I am a big fan of Core kites and this promo got me very excited...the only issue is having to re-mortgage the house just to buy one.

corekites.com/us/kites/xr6

Plus they come in black

Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

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shi thouse said..
Plus they come in black

hey did you mention the come in black...



white ones suck in a dirty weedy lake.

Yeah going for the Wainmann black look...

Just estimating price though for a 12m - with the AUD as poor as it is at the moment - about $2100 plus bar $500 plus freight...wont be much change out of $3k.

Is the this the future of kiting??

Odd thing is I bought a beautiful mountain bike with carbon composite frame, top of the woz group set and paid $2k for it. I can see value in in that, with all the different bits and pieces all on it. Plus over the years bikes really haven't changed much in price, just the advancements in technology have gotten better.

Kites - bits of fabric and bladder and the price is going nuts. I know I am comparing apples with oranges and a market that is significantly larger but surely there has to be a limit where pure economics kicks in and people stop paying it.

Core have always been pretty pricey so it's no surprise that their brand new product is up there in price. It now means the XR3 is worth less so a good chance to get one at a good price.

I don't understand the reasoning behind the colour change. Every board, kite and bar since the GT (do they go back further?) has been yellow and white with a bit of black and now they've introduced a black kite and black pump. The yellow and white makes their product so easily identifiable. Manufacturer video's are always pretty good but nothing telling us about why we should spend our money on their product

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shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

looks like they are dropping a bit of the freestyle out of the XR4, at least from a marketing point of view.
up till now the XR's and GTS's have had a reasonable amount of overlap

both kites, surf, freeride, freestyle, boost

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Brohan said..

shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

Is is there such a thing ? ....this is not a rhetorical question.

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eppo said..

Brohan said..

shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

Is is there such a thing ? ....this is not a rhetorical question.

I don't think there is such a thing as a kite that can do everything 5/5.

It like comparing a Chef's knife and a Swiss Army Knife.

Sure the Swiss Army Knife can do 10 more things than a Chef's knife, but can it cut as finely as the Chef's knife? No. It's not necessarily bad at doing all those things but something designed specifically to do a particular action will be better than something designed to do a range of things (if that makes sense).

Sure I can take my XR3 in the surf and it will work, but it doesn't compare to a kite specifically designed for the surf. Just my two cents :).

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Brohan said...

eppo said..

Brohan said..

shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

Is is there such a thing ? ....this is not a rhetorical question.

I don't think there is such a thing as a kite that can do everything 5/5.

It like comparing a Chef's knife and a Swiss Army Knife.

Sure the Swiss Army Knife can do 10 more things than a Chef's knife, but can it cut as finely as the Chef's knife? No. It's not necessarily bad at doing all those things but something designed specifically to do a particular action will be better than something designed to do a range of things (if that makes sense).

Sure I can take my XR3 in the surf and it will work, but it doesn't compare to a kite specifically designed for the surf. Just my two cents :).

Not being critical but how would we know? We're not that good a rider to know if a kite can do it all, nobody comes off the water knowing they have the upper hand over what a kite can do

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cauncy said...

Brohan said...

eppo said..

Brohan said..

shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

Is is there such a thing ? ....this is not a rhetorical question.

I don't think there is such a thing as a kite that can do everything 5/5.

It like comparing a Chef's knife and a Swiss Army Knife.

Sure the Swiss Army Knife can do 10 more things than a Chef's knife, but can it cut as finely as the Chef's knife? No. It's not necessarily bad at doing all those things but something designed specifically to do a particular action will be better than something designed to do a range of things (if that makes sense).

Sure I can take my XR3 in the surf and it will work, but it doesn't compare to a kite specifically designed for the surf. Just my two cents :).

Not being critical but how would we know? We're not that good a rider to know if a kite can do it all, nobody comes off the water knowing they have the upper hand over what a kite can do

I guess it comes down to personal preference and how many other kites you've tried. You may very well think you've found a do it all kite until you demo another.

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cauncy said..

Brohan said...

eppo said..

Brohan said..

shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

Is is there such a thing ? ....this is not a rhetorical question.

I don't think there is such a thing as a kite that can do everything 5/5.

It like comparing a Chef's knife and a Swiss Army Knife.

Sure the Swiss Army Knife can do 10 more things than a Chef's knife, but can it cut as finely as the Chef's knife? No. It's not necessarily bad at doing all those things but something designed specifically to do a particular action will be better than something designed to do a range of things (if that makes sense).

Sure I can take my XR3 in the surf and it will work, but it doesn't compare to a kite specifically designed for the surf. Just my two cents :).

