For those interested in finding out more about the Switchblade 2 (SB2) 10m here is my PERSONAL view after riding this kite for 3 weeks:

Initial Impression:
I thought it might be worthwhile starting this review with my first impression of the SB2 as it was not what I expected. For all those having previously ridden other bow kites (especially Cabrinha bow kites) the SB2 will feel very different initially and require a bit to getting used to. Once you have adjusted to the new feeling there will be no going back!!!

After riding CB1s, SB1s, Contras and CB2s I decided to give the SB2 a try. I have to say that my first ride (in pretty poor conditions) on a 14m and on a 12m SB2 was not love at first trial. The kite felt very different to what I was used to.

The two things that concerned me the most were the extremely low bar pressure and the inability to feel the kite’s grunt. The lack of bar pressure confused me initially because I had the impression that I could not really feel where the kite was. The lack of ‘grunt feel’ gave me the impression that I would need to fly bigger kites than usual to have the same power delivery.

Well, as you can imagine it was just a question of getting used to the SB2. Once you get accustomed to the low bar pressure you will have a much more precise feeling of where the kite is. The responsiveness of the kite has significantly increased when compared to the previous 2:1 bar models (the time lag is almost gone).

I was also mistaken with the lack of grunt. The kite surprisingly delivers a lot of power, but the ‘weird’ thing is that it doesn’t translate into an uncomfortably strong pull at the bar. The kite feels light at all times. Yesterday for example the wind was at best 15 knots initially and most guys on the beach were rigging 14s (Contras and others) as well as 16s while I happily rigged my 10m SB2 and had no problem whatsoever to stay up wind (see my personal stats at the bottom for weight, board and skill reference).

So if you try the kite once and it feels weird/different initially, give it a bit of time or another go and I’m sure you will love the SB2.

Anyway, here some PERSONAL impressions along the key dimensions of the kite:

Unhooked Riding: Absolutely amazing. Different to all other kites that I have tried, this kite allows you too unhook and hold your edge while unhooked for a very long time. For people learning to unhook this is particularly great, as they sometimes need a bit longer between the unhooking and throwing the trick. After landing an unhooked trick you also don’t have to go straight downwind to hook back in. You can just start edging and still hook back in. This is possible because one can, in addition to sheeting in and out, control the power delivery of the kite through the amount of edging of the board. The more edge applied the more the kite will fly forward in the window and reduce its power delivery.

Bar Pressure: Extremely low. As I said, for those used to higher bar pressures it can feel a bit confusing/too light initially.

Turning Speed: This is always a hard one to make a comment on without doing side by side comparisons in exactly the same wind conditions. But the bottom line is that the kite is fast enough. It turns very smooth, which may be result of transferring the pulleys from the bar to the kite.

Grunt: As mentioned above my initial feel was that the kite didn’t have much grunt. But I was clearly mistaken. The kite delivers a lot of power, but you don’t feel it translated in a very heavy bar pull. The kite feels light at all times while still delivering an outstanding up wind performance and huge jumps.

Upwind Performance: I would almost say that the kite’s ability to go up wind is unmatched. During all my rides here in Sydney I had to do less tacks to get up wind when compared to other riders and even compared to my previous kites. Note that the rider will have to master the balance between sheeting in/out and the amount of edging of the board to squeeze the maximum upwind performance out of the kite. Edging too hard will make the kite fly forward and reduce the power delivery. Similar to the other Cabrinha kites (CB2 and Contra) one can clearly feel when the apparent wind effect kicks in.

Jumping: My expectations were that the SB2 would jump quite a bit lower than the CB2. After 3 weeks on the 10m I have to say that the kite surprised me. It can clearly play with the big boosting kites, but if you’re looking for the ultimate height you should go for the CB2 7m or 9m.

Hang Time/Floatiness: Similar to most bow kites it’s just great. Keeping the bar sheeted in and moving the kite back and forth will keep you up there for a very long time. I’m sure most of you will have seen Damien and his dune jumping video (available on www.kiteforum.tv). 45seconds… I think that says it all.

Wind Range: The wind range of the SB2 is not as big as the wind range of the CB2. I felt I was really well powered at 25knots on the SB2 10m, which would not have been the case on a 9m CB2.

Flying Stability: Although the kite only has 5 struts instead of 7 and the leading edge seems to be thinner than the CB2/Contra equivalent, the kite is surprisingly stable even when the bar is fully sheeted out/in gusty conditions. It does not jellyfish when compared to other kite models with 5 struts.

