Rider: Weight 95
Weather: 12 - 17 knots,142 styx
Build Quality:10
Disclosure:team rider

My Comments:
Had my first crack on this years Edge today in pretty light conditions.
Kite looks great, very different to the previous models.
Big leading edge, Higher aspect, new tip shape, 4 line, cool graphics.
Performance:
Very powerful...heaps of grunt alot more low end than the previous models.
Boost & Hang ..pretty impressive in the crap winds we had today but enough to know its gonna be good in a decent blow.
Upwind .....awesome.
relaunch....quick and very easy.
This kite flies fast its not a beginers kite. It sits way foward it the window and to get the best from it you need to let the kite fly and use your edge to control it.

Turns slow....way slower than the 2009.

I need more time to get to grips with the turning speed.

All in all I was pretty happy with the new design, except for the turning speed.

The extra low end grunt is gonna give me a heap more water time. Very happy about that.

Rusty

Thinking of getting the 11m edge.
You say in your review the kite is fast and then say the turning is slow?
It can't be that slow surely?
Adam Koch, ozone team rider, just won the worlds kite racing using a proto edge kite didn't he?
Interested to hear any more comments on both the 13m and 11m edge 2010.
Can any one comment on the low end ability of these, and has any one ridden both the 11m edge 2010 and the wainman boss 12m?
I have the boss and am thinking of swapping it for the 11m edge 2010.
Also what is the low end on the 11m comapred to the 17m zephyr?
I have the zephyr but not that impressed with it.

Boss ....yes it can be the case, flys fast turns slow. Last years Edge was exceptionally fast turning for a 13m kite so I am used to that kind of turning speed. And that is what I am comparing it to. As i said in the post I need more time on the kite to adjust my technique to get the best out of it. This is a racing design kite....turning speed is not the main criteria, up wind ability and low end are higher up the list than turning speed. A big tick in the box for both of those criteria.

Had a great session on the 13m yesterday.....a little more wind than my first session, sarted in 12 to 15 and built up to maybe 20 knots max.
I noted in my first review this kite turns slow..... what i didn't say was that i was not using the bar supplied with the kite. I was on longer lines (27.5m) Yesterday I was on 25 m lines on the supplied bar and Q line. Much better turning performance. Still what you would expect from a 13m. Boost and hangtime was excellent. The kite was very very stable. Bar pressure was spot on. There is plenty of power in the kite. I like this kite alot.!
Rusty

Do you find that the new contact 50cm bar is big enough for the new 13m edge?

Boss the bar works fine ... i have put Q lines on. Initially i had the lines to long. I have shortened the lines to 22m. I have had more time with this kite now and have got it dailed in pretty well. It still turns quite slow but it has power and boost and hangtime to spare. You can still loop this kite but it does have a big arc so it does take some practice to get the timing right to loop it effectively. Kite loop transitions are fun even in light winds as it easy to get good height and the slow loop is pretty cool once you get used to it.
I do recomend the Q lines it does make the kite more responsive. I am enjoying my light wind kiting much more on this kite. Can't really add more than that.

Hi rusty,

thanks for the reply, I have used the my ozone bar on my other kites, felt a little small compared to what I am used to so have changed the handle over. I also found that the 25m lines are to long and make the kites feel less aggressive and not so nice. I am used to 24m lines and though the ozone lines are only 1m bigger at 25m's I think there is a big difference. Itcould be just the line thickness that gives a dull feeling so will be changing my lines as well. Struggling to get a set of pre made q lines or combat speed lines with sewn and stitched ends at the moment any where near the uk.
Roumors from dealers are that delivery times at the mo for ozone kites are up to two months?
I hope this is not correct. Ordered my 13 and 7m edges 17 days ago now. With kite shelf lives only being one year before the next models arrive and kites loosing about 40 percent value if the kites take more than a month to arrive I will be canceling my order as the 2011 ones will be out in jan and therefore not worth spending all that cash.
Hope they arrive soon!

I think you'll find the 2011 Edges won't be out for a good while yet... the 2010's have only juuuuust arrived!!! Not worth cancelling your order over the sake of a few days, when you could have a whole year on a sick kite..

Race kites are going to get a whole lot more valuable over this year - with all the course events popping up -freestyle kites just aren't gonna cut it anymore!!!

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Bossstyle said...