Not being critical but how would we know? We're not that good a rider to know if a kite can do it all, nobody comes off the water knowing they have the upper hand over what a kite can do

Reasonable point Mick. Of course a 'pro' rider could unhook and wakestyle a race kite, could even get away with going reasonably down the line on a SB on a reasonably sized wave...hey the hangtime and moves by Kevin L on his dedicated C torch reveals what is possible. I suppose it is more a case of relative use of certain kites in whatever style you tend to adopt given we are not all genuises on kites in all styles (or even one for that matter).

But giving near 5 stars across all disciplines is marketing balony, pure and simple. Your edge will out hang your hadlow given the same rider...you. It's physics within kite design. Sure, this kite is a decent all rounder (although more tweeked to the big air freeride in my experience), but it wont out hang my race kites and it wont drift like a neo/reo when it really counts. it just does everything okay, but to claim 5 stars for everything...what are you comparing it to..itself...or cores own pro riders. Either way, the marketing is a useless as tits on a bull and one might say misleading to the average consumer. Plus it seems core has taken the thesaurus of kite wa$k words and run with it.

That being said, it's a bloody good kite and well built.

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eppo said...

cauncy said..

Brohan said...

eppo said..

Brohan said..

shi thouse said..
Hey Rohan...that will teach me for not looking at new posts....just seen your topic come in below mine...oops

Haha no worries, the kites look the same - although I do love the new black look. I love my Xr3 would be interesting to see how they've improved it as the video doesn't really go into any details.... Also the chart that shows what it's good at says 5/5 for pretty much everything.....

Is is there such a thing ? ....this is not a rhetorical question.

I don't think there is such a thing as a kite that can do everything 5/5.

It like comparing a Chef's knife and a Swiss Army Knife.

Sure the Swiss Army Knife can do 10 more things than a Chef's knife, but can it cut as finely as the Chef's knife? No. It's not necessarily bad at doing all those things but something designed specifically to do a particular action will be better than something designed to do a range of things (if that makes sense).

Sure I can take my XR3 in the surf and it will work, but it doesn't compare to a kite specifically designed for the surf. Just my two cents :).

Not being critical but how would we know? We're not that good a rider to know if a kite can do it all, nobody comes off the water knowing they have the upper hand over what a kite can do

Reasonable point Mick. Of course a 'pro' rider could unhook and wakestyle a race kite, could even get away with going reasonably down the line on a SB on a reasonably sized wave...hey the hangtime and moves by Kevin L on his dedicated C torch reveals what is possible. I suppose it is more a case of relative use of certain kites in whatever style you tend to adopt given we are not all genuises on kites in all styles (or even one for that matter).

But giving near 5 stars across all disciplines is marketing balony, pure and simple. Your edge will out hang your hadlow given the same rider...you. It's physics within kite design. Sure, this kite is a decent all rounder (although more tweeked to the big air freeride in my experience), but it wont out hang my race kites and it wont drift like a neo/reo when it really counts. it just does everything okay, but to claim 5 stars for everything...what are you comparing it to..itself...or cores own pro riders. Either way, the marketing is a useless as tits on a bull and one might say misleading to the average consumer. Plus it seems core has taken the thesaurus of kite wa$k words and run with it.

That being said, it's a bloody good kite and well built.

Spot on, they are a good kite.

Hi Peeps,

Yes, Core have released the XR4, we hope to get some demo's as soon as we have wind in which to fly them. I believe the XR4 is a bigger boosting machine than the XR3 which is really saying something 'coz, the previous kite goes massive!

This year is the 10th year of Core kites and the black kite colourway is a special to celebrate the 10 years. I'm sure it will be popular.

The XR series has always been a freeride/race/boosting kite primarily and will also work in the waves, although, as others have pointed out, An XR will not match the "perkiness" of a three strut wave specific kite, but neither will the three strut kite go upwind, or boost like an XR4.

As with most top kites that use high end fabrics and materials in their construction, unless you change the model quite drastically, there comes a time when all you can expect from a kite is slight performance tweaks, improvements in dependability, longevity and quality of build. There is a vast difference between cheap kites and high end "premium" kites. The premium kites deliver crisp new like performance for years where the cheapies are good for half a season and then begin stretching, wearing out and their performance drops off, just so slowly that the owner doesn't notice.

The price for the new Core kites has gone up, or shall I say the AUD has gone down. We buy Core in USD, so you can see the reason why they have gone up in price, or more correctly, our dollar buys less

Core build one of the best quality kites in the world. Why are kites so expensive? Each kite has 40 hours labour in it to build them. They are made in Aqua Dynamics in Sri Lanka which is a first class factory and not even close to a sweat shop. The level of quality control is very high which is why they don't make "Friday kites"

Core is one of the brands we have almost no problems with. That's what you buy.

DM

anyone been on an XR4 yet?

