell us if they are freeride, freestyle, wave, etc. Basically rank them as to how good they are in the categories. A freeride kite will be decent at everything but not the best at any, freestyle would offer good slack, etc.

Gets him to assess and rank the qualities, not pigeon hole the kite into a category it does not belong in. Hell, who says the kite brands are good at placing their kites in the market? Maybe one brand’s surf kite is better at foiling than another’s foiling kite but is not marketed as such.

[edt]

I haven't tried the Rebel SLS myself, but I know the older Rebels. I love them, but they are quite "brutal" and very very slow in the bigger sizes. So without having tested the Edge (I pre-ordered so impossible) I made an educated guess on the Edge being slightly less "brutal" and not as slow as the Rebel. So far that is exactly how I think the Edge v11 is as well. Is it better? That is another discussion. So if I was going to eliminate one of them in such a test it would be quite pointless.

I've demoed both of those kites and my opinion is that all of those 5 strut kites have tremendous boost height and hang time, however, the rebel 5 strut kite is less "brutal" I guess is your word, the rebel in the larger sizes is a lot more agile in the air than the edge, and all around I think it's a slightly better kite. They are both very similiar but I like the handling of the rebel SLS better. The old rebels have nothing in common with the new rebels except for the name.

The more tests the better! These tests are great as for those who say they aren't perfect, well life isn't perfect, keep doing these blank kite tests, I have no complaint.

As for me I like 3 strut kites better than the 5 strut kites for free riding. When I want huge hang time, I skip the 5 strut kites entirely and bring out the soul.

[Havre]

I haven't tried the Rebel SLS myself, but I know the older Rebels. I love them, but they are quite "brutal" and very very slow in the bigger sizes. So without having tested the Edge (I pre-ordered so impossible) I made an educated guess on the Edge being slightly less "brutal" and not as slow as the Rebel. So far that is exactly how I think the Edge v11 is as well. Is it better? That is another discussion. So if I was going to eliminate one of them in such a test it would be quite pointless.

I've demoed both of those kites and my opinion is that all of those 5 strut kites have tremendous boost height and hang time, however, the rebel 5 strut kite is less "brutal" I guess is your word, the rebel in the larger sizes is a lot more agile in the air than the edge, and all around I think it's a slightly better kite. They are both very similiar but I like the handling of the rebel SLS better. The old rebels have nothing in common with the new rebels except for the name.

The more tests the better! These tests are great as for those who say they aren't perfect, well life isn't perfect, keep doing these blank kite tests, I have no complaint.

As for me I like 3 strut kites better than the 5 strut kites for free riding. When I want huge hang time, I skip the 5 strut kites entirely and bring out the soul.

I cannot comment on the Rebel SLS, but even if we disagree on the "old" Rebel it probably just shows that not everyone will agree on how kites behave - which just strengthens the argument that a test would be better with at least two riders (ideally even more, but of course one got to be realistic as well).

[edt]

I cannot comment on the Rebel SLS, but even if we disagree on the "old" Rebel it probably just shows that not everyone will agree on how kites behave - which just strengthens the argument that a test would be better with at least two riders (ideally even more, but of course one got to be realistic as well).

that's true of course. Even the same rider will have his or her opinion change over the years about the same exact kite as your style changes and you progress. It's so incredibly difficult though to get even a single top rider that isn't currently sponsored so to get Youri is a feat in itself. To get two top pros that currently aren't under a sponsorship of any kind (even those lame sponsorships you know where kites are half priced that low level pros get) seems impossible.

[rnelias]

Third episode