Hi rusty,

thanks for the reply, I have used the my ozone bar on my other kites, felt a little small compared to what I am used to so have changed the handle over. I also found that the 25m lines are to long and make the kites feel less aggressive and not so nice. I am used to 24m lines and though the ozone lines are only 1m bigger at 25m's I think there is a big difference. Itcould be just the line thickness that gives a dull feeling so will be changing my lines as well. Struggling to get a set of pre made q lines or combat speed lines with sewn and stitched ends at the moment any where near the uk.
Roumors from dealers are that delivery times at the mo for ozone kites are up to two months?
I hope this is not correct. Ordered my 13 and 7m edges 17 days ago now. With kite shelf lives only being one year before the next models arrive and kites loosing about 40 percent value if the kites take more than a month to arrive I will be canceling my order as the 2011 ones will be out in jan and therefore not worth spending all that cash.
Hope they arrive soon!

If your dealer did not have the kites in stock and they obviously didn't then the Ozone factory production times at the moment are still only 32 days ( I just checked the order system info on your two kites sizes), so you are more than half way there.
The 2011 Edge is not due for release until Feb March at the earliest AFIK.
Hang in there it will be worth the remaining short wait.

Right here is a question, why is it that the edge advertised as the highest performance kite in the range and is the most exspenisve comes with the contact bar supplied with the inferior rope depower system when the c4 which costs less come with the superior smooth chord type depower system?
This has niggled me a little!

Whats inferior about it Boss, yep it does take a bit to unlock it ( specially on my 13m) but again its a technique thing. Just bare downwind a bit, lean foward quickly as you pull on the loop to unlock from the clam cleet and quickly reposition it. I find it works fine but don't don't spend all day adjusting my de power. usually i set it so i have a comfortable reach on the bar and use my edge to control everything else. A very minor point when you take into account all the other good points of this kite.
i guess it has to be said .... nowhere do Ozone say this is a kite for everyone. It is not a beginners kite. like any high performance racer ... the more stripped down the better I say.!

Just suprised me that's all. The zephyer and c4 have the smooth depower cord which you can fine tune the kite. Is fine tuning of a race kite not extremely important? I am sure those with fine tuned kites stand more if a chance a squeezing every last bit if performance out of their kites stand more chance if winning than one that is not. With the rope cleat you can't just adjust the lines by the odd centimeter you always get an inch or more. Not only that on the rope cleat system the depower strap is always under tension which means the cleat eats through the rope in no time. I have a catalyst bar with the rope system. Only used it four times and the rope is showing heavy wear already.
The point is is that if you buy the top priced item surely you should get the top end bar kit to go with it?
The smooth depower cord of the c4 bar is far better for race tunning!

31 days since the order of my 2 edges and still no show!

Custom order of 2 edges to my doorstep in 4weeks to Australia.

Maybe they read your other other posts and are checking fabric colours for you boss

I only ordered the 50cm contact bar for the 9m possibilty - it is too small for the 11 and couldn't imagine it on the 13, way too slow. May as well have the zephyr.

I run two custom 55cm bars with qpro lines at 23m and 25m depending on the day and where I am riding. Any shorter than that and you may as well be on a smaller kite. I don't do handle passes so no chance of getting the bar caught on my muffin top on the way round. And the responsiveness makes it definitely worth while.
They are SLE kites - so you shouldn't have to be frigging around with the depower trim much anyway - unless the wind has changed by 10kts or so.

So if anyone is chasing a new 50cm contact bar with qpro line drop me a pm!

Wind changes and gusts well over ten knots are common on uk waters so the trim deos make a big difference over here.

Then I would have bought a Catalyst and not an Edge in your gusty conditions.

36 days and still haven't received my edges! Bought the 13 and 7m edges. Have a 9m smoke for gusty days but due to huge range I am consdering selling the smoke And maybe buying another ozone maybe 9,10 or 11m size in perhaps a c4 or edge as my main use kite. Not sure which size would best fit between my zephyer, 13m and 7 m edges and how long the delivery is.

Does anyone know why Ozone takes so long to deliver kites? Is it a small factory?
....not only that, they are always the last to come out with the kites.

Don't know but it's day 39 since my order now and getting annoying having to wait and use my zephyer every time I go out. Thought they might have arrive today but unfotunatly not.

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dotb36 said...

Does anyone know why Ozone takes so long to deliver kites? Is it a small factory?
....not only that, they are always the last to come out with the kites.

Since the release of their 2010 range, the demand for their kites has been unbelievable, Ozone have had to open another factory and are currently training up another 100 staff to produce more kites at the same Ozone quality.