Bar: The bar does not have any pulleys anymore. The override 2 system is very clean and easy to use. The release adjuster for the automatic releasing stopper ball works fine. I personally moved the whole system much closer to the top of the chickenloop line as I don’t ride against the stopper system. This allows me to un-spin the bar without the kite going into full depower. A slight downside of having a swivel on the chickenloop is that you sometimes need to grab it with one hand to hook it back in after an unhooked move as it doesn’t always stay in that nice position when compared to the chickenloops without a swivel.

The grip of the bar is softer than the Contra grip and is easy to hold on when riding unhooked. The swivel is now attached to the chickenloop, which allows you to easily un-spin the centre lines with one hand while riding (so there is no need to do spins in the other direction anymore).

Removing the pulleys from the bar allowed to move the safety ring down to the bar level. This now makes it much easier to hook in the handle-pass-leash to one of the lines in case of an emergency or if that’s the preferred setting for some riders. The previous setup required quite ‘long arms’ to get to…

One-Pump: The kite comes with the now standard one-pump (Sprint) system, which really works great.

Kite Bag: The kite bag is of great quality, but for some that don’t put the effort into folding the kite properly, probably a bit too small. For those that are a bit lazy to fold the kite properly, the inside bag actually gets quite big allowing to easily fit the kite for the day to day use.

Feel free to drop me an email/PM if you have any further questions.



Weight: 87kg
Board: Underground FLX 132 (double concave)
Skill Level: Advanced

Moritz your reviews are excellent. According to the Cabrinha website none of their kites (SB2, CB2 and Contra) are suitable for newbies. What do you think? Is the SB2 the easiest / safest?

yea i've had a go on the 12. sick kites. getting my 6 and 10 tomorrow

Balmain Kite:

Ive heard that the Crossbow 2 will be the most suitable for beginners, as for it isnt such a high performance kite, as in for wakestyle moves etc. The SB2 is more designed for unhooked riding, , but from what Ive heard, go for a Crossbow 2.

LB

That was a really useful, hype-free review for a buyer.
Thanks mate, for that you have this Kiwi's gratitude.
Only other kites I rate @ present are Torch3 and Havoc - availabilty issues in the East Island...

Thanks guys. I'm happy that the review has been helpful in potentially narrowing the choices. But please try before you buy. There are many shops that have a wide range of demo kites.

Now to the beginner question...

I'd say that the Contra is proably the least ideal kite for a beginner.

By positioning the CB2 as the "high performance" kite and the SB2 the "unhooking/wake style" kite it becomes quite difficult to also position it as a beginner kite from a marketing stand point.

Having used both models extensively I'd say that both are suited for beginners. They are both easy to relaunch and easy to fly/handle. The choice between those two kites from a beginner's stand point should take the following factors into consideration:

Ease to realaunch - CB2/SB2
Wind range - CB2 has a higher wind range than the SB2
Big Air - If the rider is more likely to find joy in big air and cruising once he/she has mastered the basics I would recommend the CB2
Unhooked/Wake-Style - For young riders that are more likely to find future joy in unhooked riding and wake-style I would recommend the SB2. Even though this may seem far away at the beginner stage, I have seen young riders pull unhooked tricks with far less than a year of kiting experience
Bar Pressure - Although the bar pressure on the CB2 is low, the SB2 bar pressure is even lower. I can imagine that female riders would feel more comfortable with an SB2

Maybe some of those instructors that are active on this forum could also share their experiences with CB2s. I'm not sure if any of them has had a chance to teach on SB2s as they haven't really been available yet.

M

Moritz, your reviews are good and easy to read.

I have had a decent amount of time on all 3 sized CB2 kites. Not overbuilt, easy to set up...plug and play out of the box.

Happ[y to have upgraded to CB2 as I find the improvements worth it.

This kite is too easy and sometimes I almost want to keep it all to myself. Tell people that these kites are just terrible...can't relaunch the buggers, they don't boost, poor workmanship, they are just garbage....please get another kite.

Steve from Kitepower has just received a big shipment of SB2s (and Underground/Cabrinha boards - The Cabrinha boards look sick and seem to have nice flex) of which some in the smaller sizes will be used for teaching.

It will be good to hear from Florian, Dave and the other instructors what they think about the SB2 for beginners.