I've had this kite for a while now and feel I can give a decent review. This review is not sponsored but for full disclosure I picked the kite up for 15% off during the Eleveight promotion for being one of the first 200(?) to buy one of their kites.
For those interested here you go:
I'm an intermediate twin-tipper (front/back rolls, hand-drag, dark-slide, hangman) and beginner hydrofoiler (no problem going straight, still trying to obtain carving consistency). I'm usually kiteboarding in MI and 2018 is my eighth season kiteboarding.
I was looking for something to replace my 13.5m RRD Obsession which I purchased used. The Obsession is very heavy for its size, pulls like a truck, and has what I consider 8+ out of 10 bar pressure, where 10 is un-ridable for a full-day.
Late last year I picked up a new 14m RS from Adam Super at Sessionsports. Appropriately Adam was super responsive and answered all of my questions. The kite was shipped quickly and arrived well packaged. As I always do with a new kite, I inflated it and let it sit overnight to check for leaks. Unfortunately the next morning I saw that the kite was losing air. A quick check revealed that the o-ring in the inflate valve was deformed and not making a good seal. I called Adam and Eleveight had a complete inflate valve setup in my hands in two days. After swapping out just the o-ring the kite held air fine. I really like that the Eleveight inflate valve connects directly to a pump-hose, without any need for adapters. This is secure, offers unrestrictive air-flow, and there's no adapter required or to lose. Why all manufacturer's do not go this route is beyond me. After inflation it's just a half-twist of the cap, close 3 struts clamps and the kite is good to go. I think the Eleveight made good compromise decisions with this kite in terms of durability vs weight. There aren't heavy reinforcements or bumpers like you see on other kites, nor do I think that these are necessary for this type of kite. The bridle utilizes two sliders which I prefer to pullys. Another cool innovation is the anti line-snag feature near the rear attachment points; I've actually had a line snag there on one of my kites in the past. One item of note is that the kite has trailing-edge weights meant to reduce flutter and hence wear on the canopy. I checked with Eleveight and they said the kite can be flown without these rods in light wind. I haven't tried pulling them out to see how it would effect the kite, but if you plan to pack it down for travel you may want to consider pulling them out so they don't poke through or otherwise damage the kite while in transit. The rods are held in little pockets which close with velcro. The RS came in a very nice bag with shoulder strap and a zippered pocket + another little velvet pouch with some bladder and canopy patches. These would stack much nicer for transport in comparison to the backpack-type bags, but the con is that you cannot attach a board to it if you need to hike to your launch area. The 14m also comes with 3m line extensions which I used during most of my sessions. I find the additional length helpful due to the size of the kite and it is not much of a hit on kite responsiveness.
The 14m RS has a wing area-loading second only to the strutless Cloud when compared to the other LEIs in my "quiver", and the bar pressure is significantly lighter, around a 5 on my scale. I can kite on it all day, and because of its light wing-loading it does not fall from the sky when the wind lulls - nor does it overfly me. This is very much appreciated, especially when I'm foiling and there's little load on the lines when I'm initiating a turn. As with my other kites, when the wind is extremely light it's better to change directions by down-looping rather than bringing it over the top. The RS is most fun on a twintip though.
My favorite thing about the RS is how easy and forgiving it is to fly, while still giving me plenty of boost. I attribute some of that to its higher aspect ratio which I've come to prefer. I've been caught overpowered on it when the wind kicked up unexpectedly and it depowers nice and remains controllable. It's also quite manouvrable for its size and changes directions readily. Relaunch is typical for its size and shape. On the 14m in light surface winds I find pulling the opposite front line helpful. Kiteloops are very easy to manage and may even be a little docile for some. I consider this a positive because even at 14m^2, I'm not fearing for life and limb when I loop it, whether I do it slow or fast. Honestly I can't really find much to complain about here and I will definitely be buying more Eleveights in the future when the time comes. The RS has been solid and the company has been very responsive. They even sent me out a new set of extensions after I lost one somehow and asked to purchase a replacement.
I have no experience with the Eleveight bar; I didn't purchase one because I have enough bars already. One comment about pricing; when I looked at the Eleveight prices I thought that they didn't scale down well. That is, the big kites are inexpensive, I would say a bargain, compared to other kites of similar size - but as they got smaller their price competitiveness disappeared. This is just from my comparisons to the other kites I was interested in so YMMV.
Bar used with this kite: Liquid Force Response 2016 in 56cm mode
Other stuff:
Usual wind conditions where I ride: 12mph with gust potential
Kites I own/use:
Slingshot KeyHD 2010 10
RRD Obsession 2010 13.5
Boardriding Maui Cloud 1st Gen 17
Pansh Aurora 2015 19
Liquid Force Solo v2 2016 6.5
RRD Obsession Mk9 2017 12
Eleveight RS V1 2018 14
Naish Pivot 2017 9
Boards:
Slingshot Ignition 2010 140
Ocean Rodeo Mako 2017 140
LF Kitefish/Low Aspect Hyrdofoil 2016