We are now starting to see the manufacturing times come down from 40days to around 24days and its still dropping :)

We hopefully shouldn't be seeing these kinds of delays again.

Cheers,

Peace

Well received news today, my kites are at Frankfurt airport so still a day or two away from delivery.shame as I deliberately ordered them a few weeks before my holiday this thurs so they would be here in plenty if time. Now will be touch and go if I get them in time. Will be gutted, very annoyed and disappointed if they fail to arrive by thursday morn!

My new kites finally arrived day before last. 41 days in total! At least may well get 7 months before the new ones come out and they devalue?
Got to test them twice now. winds were moderate Wednesday night but enough.
Flew the 13m edge it's nice in the sky but very slow turning. No where near as fast as my old Wainman boss 12m or the c4 12m which is a shame as like fast turning kites. Any one got any tips for tweaking it a little to speed the turning up?
The edge definitly flies faster once you do get it going. Boost is pretty great and hang time is lovely to. Very nice in this aspect.
One thing i would like to ask is did Adam Koch really win the worlds on a proto edge 2010 or was it the 2011 version and what size was it?
One thing i know for sure is that if he were riding a 2010 13m Edge and there had been a lull that day and every ones kites had come out the sky, he would have come last for sure! This kite is a complete pig of a kite to relaunch! In fact i am wondering if the briidle on mine is connected to the right places on the kite? Any one got a picture?
The relaunch on the 13m is the worst on any kite i have ever tried which suprised me as my zephyer and the c4 i demo'd relaunch so simply. The Edge reminds me of my old Flexi Ions 1,2 and 3's, and the reason i changed to Wainmans. Only the Ions were actually easier than the 13m edge to relaunch as well. I am used to the Ion or old school c kite relaunch but i have to say i struggled with my new kite. I would hate to try and have to relaunch this kite while out of my depth in the water or during a race!
I am glad i was in a harbour for my first runs.
Am i missing something or doing something wrong? You can see when you pull an outside line that the bridle pulls the kite leading edge down and is to short to stop the kite being able to slip under itself as the kite starts to come off the water and therefore pulls it back down on the water every time. The only thing i can think of is to not put much air into the thing so that the leading edge will fold in half? But then it will fly rubbish. Can any one help on this please? Does any one have the briddle measurements on a 13m and pics of the connection points? One of my briddle connections wasn't even connected up when the kite arrived.
If this is how they are then i would deffinitly warn of any one without old schol sea kite style relaunch experience from purchasing one and it spoils an other wise lovely feeling kite.
Also be warned if you buy the kites kite only they dont give you a protective ruck sack style bag like all other kite manufacturers give you k/o! Bit disappointing as the kites are no cheaper than the best of the other makes. The bags retail at £70 each which is bloody exspensive.

You are a hard man to please Boss.......you were warned about the turning speed.
Yes they are a little tricky to relaunch but nothing a little tug on the front lines doesn't fix. I didn't find much diffrence to the Zephyr as far as relauch went. The edge is not a beginners kite dude. Expect things to be a little more difficult. As kurt said maybe you should get a catalyst.
Contact ozone for the line measurements if you think you got a problem....then if you dont get any help or if you did get the wrong lines have a b1tch on seabreeze. like any quality manufactururer they will appreciate some feedback if there is a product problem, most unusual to get a kite with a line not connected.... was it the the one nearest the wing tip ?....the way they are laced it would be nearly impossible to be anything but.

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Bossstyle said...

My new kites finally arrived day before last. 41 days in total! At least may well get 7 months before the new ones come out and they devalue?

Kites devalue mainly because they get used and they wear out.
Does anybody out there buy kites because they hold their value??

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Bossstyle said...
Got to test them twice now. winds were moderate Wednesday night but enough.
Flew the 13m edge it's nice in the sky but very slow turning. No where near as fast as my old Wainman boss 12m or the c4 12m which is a shame as like fast turning kites. Any one got any tips for tweaking it a little to speed the turning up?
The edge definitly flies faster once you do get it going. Boost is pretty great and hang time is lovely to. Very nice in this aspect.
One thing i would like to ask is did Adam Koch really win the worlds on a proto edge 2010 or was it the 2011 version and what size was it?