We have ordered a 10m and a 7m for demo in Black, but as per usual Core are trying to keep up with domestic demand in their summer bump in sale for the Northern Hemisphere, we usually get our demo gear in August.
On another point we have negotiated pretty hard with the guys from Fremen regarding Australian retail prices to keep the kites in the sensible price range.
A 10m white will be $1579 for kite, $569 for bar, and $69 for super duper pump (although North will have the same pump for about $50).
LTD kites may be a little more expensive in black but waiting on confirmation,
So $2217 for a complete 10m is not too bad considering how the currency has moved in the last year and Core charge dealers in USD!!
Toddy

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ActionSportsWA said..
$69 for super duper pump

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dusta said..

ActionSportsWA said..
$69 for super duper pump

Back to your foil kites!!

Just had a session on a 10m XR4 today in Magdalen Islands (Quebec, Canada). goo.gl/maps/zsdtl thanks to the local Core Rep.

The XR4's have been released in Quebec for about a month already. I'm a big fan of the XR3's and the new ones doesn't disappoint. The leading edge is now thinner in diameter with a new stronger fabric which makes it faster and stiffer. It has a great feel and just as powerful as before. I did notice less bar pressure than on the XR3's. Jumping and hangtime is about the same although I was a little underpowered today so I'm hoping to have stronger winds over the next week to demo again properly and try different sizes.

The bar has almost no changes to it, still the same twist safety release on dual front lines. The only thing I could notice different was the bar floaters which are longer and thinner.

The new pump is great: nearly effortless and very fast.

I'll be posting again once I get a chance to try again in stronger winds.

Christian

Any updated review?

Rider: 85 kg advanced
Style: Freeriding, waves, hydrofoil, land kiting, snow kiting, big airs, old school tricks
Weather: 6 - 20 knots
Sizes tested : 13.5m and 10m
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 9/10
Disclosure: kite school manager

My Comments:

I finally got a chance to get a proper feel of the new XR4's for a couple of hours in various conditions. I don't think flying a kite for a few minutes on one given day is enough to really get to appreciate and review it. I've been using the XR3's on a nearly daily basis for the last 2 years, 7m-9m-10m-12m and 17m.

13.5m:

I first flew it on a twin tip in winds varying between 12-15 knots with occasional gusts to 18 knots. It's fast and grunty and got me going upwind hard with little effort even in sub 15 knots winds. When the wind blew around 15 knots I could start throwing decent airs with impressive hang time. You can easily notice the extra hangtime in the XR4 in comparison to the XR3 which was already pretty good. This allows you to slow down your rotations which is perfect for those who enjoy old school big air tricks. I couldn't say I've noticed much improvement in turning speed but you can feel a significant difference in the way the kite drifts through the air for example after a power stroke when the kite goes towards the edge of window or after a loop when your lines go slack for a moment. It basically drifts noticeably faster and smoother. The upwind angle is impressive and is something I've never been able to achieve on a twin tip on the XR3's in 12m or 17m in similar wind conditions. Even when the gusts hit about 18 knots I felt like it could take much power.

I also had a great session in mirror flat water in winds of about 12 knots while others on similar sizes couldn't go upwind in the ocean behind me. going upwind was no worries at all and could even throw some long darkslides and a few basic tricks.

Lastly I experimented it on my hydrofoil in winds of about 5 to 8 knots. The kite wasn't stalling which was impressive, even when at times all the lines were a little slack with no steering possible with the kite around 12, it simply refused to stall! Getting up and going on the foil in winds of no more than 8 knots was relatively easy. I did use 6m extensions which help to get out the water with more speed and power. The only other guy who out foiling that day was on a flysurfer speed 4 lotus 15m.

With the new materials and thinner leading edge, there must be difference in weight in comparison the XR3's. I didn't have a scale but I'm pretty sure the XR4's have a lighter overall weight than the XR3's which would also explain it's great very light wind flying abilities.

10m:

I finally got a chance to try the 10m with more power, this time in a flat water off-shore location with winds of about 15 to 18 knots with gusts up to 20 knots. The kite was just amazing and gave me as much fun, boost but noticeably more hangtime as another 12m delta kite I was using just before. I could really feel the potential for huge airs and endless hangtime in higher winds but sadly it's not going to happen as I'm leaving soon.

Safety system:








In my previous comment I mentioned the new bar is still using a dual front line safety system which is slightly incorrect. It looks similar at first glance but instead of pulling on both lines, one of front lines is shortened more than the other. I released it about 20 times in various conditions and I have to say it doesn't quite perform as well as a true single front line safety or a fifth line. Just like on the previous bar, the kite flags out very well in winds above 15 knots and the kite almost always ends up in the ''secured'' position. The issue is in lower winds (roughly 15 knots and below) the kite doesn't flag out completely and it keeps pulling in the power zone. This makes it hard to reset the safety system as the kite is pulling and would also make it difficult to perform a self-rescue using the ''wrapping lines method''. This problem is due to the fact that even though one front line is shorter than the other, there is enough tension on both front lines to prevent the kite from fully flagging out.

