Help with beginner setup - but will ride 3 months nearly every day

[topofan]

Hi - I'm looking to start kitesurfing - and plan to ride 2-4 hours every day starting the day after tomorrow. Will be taking a 7 hours private course - then hope to get on myself. I have loads of snowboard experience (very high level freeride / high leven raceboarding/boardercross, shitty at freestyle) and lots of paragliding experience (mainly cross country and competing pretty well for just flying a couple of years - but also a bit of acro). So as I can kite my paraglider quite well, I guess kiting a kitesurfing kite shouldn't be hard (a lot less complex for sure).


I live in Cyprus and the shops here didn't seem very well priced vs online from Germany with free shipping (or at least if your a foreigner - locals always pay less here).
So I will be riding a lot - and looking for a kit that I don't outgrow too quickly. But not sure yet where I will develop too.

Size 180cm/67kg
Wind here - usually 15-22 knots I heard, often however also just around 11-12knots - sometimes but rarely higher in spring to autumn. Won't be riding in winter.
I guess I will mainly get into riding fast (but not racing - more high g-forces) and jumps (but little tricks except maybe rolls) - so more freeride than freestyle I guess. Waves are usually small here - if at all.

So I thought:
Wing: 2017 RRD Religion MK VII cyan / 10,5 m (it's cheap, 498€ new - it's indestructible and if I get a second wing sometimes - this can be my big kite). School wing here will be a 10.5 RRD Vision on most days for my weight.

Board: 2018 RRD Placebo V6 incl Binding 139 x 42 cm - 288€ (it's cheap, it's beginner friendly,) or 2018 RRD Bliss Ltd. V5 incl RAD PAD Bindings 137x41cm - 428€ (size is more appropriate - and I guess it leaves more room to progress. Then however maybe in 1-2 months I would like a foil instead and should just go with the cheaper Placebo?) Being carbon version it should be a bit faster and offer enough room for progression?

Bar: 2019 RRD Global Bar 8.2 55cm Width - 298€: I guess as I have RRD wing, it's the sensible choice. Older versions not much cheaper.

Harness: 2019 ION Radar 48/S - it's cheap and popular.. 139€ - or should I buy a harness locally. Same quality will run around 200€ here - not sure if as a beginner I can really tell the difference of what I need.

And a shorty wetsuit in my size for autumn..
Not sure if I should get a pump too. I think there are always lots of people - hence pumps around here.

[tomato]

You should take you lessons first, then you will understand what kite size you need. Boards normally are fine second hand, no need to pay 400EUR for beginer board.

Are you planning to buy from you-love-it.eu ? they have nice prices listed, but not all goods are in stock.

[HALF]

Do not buy the harness online, all harnesses fit differently and if you don't get a good fit for you you will regret it later, it is like snowboarding boots you need to try several before you find what is good for you.

[Onda]

DON´T buy at you-love-it.eu
You will reget it very much!
Their prices look super low. But you´ll probably never receive what you´ve ordered. That guys are friendly and knowledable and try their best, really. But unfortunately that shop is very chaotic when it comes to logistics and billing / handling orders properly.

I´m writing this as a German who don´t want the German image to be ruined by this particular shop.
YLI is fine as long as you´re able to personally pick the purchase up at the shop. And pay at pick up...
Any other online shop will be fine, though.

[HugoMC]

If you call or message Gerrit in You-love-it before buying. Ask does he have the items in stock. He might even give you a better deal if you say you'll buy everything off him

I have bought a few bits off him. He isn't quickest but he certainly is cheap. In my experience he does try and sort out orders but it isn't near as smooth as kiteworldshop etc.

Alternatively buy secondhand kites if you can. Some of the older discounted kites will be difficult to resell.

[1234567Simon]

This is just my opinion, many will disagree on my kite sizing, even on the beach.
I am 75 kg.

With Aprox 20 Knots of wind: not thinking one second: this is my 7m kite.

With winds from 10-22knots I could use my full quiver 17/12/9/7/5

What I want to say: one kite us not enough.
10,5 is a stupid size.
12/9 for the beginning. With 67kg maybe better 9/7

My opinion.

[PullStrings]

Sounds like a bogus thread from Foolkookio

[Blackened]

Do not buy the harness online, all harnesses fit differently and if you don't get a good fit for you you will regret it later, it is like snowboarding boots you need to try several before you find what is good for you.

This. Never buy a harness online, unless you have experience with that particular model. Then it's still better to at least support the local shop.

[lenzsurf]

DON´T buy at you-love-it.eu
You will reget it very much!
Their prices look super low. But you´ll probably never receive what you´ve ordered. That guys are friendly and knowledable and try their best, really. But unfortunately that shop is very chaotic when it comes to logistics and billing / handling orders properly.

I´m writing this as a German who don´t want the German image to be ruined by this particular shop.
YLI is fine as long as you´re able to personally pick the purchase up at the shop. And pay at pick up...
Any other online shop will be fine, though.

Plain bullshit, all my orders at that Shop were shipped almost immediately. Stop trash talking on a shop. Just because maybe 1% of the orders have issues.

[topofan]

yeah - I want to order at YLI - especially with the tax cut since yesterday again a bit cheaper. Okay so better no harness - understood that it's better to try on. I went for 10.5 because that's what the school here recommended for me. So you think I really need a 3 kite setup - like 7 - 9 - 12.

If 7/9 would work, or 12/9 could work as well - then maybe 8/10.5 would be fine too? Or even 7/10.5. Is the usable range really so close? Snowboard boots aren't a good comparison. I just buy the shortest stiffest I can get, throw away the rubbish liner (all liners are sadly rubbish) - go to a bootfitter - and pay a lot to get a custom made leather liner that will outlast 3-4 shells of the same model. First this allows to downsize 1 Mondopoint - second it gives way better power transfer/more comfy (for skiboots it's even more like this. Any racing skiboot shell in proper size will do after fitting it for some hours - and no stock skiboot will even get close in performance. You can easily switch racing/freeride skis from one brand to another - all very similar - but if you lose your boot you need at least 1-2 weeks of fitting/adapting until you are competition ready again)