Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Liquid Force Solo review

Forum for kitesurfers
small wave kiter
Rare Poster
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:54 pm
Local Beach: -Fehmarn
- St.Peter-Ording
Favorite Beaches: - Wissant
- Hvide Sande
- Hanstholm
Style: starpless waveriding
Gear: Liquid Force Solo, Cabrinha Drifter, Cabrinha Subwoofer 5.8 and F-One Mitu Pro 5.10
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Liquid Force Solo review

Postby small wave kiter » Sat Jul 26, 2014 9:58 am

Image

Solo 12m

We had the solo original completely ignored because we could not imagine that it also works in waves. Due to the wind forecasts and the very good recommendation from Liquid Force, we have decided to take the solo 12m ² in the testing pool.

The corresponding winds ran too many tests in the wind range of 10-14 knots and 15-19 knots. Rider 85 kilos, 105 kilos and 115 kilos, all three with waveboard. Once ridden the solo, we are all stoked! We had the opportunity to compare solo Kite with 2014 Rally in 14m and 2014 Switchblade in 12m.

Image

Let's start with the bag:

Liquid Force uses dacron for the bag. The bag fits to the light weight of the Kite. You can certainly discuss the pros and cons.

Facilities:

This time LF offers the Kite without a bar at very low price. Included in delivery are bag and repair kit. Repair kit includes the Adapter for max flow Inflation system, so it is not necessary to buy a new pump.

The kite:

Thanks to one strut design and max flow inflation system, inflation is done in seconds. The bar feedback in delivery status was a bit too low, therefore we used the inner knots with heavier bar feedback. The solo in 12m beat Cabrinha Switchblade 12m in lowend, upwind and turns faster. Lowend to Rally14m is equal, but solo goes even better upwind and turns faster. Person with 115kg and waveboard can ride upwind from 12 knots and hold the solo easily up to approx.18 knots. The bar feeling is crispy and comfortable to find the pressure point. For tricks you have to get used to the on - off effect. Quick generated in the other direction tear rattle in the towel but not too disruptive. Lift comes abruptly and with a long hang time.
Water relaunch is insane quick and easy, by pull a backline. We never had a critical situation that the solo will fall from sky. It's pretty stable in sky and difficult to drop. The Solo just floats with and keeps the line tension.

For which persons do we recommend the 12m solo?

- Low-wind with waveboard
- Beginner and cruiser

We liked:

- very quick inflation
- low weight of kite
- lowend and abnormal upwind ability
- turns extremely fast for 12m
- park and ride feeling
- price performance

what we don't like:

- Kitebag
- Rattle of the Kite in fast turns, but concept wise not really disturbing
- For special tricks with the waveboard some acclimatization period

Due to the great impression, we will now dare us with skepticism to the 9s solo. We will test it in the next days.

Special thanks again to Liquid Force for the possibility of testing, thumbs up!

ALOHA

Andreas, Daniel and Martin

www.united-ocean-sports.de

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

User avatar
JimmyRyder
Rare Poster
Posts: 44
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2012 10:36 am
Kiting since: 2012
Weight: 220
Local Beach: Atlanta - GA
Ocean Side - GA, SC, NC
Tampa - FL
Favorite Beaches: Tampa - USA
Cape Hatteras - USA
Charleston - USA
Tarifa - Spain
Lefkada - Greece
Rhodos - Greece
Gokceada - Turkey
Urla - Turkey
Alacati - Turkey
Cesme - Turkey
Soma Bay - Egypt
Elgouna - Egypt
Marsala - Italy
Mamaia - Romania
Sulina - Romania
Style: FreeRide; Snowkiting;
Gear: 2020 North - REACH - 10m
2020 Liquid Force - NV - 13.5m
2019 Liquid Force - SOLO - 15.5m

2020 Liquid Force - ABSOLUTE - 140cm
2020 Liquid Force - POD 4'4 - HydroBoard
2020 Liquid Force - IMPULSE - Hydrofoil
2020 Liquid Force - MESSENGER - Surfboard
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Atlanta / Tampa
Has thanked: 21 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Liquid Force Solo review

Postby JimmyRyder » Thu Aug 14, 2014 11:14 am

Hello "small wave kiter",

This was a great review and I would like to ask your about the Light-Wind area what's your pro opinion in regard to Kite Brand / Model that would be worth buying (local wind conditions are mostly 10-15 knots throughout the year,... sometimes 15-20 knots - so a light wind machine would be great.

Also what's your review and comments about the LF SOLO 15.5m ? (I was thinking to get this kite/size next).



small wave kiter wrote:Image

Solo 12m

We had the solo original completely ignored because we could not imagine that it also works in waves. Due to the wind forecasts and the very good recommendation from Liquid Force, we have decided to take the solo 12m ² in the testing pool.