Low wind safety release:




high wind safety release:





Pump:





The new pump is pretty impressive you don't put in any effort until you get to 5 PSI. I managed to pump the 10m from flat to 8 PSI in 25 seconds and the 13.5m in 40 seconds. I doubt this could be done with a traditional kite pump.

Other pics:


















Build quality is awesome as you would expect from Core. This has to be one of the best all around kite I've flown and IMO would perform well for anyone who isn't purely into unhooked wakestyle. I've seen guys around here rip with the XR4 in waves on surfboards and they were loving it too. The wind range is massive and a 3 kite quiver would cover almost any conditions from 12 to 40 knots on a twin tip and much less wind on hydrofoil, land kite or snow kiting. Pretty sure I'm ordering myself a quiver of these pretty soon.

Christian

Is the pump genuinely worth getting?

Faster pumping with less effort for a few more bucks yeah its worth it IMO. This pump might become the new standard... F-one has the exact same pump as well and I'm sure other brands will too

I've flown the XR4 9m a couple of times: great boosting and hangtime potential. I rate it as Ozone Edge compatible with regard to boosting and hangtime. Low end matches high end of my 2015 Ozone Zephyr .

Disclaimer: I own a mobile kiteboarding school since 2005 and we sell Ozone and Core stuff

There is a good review of the XR4 in the latest Kitesurfmag issue.

www.iksurfmag.com/issue52/?page=151

Click on the ''click or tap to read more'' on the bottom right to see the full review.

Rider: 85 kg advanced
Style: Hooked in Freeride, big air, old school.
Weather: 14 - 20ish knots
Sizes tested : 12m
Build Quality: 10/10
Satisfaction: 10/10


I've spent about 3 hours on my XR4 over the last couple of days in some sweet, flat water conditions and i am totally stoked with this kite. I've gone through some fairly different kites in my time. Learned on 2012 C4s (uhg), moved on to Edges and currently have a Core XR3 and XR4. A day on the water for me usually consists of some big air, darkslides, hand drags etc etc; basically hooked in old school stuff. The XR4 is quite simply the best kite i have flown for this style of riding.

When it comes to jumping i really think it goes just as well as the edge both in height and hang time. I haven't had it out in really strong conditions yet but from what i've experienced, even at its low end, this thing will go massive. This morning in what was probably only 17 knots or so i got sick of doing single grabs and ended up chucking 3 grabs in to most jumps, this thing really keeps you up there. Height wise i wasn't going huge but the hangtime was still insane. The bar pressure and feedback from the kite is perfect for me, i can really feel when i'm loading the kite up and it's a nice smooth power curve. Medium to light bar pressure with heaps of power on the bar.

The kite loops really well for a 12m and provides a surprising amount of lift through loops. At the moment i'm hooked on darkslides and hand drags. I loved doing them on the edge as it allowed a nice long slide, the core is once again even better. Put it up to 12, slide under it for what feels like an eternity and then get a nice solid tug out when you loop it. Nice, smooth, powerful loops.

Compared to the XR3 you can really feel that the kite is more refined. The main difference is the improved air/hangtime and also it feels smoother when cruising around, that could just be because it's a new kite though.

Build quality is first rate as always with Core products, the material feels super solid with reinforcement everywhere you would want it.The speedvalve seems to be a lot nicer too in this gen.

If you are into freeride you really need to give this thing a shot. If you're in to boosting big and air style you really should consider this alongside the edges, drafts, rebels etc.

Great review Hybrid_Z

I can't wait to fly the smaller sizes like 9 and 7 in the strong WA winds!

Anyone tried the Impact ‘C’ kite Core make?

bloke inspecting the kite with pink lighter in hand ready to burn off threads. also whats with the funky stitching on core website with picture of the strut of the impact? has different densitys. also bloody terrible idea stitching the lettering on at such sharp angles on the canopy its only a little weight but we are ment to be makeing an aerofoil here and should be symetrical also the sharp angles increases damage

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Kozzie said...

bloke inspecting the kite with pink lighter in hand ready to burn off threads. also whats with the funky stitching on core website with picture of the strut of the impact? has different densitys. also bloody terrible idea stitching the lettering on at such sharp angles on the canopy its only a little weight but we are ment to be makeing an aerofoil here and should be symetrical also the sharp angles increases damage

Lofty, is that you?