Not sure if it has been covered ?

Can anyone compare the performance of these surf/freestyle kites ?

Very interested in comments

No one game to have a go at this !!! if not tried first hand, thoughts ?

surely one of them is better than the other

what about rally vs kahoona V3

Rally hands down imo....

It's all well and good to plug the kites you ride, but when asked for a direct comparison I think you need to 1) have ridden the kites in question, and 2) offer some perspective on why you prefer one or the other.

As for me, I've not ridden any of these kites so I won't comment. I will say they all look pretty different, and I don't know that any of them could be called "freestyle." Freeride more like.

What sort of riding do you want to do? What conditions? This will help others help you with a shortlist.

to be more specific - wanting freestyle with greater tendency to wave ride, so you could say an all-rounder with some flexibility (line settings)

a 9 - 10 m with grunt for 15-25 kn (Im covered on the smaller kites)

ie if too windy & choppy or starting to nuke - a bit of twin tip action

I would have thought all above kites could be used freestyle - they're all marketed for freestyle probably to a lesser degree the bws

dj whats you classification of freeride ? to me you may as well be sailing a yacht, staying dry and sipping ya vino nothing wrong with that if your injured and with great company javascript:insertsmilie('')

mmm?

looks like Im going for a record in replying to my own posts

Flown the Rally and the Kahoona only...
Rally , very fast turning and good for waves as the same for the kahoona ,but K3 def boosts HUGE... honestly both kites not real good for unhooked moves but both great for hooked in surf conditions. F-One Bandit 4 also a good all rounder.
K3 my pick mate , a little ahead of the Rally.

Freestyle means unhooked tricks, and that means pretty different qualities than wave kites. Clearly someone as skilled as Keahi for example can do it all on one kite (some might say he's had to until this year's cab range) but the unhooked stability and slack that you want from a freestyle kite are pretty different from the drift and on/off power options you want from a wave kite (in my limited experience).

Freeride is often regarded as a pejorative - just mowing the lawn, which is somewhat true, but I also think freeride is a decent name for doing a bit of everything as conditions vary and most importantly - doing it for stoke rather than to be cool. There are freeriders in Melbourne whose range of tricks and whose style is amazing. They may not be doing inverted handle-passes but they're sure having fun and looking very smooth along the way. I aspire to join the ranks of such elite freeriders!

^^^Agree with this. The Kahoona is the freeride / wave option. You can definately unhook and throw some base freestyle wake moves but when you get to passes then you will struggle with the Kahoona or Rally.

If you are looking at a performance driven Freestyle wave kite then I would be considering the new TS from Best. This kite is exactly what you are looking for. This kite covers pretty must the entire genre of Kiteboarding in one hit and I'm absolutely stoked with it.

Not available for at least another few weeks but certainly a kick ass kite.

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djdojo said...

Freestyle means unhooked tricks, and that means pretty different qualities than wave kites. Clearly someone as skilled as Keahi for example can do it all on one kite (some might say he's had to until this year's cab range) but the unhooked stability and slack that you want from a freestyle kite are pretty different from the drift and on/off power options you want from a wave kite (in my limited experience).

Freeride is often regarded as a pejorative - just mowing the lawn, which is somewhat true, but I also think freeride is a decent name for doing a bit of everything as conditions vary and most importantly - doing it for stoke rather than to be cool. There are freeriders in Melbourne whose range of tricks and whose style is amazing. They may not be doing inverted handle-passes but they're sure having fun and looking very smooth along the way. I aspire to join the ranks of such elite freeriders!

have u ridden the Reo djdojo? It might also be worthwhile adding to this list....

^^^ Yep, ridden it (on a twintip) and reviewed it. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Review/2012-10m-Ozone-Reo/

Based on Monkeyfish's wishlist I'd say the catalyst would be the closest kite in the Ozone range for the riding he wants to do. It will work better on a twintip (for unhooked stuff) and only sacrifice a bit of turning speed in the waves.

However, he also looks to be after simple pull-the-bar grunt (which IMHO is not what you want in a freestyle kite) and this is more a REO trait compared with other Ozones (though it's still very nimble), the tradeoff being heavier bar pressure if you're using it at the upper end of its wind range on a twintip. Worth demoing, for sure, Reo and Catalyst, though they'll work best with a more deft touch on the bar than the delta kites, hence me being hesitant to plug them to a guy who says he wants raw grunt.

I much prefer the precise control, stability and responsiveness to edging of the C4s to any other kite I've ridden though, so grunt, which makes it harder to position the kite precisely to unhook, and generally reduces responsiveness of the kite to edging, is not my cup of tea. Horses for courses though.

hey there Monkeyfish
Loving ur alternative choices here.
All 3 in store and currently instock at Woodys.
All available for demo any time.
Ridden them all and each one has its quirky little differences.
For consistent flat water freeriders Rally or Kahoona with the Rally coming up trumps for ease of control and generally behaving itself. Kahoona slightly quicker & more responsive and more hangtime BUT very little in it b/w these 2.
If ur main passion is waves and down-the-line then the BWS Noise is a no brainer. Way better park & ride option of the 3. Still boosts like the Rev of yesteryear but doesnt have the hangtime of the true Deltas. From all demo reports its maybe a bit slower than other brands of 'Surf Specific' kites but far better behaved & more likely to stay where you want it when ur minds on other things - like sitting back in that barrel (etc)

As always best advice is try before you buy - side by side is best and encouraged at Woodys.
We like to see our kiters getting it right for themselves. Nothing suits everyone all of the time.

Yes totally agree. Knew i would be red thumbed to death for my personal preference but dont see the sence in these sorts of questions as you will never get a straight answer. Everybody has there own preferences and most kites on the market have there good and bad points so the only way to find out what is right for you is to try them yourself.

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djdojo said...

It's all well and good to plug the kites you ride, but when asked for a direct comparison I think you need to 1) have ridden the kites in question, and 2) offer some perspective on why you prefer one or the other.

As for me, I've not ridden any of these kites so I won't comment. I will say they all look pretty different, and I don't know that any of them could be called "freestyle." Freeride more like.

What sort of riding do you want to do? What conditions? This will help others help you with a shortlist.