Although not a gear review per say, this probably doesn't qualify for the general section...

Kiteforum had members from the Flysurfer Team answer questions in real time last night. A great idea and one I think other manufacturers could consider.

Anyhow here were my questions and the answers given...

Can you explain the different characteristics of the Cronix with the trailing edge adjustments??

?First of all I have to say, that 90% of all testers so far prefered the default setup.
So you don?t have to adjust anything if you don?t want to. We spent really much time to find the best possible overall setup, and asked many testriders.
If you want it?s possible to move the kite characteristics a bit towards one criteria using the trim options:

In general there are 2 things you can adjust:
- Bar-Forces higher/lower:
moving attachment points; same as in many other kites, I think no further explanation needed.
- More camber /less camber:
More Camber:
+ Lift, Hangtime, Lowend
- higher barforces
Less Camber:
- less Lift, Hangtime: this can simplify for example handlepasses
+ lighter barforces?



Can you really turn this baby from a higher aspect (well relatively at an AR of 5), jumping upwind machine, to a low grunty wave kite? What I am saying is, to claim to can have one kite that can compete with all specifically designed kites seems a little far fetched...but is it, can you really claim that by changing just the trailing edge it you can compensate for the overall geometry of the overall canopy?

?The Cronix works pretty well in waves because of it?s high turning speed, good depower, and stability, also when lines slack. But it still has good performance for jumps and lowend.
So the Cronix is positioned somewhere in the middle.
In the really specialized characteristics, some specialitzed kites may still be better:
I compared e.g. with a RRD Religion Wavekite: this one turns maybe still a bit faster than the Cronix. But the Cronix has way better jumping performance and more hangtime.
On the other end of the product range, really hangtime kites like Speed3/4, Ozone Edge or North Dyno still have more hangtime than a Cronix.
So the Cronix is between both extreme characteristics. ?



Have you tried the self launch near its upper wind range? Is it still useable for those conditions.
?It?s possible, but in really strong winds >30knots it?s always safer to launch with an assistant.?


Is it a kite you can stall? Is it sensitive to stalling?
?Not at all.
It's very resistant against backstall. So for straight loaded jumps you can just unhook and pop. Without pulling the trimmer.
For unhooked kiteloops please pull the trimmer half way. Then it pulls through the kiteloops more nicely.
(for hooked-in kiteloops of course not nescessary)?



So what is the drift like then, say compared to a RRD?
?In drifting and stability the Cronix is absolutely as good as the Religion?.



Also any chance you could give an indication of the Power delivery. Is it on and off, or more like a high aspect foil, edge like, smooth power delivery. Infact does this kite hunt the edge or sit further back like a C or somewhere in between. What I am asking is how does the kite work in the window? I said...
Lets say the kite is set at neutral in half way all round land, what is the actual feel like through the bar. Does it develop its power though apparent wind, static grunt, all out power spike grunt or is it a combination of them all. If you are on a reach and you really pull in on the bar what happens

?It has a very smoth feel on the depower, no on-off-feeling.
So this will feel familiar like if you are used to Speed3s.
But the overall Depower range is bigger. So if the wind really picks up a lot, you can depower untill the whole canopy is fluttering. So you are still safe.
But of course that's not the "sweetspot" windrange of the kite anymore, then it's time to go for a smaller size.

This big depower is also important to kill power shortly, e.g. for waveriding.?



These were the questions they seemed to leave alone even after asking twice about the wing tips...

What will be it's forte you feel based on its overall profile shape?

Noticed in one of the video clips the wing tips seem to move a lot, flop around a bit, how does this work at the real high end of these kites. Does it become punchy? Do the wind tips fold in a little on a fast turn,the pyschos did and it annoyed me no end?

When you load up and really send it and pull the bar in have you looked up? What do you notice about the canopy? Does it fold open a little or keep its shape?





If you want to read more related to their foils then visit the kiteforum and check it out.

They did mention they have started working on a Chronix that can have it's canopy shape changed/adjusted during flight....??

Looks like it's gonna be a real interesting one to watch the only downside I see is the weight ,it seems a tad on the heavy side.

What gives you that impression?

12m is 4.02 kg and 10m 3.72 kg

Give us some other weights Radman of kites the same size could you?

That's heavy is it...wouldn't know?

Must be extra mixers etc, mabey

One of my local guys was saying he had checked out some kite weights recently and I'm pretty sure he said the edge and new Peter Lynn 17 fury light were sub 4 kg not sure where he got the info from as he was interested in the cronix but said it makes the 12 cronix seem a little heavy in comparison, he's been checking a few kite weights to decide what to upgrade to next,will have to find out where he got the info from.

K, ta will consider that when I demo it.