feedback on Zeeko Notus Rev

[H2Oaltitude]

I'm looking down the barrel of a 10m Zeeko Notus Rev 2017 edition. Anyone have one or flown one? How about experience between 2017 & 2018 differences if any... Thanks for any info.

[alford]

I wish I could know the same. Brands like Zeeko, Takoon, Gong and even Switch are very difficult to get a read on. Most offer a 30 day trial period but you'll be on the hook for return shipping which could easily be $100 USD.

[H2Oaltitude]

I wish I could know the same. Brands like Zeeko, Takoon, Gong and even Switch are very difficult to get a read on. Most offer a 30 day trial period but you'll be on the hook for return shipping which could easily be $100 USD.

I have lots of respect for Nicolas as a designer & rider. Also, the small amount of info on the net (Zeeko) seems positive. I guess I wasn't aware that Zeeko offered a 30 day trial. I'd be okay w/a 100-150.00 demo if that is indeed the case. I'll have to check into that further. I'm still hoping with the world wide membership of this forum that someone will come forward w/some firsthand experience.

[alford]

Just curious, what makes you intrigued by Zeeko?
I'm not sure why but I'm interested in Gong kites.

[alford]

I will say this, the Zeeko UDS bar is very intriguing. I haven't tried one but the design seems very innovative.

[H2Oaltitude]

Just curious, what makes you intrigued by Zeeko?

I like the fact that Nicolas has been in the game since the beginning. He was one of the original designer for Takoon (Nova). He rides what he designs, innovative, and the style agrees with me. I had the chance to ride one of his foil designs and absolutely loved it. It got me hooked.
I also like flying something that isn''t one of the "big box store brands." I like a fast responding kite and this is suppose to be just that.

[alexeyga]

Have been riding a 12/9/7 quiver of 2015 REV-s for 3 seasons now.

200lb, a typical dangler/freestyler - slowly working my way up into serious looping and I really like to fly my kites quite aggressively meaning that I loop the crap out of it whether it's downlooping when turning or looping for transitions, tricks or simpy to keep the momentum going. So I tend to prefer stable, but nimble kites which respond well to steering input.

Of the bat I really liked how the 12 flew, but I was a little disappointed by its low-end. I could argue that the 2015 12m REV had the same low-end as a Bandit 10m give or take a few fractions of a knot. On the other hand - towards it's high end the REV felt light years ahead of the Bandit - it is that much better. Now - I do not know if there were any improvements in later generations of REVs with larger sizes - so take my comments for what they are. It is worth noting that 10m and larger REVs have a bridle with 2 pulleys instead of 4 on sizes 9 and down. Even on Zeeko's forum riders have noticed that this little detail makes a huge difference and most prefer 9m to 10m.

Last season I replaced the 12m Rev with the 12m Airush Union - no regrets.

The 9m on the other hand is jewel. Much better low end than the 12m - on a few occasions I was riding pretty nicely on the 9 when 12 only starts getting fun. It is by far my favorite kite to fly, boosts like crazy, loops like any self-respecting c-shaped kite is supposed to. As far as my 9m needs are concerned - this kite is da sh@t, and I have yet to try another kite which will make me feel like I'm missing something. In the beginning of this season I had the idea of refreshing the 9 with a Union 9, but even my dealer who sells both - suggested me to compare them back to back before changing - which I did and haven't found Union to be any better or worthy of a change only for the sake of changing.

7m - has only been out a half-dozen times and only on a couple of these sessions winds were of a decent quality - usually around here - winds over 30knts are more of survival than anything else. Overall whatever has been said about 9 applies to the 7 - less 2 sq.m.

Unfortunately I can't really report on performance of these kites in surf, I only had a couple of decent wave sessions with 9 and 7 and both times these were straight-on-shore conditions where I was really struggling to not outrun the kite because of a dying wind. Even though these are higher aspect kites, I know at least one local surf rider who's hanging to these kites and swears by them.

Overall the construction quality is top notch - it's right there with big boys like North or Cabrinha. Both 9 and 7 are still in very solid shape and besides an occasional itch about 9's re-freshing - I've got no intentions of changing either.

I used to have the Freestyle bar with the 12m, the one with a clamp-cleat and adjustable bar-ends. Even though it was a very nice bar, simple and functional - it had one large con - the hole in the bar was a little too narrow and I had to really pay attention to the flagging line not wrapping around the main line - otherwise it was jamming the bar going up or down. As such, I sold the original bar along with the 12m without any regrets and have been flying these of a spare Airush bar and I would strongly suggest to use these kites with any other "standard" bar like Cabrinha, SS, Airush or LF.

As a sidenote - at first I was flying both 9 and 7 on the "narrow" bar's setting, but with time I switched to the wider setting as these really need a definite input when looping.

[H2Oaltitude]

alexeyga,THANK YOU so much for taking the time to post. Exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate the thorough review and thanks for the clue on the 9m and the 4 pulleys vs the 2. This is a game changer in my decision to go 9m. Thanks also for the bar review. something else to consider for sure. 2018 model has a 20% decrease in bridal length. Maybe a fix for the bridle feel/response?


Mahalo,
Regards, Keith

[alexeyga]

alexeyga,THANK YOU so much for taking the time to post. Exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate the thorough review and thanks for the clue on the 9m and the 4 pulleys vs the 2. This is a game changer in my decision to go 9m. Thanks also for the bar review. something else to consider for sure. 2018 model has a 20% decrease in bridal length. Maybe a fix for the bridle feel/response?

Hey, you're welcome! Hopefully it was helpful. I'm also curious to test later versions of the Rev - there are a few around on our local spots - I'll try to grab one someday.

As a side note, it is a shame that Nicolas has discontinued the old Notus - it was a great all-rounder/beginner's kite. I found a 12m Notus for a friend during last summer and took it out for a spin in lighter conditions - had a blast. Very grunty, yet plushy and easy to fly kite. Zeeko should've kept these at least in bigger sizes.

[Frank82]

I've had a quiver of zeeko krush 2014, they were ok kites. Nothing special but not bad.

I did have several issues with the kites though, in some configurations the kite would jellyfish pretty bad in windy conditions, I had to adjust the frontlines to get rid of this. The 9m which I used the most had a bent wingtip from looping it to one side. Never had this issue with any other kite.

It was my first time to buy from such a small brand and I won't do it again, had more issues than with other bigger brands.