Adam won a COURSE RACING event on a production 2010 Edge. Course Racing is something entirely different to what most kiters do with kites, and what you seem to want to do.
The Edge is marketed as a course racing and old school Freestyle kite, many people warned you to get something else!
As far as tips or tweaks - don't choke the kite, let it "breathe" feed the bar out all the time, only pull it enough to turn it. The kite thrives on apparent wind speed so you need to ride it fast. It will not work well for you if you are pulling in on the bar heaps and pointing high into the wind keeping kite and board speed low. Thats why its not a beginners kite.
Its a powerful "sweep" turning kite, it is not designed for kite looping, its designed to milk power from small turns in the upper edge of the window, which is whats needed to win races.
With good techniques they jump huge and give good hang time but the C4 or Catalyst are a lot easier to jump.

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Bossstyle said...
One thing i know for sure is that if he were riding a 2010 13m Edge and there had been a lull that day and every ones kites had come out the sky, he would have come last for sure! This kite is a complete pig of a kite to relaunch! In fact i am wondering if the briidle on mine is connected to the right places on the kite? Any one got a picture?

Hmm. All the bridle legs are threaded, and there are no adjustments on the bridle or where it attaches. it is not possible for the bridle to be connected to the wrong place on that kite.

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Bossstyle said...
The relaunch on the 13m is the worst on any kite i have ever tried which suprised me as my zephyer and the c4 i demo'd relaunch so simply. The Edge reminds me of my old Flexi Ions 1,2 and 3's, and the reason i changed to Wainmans. Only the Ions were actually easier than the 13m edge to relaunch as well. I am used to the Ion or old school c kite relaunch but i have to say i struggled with my new kite. I would hate to try and have to relaunch this kite while out of my depth in the water or during a race!
I am glad i was in a harbour for my first runs.
Am i missing something or doing something wrong? You can see when you pull an outside line that the bridle pulls the kite leading edge down and is to short to stop the kite being able to slip under itself as the kite starts to come off the water and therefore pulls it back down on the water every time. The only thing i can think of is to not put much air into the thing so that the leading edge will fold in half? But then it will fly rubbish. Can any one help on this please? Does any one have the briddle measurements on a 13m and pics of the connection points? One of my briddle connections wasn't even connected up when the kite arrived.

Hmmmmmm again!!
The bridle has to be connected otherwise the whole bridle would be in pieces, it all threads together interlocking with the next component???? You would have had to unthread a lot of the bridle to fix that. Seems very strange since each kites is hand inspected and inflated, it would be very hard to miss a mistake like that wouldn't it?
Have you got some pics of the way it was delivered to you?
Why didn't you contact your dealer immediately?
The Edge relaunches easy, if there is wind. If you had it out in very light winds, then you may have had some issues, in light winds you have to use all the lines. Pull on the opposite front line to the rear one, or pull on both front lines and one rear. Opposite front line tension works extremely well in light winds.

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Bossstyle said...
If this is how they are then i would deffinitly warn of any one without old schol sea kite style relaunch experience from purchasing one and it spoils an other wise lovely feeling kite.
Also be warned if you buy the kites kite only they dont give you a protective ruck sack style bag like all other kite manufacturers give you k/o! Bit disappointing as the kites are no cheaper than the best of the other makes. The bags retail at £70 each which is bloody exspensive.

Kite only comes with the inner bag, did yours come with the inner bag?
Every kite is different in how they relaunch in different conditions, it's each kiters responsibility to learn how each kite they own relaunches. A good instructor would have shown you how to relaunch different styles, did you have lessons?

Production time for Ozone kites is now down to 22 days (I just checked). Ozone build to order, and your dealer should have told you that.

Yes I did take lessons thank you, and my instructors were incredibly good compared to a lot I have seen and heard in my local area! Use of radios etc. They also taught me how to use land and launch foils as well as lei's which alot don't. I'm not a beginner I would put myself in the intermediate bracket. I didn't say I couldn't relaunch the kite, I can. But it ain't an easy job and had I not of flown flexifoils for my first two years I may of struggled a bit more. Was just surprised that they take alot more fiddling about than most modern designs. The briddle on the left side was not connected completely, one bit was undone but just needed larks head knotting on. Nothing to go back to the dealer for. But does make you wonder if they were all on properly On the rest of the kite when it arrives like that.
Yes my kites came with the inner stuff sack only. Is it just me but when you pay out 915gbp for a kite which is hell of alot of money for a kite only! To expect a protective bag with it? It wouldn't be so bad if the cost of complete was more than just the cost of a bar but it's not. If I went out and bought a bar tomorrow on it's own. Would it come with a free kite protective sack and a pump? No it would not! So why are companies ripping people off by not giving you a bag to protect your 915 quids worth with the kite? The other manufacturers manage it They look after there importers with huge margins but the customer who is the one keeping them going doesn't seem to matter in my opinion. I think this is a fair comment.

