I've been emailing kite stores around the country for quotes on a quiver of 2015 HiFiX's and have been told that there are currently none available in Australia. Does anyone know why this is?

They are sold out, i understand the distributor has sold all of their kites,

I was looking at the HiFi as well...hard to get and even harder to get the new Response bar with it. Went for Best GP's and they are sick!

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tbranse said..
I was looking at the HiFi as well...hard to get and even harder to get the new Response bar with it. Went for Best GP's and they are sick!

Particularly as its a 4 line bar....

I've got a new 13 and love it, I'd say it's one of the best kites LF have ever made. Honestly I think LF australia are being pretty slack with some of their stock this year. Response bar comes in 5 line too, it's a nice bar but unless you are going to cut it down to a smaller size Id get a different bar for the hifi

Ive only seen one in 5 line and it was a custom job, the CPR is 4 or 5 line, no doubt Durry kan konfirm

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tomme said..

tbranse said..
I was looking at the HiFi as well...hard to get and even harder to get the new Response bar with it. Went for Best GP's and they are sick!

Particularly as its a 4 line bar....

Called LF cos I wasn't sure if they would. They confirmed that they will make the Response bar in a 5 line version...not sure if it will ever be availble in Aus though.

Used a genuine 5 line response bar 2 days ago.

I have two Response 5 line bars. One cut down one normal length. Both it and the CPR are great just a matter of preference. Also whether or not you cut your bars.. as far as I'm aware you can't cut a CPR. If you could I would.

I'll also add that the Hifi X is a really great kite. I've been on bridled C's the last few years and it took some getting used to going back to a full on C. The timing is a bit different and you can also control when the slack comes on a lot more. If you are really serious about freestyle this is a great kite option.

I have tried all of the front line settings which do make a pretty dramatic difference and after some experimenting I've settled on the front lines being closest to the centre of the kite. This gives the most direct feel, a more downwind position in the window, and changes the slack. I don't find it gives it more but I find the slack comes on at a better time for me. Because I'm heavy and therefore edge the kite harder, I find I can kill the hifi really easily in the window if I go to pop wrong. This setting allows me to really load the kite up and still get the slack. I am a bit weird because I find that since I'm not the best at certain rotations I need something to pull against. Someone lighter would probably like the stock setting much better.

I will also add for those of you in WA where the wind is very strong... the 7m is the slowest 7m I have ever flown and this makes a massive difference for freestyle in high wind. Pastor tried my kite and was blown away by how stable it is. The thing is like a 9m. He's asking Airush to make his 7's slower for next year now..

I fly razors and have briefly flown hifix have to say i found the bar pressure very light in comparison and a different pop profile- id say it pulls from a different place having flown next to hifix for numerous occasions razor seems to surge more and sit deeper, i also think razor has a bit more range.

Im pretty heavy and can relate to having something to pull against, i found the hifix a bit hard to pull against or another way of saying it would be less initial residence which for me meant a different sort of pop less "surge"

Hifix is still a very solid kite and i think you nailed it with "stable"

Cheers for the info fellas! It's actually bloody hard to find proper reviews on this kite. I'm frothing, even if I have to buy first without a demo. Would I totally be asking too much if someone could compare it to the newer torches or fuels?

Which one has a very light bar feeling ?

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chris313 said..
Which one has a very light bar feeling ?

Huh...we're talking C-kites. They don't have light bar feelings and are not supposed to so you get feedback from the kite. If you are after light bar feel/pressure you want a wave kite.

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LiveToFly said..
Cheers for the info fellas! It's actually bloody hard to find proper reviews on this kite. I'm frothing, even if I have to buy first without a demo. Would I totally be asking too much if someone could compare it to the newer torches or fuels?

I've flown back to back with the new Fuel... I like both for sure. Hifi has better low end than Fuel and is faster flying. Also found it flies forward in the window a bit quicker than the Fuel. Depending on the settings you can change where they both sit in the window. I prefer it to sit back in the window so fly it on the wakestyle setting where as on the Fuel I prefer the freestyle setting. Flew Ewan's 2015 Torch quickly and felt it's a nice kite but I don't like the high split on the front lines. I find the Hifi and Fuel to both be more direct and a bit less sensitive. Torch slacks great still though I'm not bagging it at all just don't love the bar feel. Overall I love the Hifi's wind range, slack, and feel. It's all in what you get used to though!

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tbranse said..

chris313 said..
Which one has a very light bar feeling ?

Huh...we're talking C-kites. They don't have light bar feelings and are not supposed to so you get feedback from the kite. If you are after light bar feel/pressure you want a wave kite.

I flew hifix back to back with my razor and felt the hifix was light. i think "light" in this instance is context

Have flown torch and id say sits in between in terms of bar feel and location in wind window.

Hi Drury,

How would you compare the bar pressure between the Hifi X 1 and 2?
I had a Hifi X 11m but i didn't like the heavy bar pressure.
Looking too buy a Hifi X 2 9m but i can't test it.
I'm riding the new Envy 10.5 at the moment which i really like.

Thanks, Eric

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posty said..
Hi Drury,

How would you compare the bar pressure between the Hifi X 1 and 2?
I had a Hifi X 11m but i didn't like the heavy bar pressure.
Looking too buy a Hifi X 2 9m but i can't test it.
I'm riding the new Envy 10.5 at the moment which i really like.

Thanks, Eric

Hey Eric,


To me the HifiX and X2 are both quite light on the bar. The two models of kite are very very similar. The X2 uses much less dacron so the kite itself is lighter which makes it have a better feel on the bar but I wouldn't say the bar pressure is very different. Did you try playing with the rear line settings to ease the bar pressure?


E

Thanks E,

Yeah, tried that.

I think i just have to try one.

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tomme said...

tbranse said..

chris313 said..
Which one has a very light bar feeling ?

Huh...we're talking C-kites. They don't have light bar feelings and are not supposed to so you get feedback from the kite. If you are after light bar feel/pressure you want a wave kite.

I flew hifix back to back with my razor and felt the hifix was light. i think "light" in this instance is context

Have flown torch and id say sits in between in terms of bar feel and location in wind window.

Can someone tell me what this means? I been trying to figure it out for weeks now

bar pressure

razor>torch>hifi>

also directly link to my view of how direct each feels, you do adjust to each though.

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tomme said...


bar pressure

razor>torch>hifi>

also directly link to my view of how direct each feels, you do adjust to each though.

What really is bar pressure on a freestyle kite if your unhook in all the time?