The corresponding winds ran too many tests in the wind range of 10-14 knots and 15-19 knots. Rider 85 kilos, 105 kilos and 115 kilos, all three with waveboard. Once ridden the solo, we are all stoked! We had the opportunity to compare solo Kite with 2014 Rally in 14m and 2014 Switchblade in 12m.

Image

Let's start with the bag:

Liquid Force uses dacron for the bag. The bag fits to the light weight of the Kite. You can certainly discuss the pros and cons.

Facilities:

This time LF offers the Kite without a bar at very low price. Included in delivery are bag and repair kit. Repair kit includes the Adapter for max flow Inflation system, so it is not necessary to buy a new pump.

The kite:

Thanks to one strut design and max flow inflation system, inflation is done in seconds. The bar feedback in delivery status was a bit too low, therefore we used the inner knots with heavier bar feedback. The solo in 12m beat Cabrinha Switchblade 12m in lowend, upwind and turns faster. Lowend to Rally14m is equal, but solo goes even better upwind and turns faster. Person with 115kg and waveboard can ride upwind from 12 knots and hold the solo easily up to approx.18 knots. The bar feeling is crispy and comfortable to find the pressure point. For tricks you have to get used to the on - off effect. Quick generated in the other direction tear rattle in the towel but not too disruptive. Lift comes abruptly and with a long hang time.
Water relaunch is insane quick and easy, by pull a backline. We never had a critical situation that the solo will fall from sky. It's pretty stable in sky and difficult to drop. The Solo just floats with and keeps the line tension.

For which persons do we recommend the 12m solo?

- Low-wind with waveboard
- Beginner and cruiser

We liked:

- very quick inflation
- low weight of kite
- lowend and abnormal upwind ability
- turns extremely fast for 12m
- park and ride feeling
- price performance

what we don't like:

- Kitebag
- Rattle of the Kite in fast turns, but concept wise not really disturbing
- For special tricks with the waveboard some acclimatization period

Due to the great impression, we will now dare us with skepticism to the 9s solo. We will test it in the next days.

Special thanks again to Liquid Force for the possibility of testing, thumbs up!

ALOHA

Andreas, Daniel and Martin

www.united-ocean-sports.de

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

IanNJ
Frequent Poster
Posts: 395
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 2:27 am
Local Beach: Brigantine NJ
Favorite Beaches: Brigantine, LBI, Kite Island NJ, Caberate, Hatteras
Style: Wave/freestyle
Gear: Currently rocking a 12/10/8 CORE GTS3 for waves and wake. Cabrinha Velocity 13/10/7 for Foil.
Boards: LF 139 Element with LFK boots and no fins, SlingShot/MHL NF2 Strapless Foil, CORE Ripper 2 5'10", Cabrinha Secrete weapon 5'10", Slingshot 5'6" Angry Swallow
Brand Affiliation: www.NewJerseyKiteboarding.com and www.GreenHatKiteboarding.com
Location: Jersey Shore!!
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0
Contact:

Re: Liquid Force Solo review

Postby IanNJ » Thu Aug 14, 2014 12:15 pm

I agree totally!!!

These kites are sick for waves...been on the 15.5,12,9 a bunch now. I am completely sold. We did some reviews here: http://atlantickiteboarding.com/liquid- ... lo-review/ and there are some on www.NewJerseyKiteboarding.com as well.

The 9m is the tits!

For me, like mentioned above, I needed to get used to the bar/bar pressure. Its not bad just different then I was used to. I was talking to a buddy after a session on the 12 yesterday and said that the problems I had when I started flying them I don't even notice anymore..

If you are in the NJ/PA/NY area and want to set up a demo let me know...

small wave kiter
Rare Poster
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:54 pm
Local Beach: -Fehmarn
- St.Peter-Ording
Favorite Beaches: - Wissant
- Hvide Sande
- Hanstholm
Style: starpless waveriding
Gear: Liquid Force Solo, Cabrinha Drifter, Cabrinha Subwoofer 5.8 and F-One Mitu Pro 5.10
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Liquid Force Solo review

Postby small wave kiter » Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:19 pm

Hey Jimmy,

I am a tall guy with 105kg and ride waveboards only. I guess sweetspot for me is something between 13/14 - 18 knots. But I can ride upwind from 12 knots and can still hold it in 20 knots. I used a cabrinha subwoofer 5´8 for the testrides. It´s really a pretty nice kite model!

BR


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Abaltasis, Aberdovy kiter, andylc, arjas, Clem, DanielorDani, decay, htsc, xoen, Yahoo [Bot] and 384 guests