Regards delivery. I bought a zephyer in jan. Delivery was 17days. Was told kites would take 31days max. They were 41days which was excessive. The forums are to share experience on what's good and what's not. I write only my experience and so that others have a idea. The more people write of both positives and negatives on any product the better picture those with less experience and lack of knowledge can make better decisions.
My comments are from an normal person who loves the sport and who works hard and saves hard to buy my products and have to pay full retail on every thing. I am not a team rider and have no connection to any brand. I think reviews or comments from people like me of honest experience rather than bias opinions of affiliated riders or workers are very valuable to others.

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Bossstyle said...

Regards delivery. I bought a zephyer in jan. Delivery was 17days. Was told kites would take 31days max. They were 41days which was excessive. The forums are to share experience on what's good and what's not. I write only my experience and so that others have a idea. The more people write of both positives and negatives on any product the better picture those with less experience and lack of knowledge can make better decisions.
My comments are from an normal person who loves the sport and who works hard and saves hard to buy my products and have to pay full retail on every thing. I am not a team rider and have no connection to any brand. I think reviews or comments from people like me of honest experience rather than bias opinions of affiliated riders or workers are very valuable to others.

Bossstyle is the perfect stereotypical example of a whinging pom.
Why don't you just buy a kite that your local shop stocks? There's plenty of good ones.

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Bossstyle said...

Regards delivery. I bought a zephyer in jan. Delivery was 17days. Was told kites would take 31days max. They were 41days which was excessive. The forums are to share experience on what's good and what's not. I write only my experience and so that others have a idea. The more people write of both positives and negatives on any product the better picture those with less experience and lack of knowledge can make better decisions.
My comments are from an normal person who loves the sport and who works hard and saves hard to buy my products and have to pay full retail on every thing. I am not a team rider and have no connection to any brand. I think reviews or comments from people like me of honest experience rather than bias opinions of affiliated riders or workers are very valuable to others.

There was a production time blowout as usual this year are the TET (Chinese New Year) annual holiday in Vietnam. Happens every year, because the factory stops production for nearly 3 weeks, but there were some other issues (shortage of raw material, 47% growth in sales to name a couple) that made production times blow out to unacceptably long times, after production recommenced, Ozone are very sorry about this.
Ozone have built another factory, and hired more than 100 new staff, lead times are now down to 22 days and dropping.
I agree that reviews from "Joe Public" are what makes this section of websites like this interesting.
Equally an explanation direct from a dealer close to Ozone should be valuable too.
I've never seen an issue like you describe on your 13M Edge, of course anything is possible, but it is extremely rare to get any sort of mistake in Ozone's ordering and manufacturing.
The legs of the bridle are all threaded, none of it is larksheaded together, something is not right if you have any larkshead knots in your bridle.
I've attached 2 pics taken quickly with my phone of a new kite in my store just now, hopefully you and everyone can see how the whole thing is threaded,
Ozone do not like knots and pulleys in their kitesurf kites bridles.
Can you explain where the problem was on your kite, and send me the serial number from your kite?
I think everything else you mentioned has been covered?

Boss Dude.... your credibilty is slipping bigtime... "Largs head knot" on the bridle, Are you sure its an Ozone we are talking about. If it is no biggy then why crap on about it on here. As far as relaunch goes...... obviously it is beyond your skill level to be flying an edge, training or no training. Having lessons doesn't automatically make you an expert.........Just ask Doctor Patel. Sorry but got gotta agree with wishy thats one skill you are really good at.

Actually guys have a look at that top picture! That shows the exact point where one of the bridle lines was not connected! One of the grey lines was not connected to the small rope bit at the end. Like I said easy to correct. That small rope bit is larks headed through the two grey bridle legs is it not? Or as some one said threaded through it's self which to me is a larks head using a loop instead of a knot?
May be it's not called a larks head when using a loop instead of a knot? My bad. Will send that man the serial number.
The kites are actually very very nice to fly when in the air.

Those were just my experiences so guess I was just unlucky with the delivery. But at least it is nice that some one mentioned the reason why about the Chinese new year etc or materials. There is no problem with that but if there are gonna be delays or your kites gonna come In the wrong colour as my cat did it would be a nice touch to have an email saying so and why letting you know the score.
Every one can have problems and customers don't mind as long as they are kept in the picture?