The new Nitro V5 is about to be released...looking forward to trying/buying it!

Yep the 3's & 4's were/are great, can't wait to try the 5.
The new spider bridle set up sounds interesting, stay tuned.

Yep looks sick.

I have the 12m which I love *mostly*, except for a few small things.

Anybody got a 9 or 8m Nitro, I want to know how they go, especially compared to a C4 or Vegas of similar size.

Chur

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Chris_M said..
I have the 12m which I love *mostly*, except for a few small things.

What are the small things you don't like?

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Chris_M said..
Yep looks sick.

I have the 12m which I love *mostly*, except for a few small things.

Anybody got a 9 or 8m Nitro, I want to know how they go, especially compared to a C4 or Vegas of similar size.

Chur

I have a 8m V4 and had my first couple of powered up sessions for this year on it this week. I love it cos it is agile without being too nervous and is a boosting machine

I've got a Nitro 4 9m and love it, I find it floats more than any other 9m I've ever had.
Its a good Boosting kite with very smooth power delivery, Some other kite brands tend to yank a bit in the smaller sizes.
Overall I'm very happy with the Nitros, The bar is still crap though.

Is switch that brand that gives discounts for positive reviews?

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SibboV1 said..

Chris_M said..
I have the 12m which I love *mostly*, except for a few small things.

What are the small things you don't like?

I like to throw big spray on carve transitions, but I feel like this kite doesn't generate that much power through the turn - that is compared to my C4 or Vegas. It's like there is a lag. I'll probably be able to suss it as I sort out the intricacies of this kite.

Im also a little unhappy about how the struts sit when the thing is inflated. There is a kink in each strut about 20cm from the leading edge of the kite. Not something that will affect the performance, but could end up being an area that weakens faster than the rest of the kite.

Also, it seems a little less stable in the air at either low winds, or when you are walking it back to the landing spot (compared to a C). It has terrible drift.


In saying that, the Nitro 4 is an absolute machine, and I am having so much fun on it. It really boosts like a demon, and provides a far softer landing than other kites I have owned. I quite like it for looping, and have managed a few meaty ones when I have managed to get the timing just perfect. It also goes really fast, and has a grunty bottom end.

I guess you have to expect trade offs though right? The increased boost is awesome (and really surprised me), but the lack of power through turns and drift is a bit of a bummer.

So Snalberski and Thecopterdr - do the small size Nitros have the same drawbacks as I have described? I bet they would be a hell of a lot of fun in 25 knots!

@flyingcab - if you can't tell, I have no affiliation with Switch. Their gear is pretty good for what you pay. I have ridden plenty of other kites from big name brands that I was less happy with than my Nitro. Maybe next time Ill try the Legacy C kite though, because I like the power delivery in a C

Good feedback, thanks.

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Chris_M said.

@flyingcab - if you can't tell, I have no affiliation with Switch. Their gear is pretty good for what you pay. I have ridden plenty of other kites from big name brands that I was less happy with than my Nitro. Maybe next time Ill try the Legacy C kite though, because I like the power delivery in a C

Don't worry about Cabby. He just wants to make people think he's important by pointing to controversy by any means possible.

Nah I'm not worried about Cabby, I just hate it when someone gives a review then everybody jumps on them and accuses them of being biased and stuff, so I wanted to make sure people know where I'm coming from.

I haven't experienced the lack of power thing in the turns (I came from Bandits) but I do notice the lack of drift which is not a problem.
The Nitro isn't really designed to drift, that is what they released the Element to do.
I did put a knot about 35mm further up each pigtail on both the 12 and 9m to tighten up the bit of slack in the rear lines which made a huge difference to how the kite responded. When its really strong wind I connect to the lower (factory) knot.
The 9m performs exactly like the 12 except it turns a bit quicker, This is what I love about the 9.

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Thecopterdr said..
I haven't experienced the lack of power thing in the turns
The 9m performs exactly like the 12 except it turns a bit quicker, This is what I love about the 9.

As Thecopterdr says I have the same experience, although I haven't C kite experience to compare to. I think it may be just a matter of adjusting timing. Also as Thecopterdr says I find the performance difference/ flying characteristics between my 8, 10 & 12 to be minimal apart from turning speed as would be expected .

More innovation from Switch.
So good to see these guys doing it well and developing an honest following.
Now just fix that bar......

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Thecopterdr said..
More innovation from Switch.
So good to see these guys doing it well and developing an honest following.
Now just fix that bar......

What don't you like about the bar? I have the new controller 3 and think its pretty good. Id be keen to hear your gripes.

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Chris_M said..

Thecopterdr said..
More innovation from Switch.
So good to see these guys doing it well and developing an honest following.
Now just fix that bar......

What don't you like about the bar? I have the new controller 3 and think its pretty good. Id be keen to hear your gripes.

The gripes are with the safety release not releasing as the hole in the top swivel is too tight and (to a lesser extent) the weight.

'What don't you like about the bar? I have the new controller 3 and think its pretty good. Id be keen to hear your gripes'.

The Bar is too thin and is very slippery, The depower Ball/handle thing is a joke especially when on the larger kites, You can't pull the thing when there is not much to hold. I 3D printed a handle design from another manufacturer and it works a treat.
I had great hopes for the controller 3 but was disappointed at the lack of changes.
I had the controller 2 and got rid of it after 2 sessions, replacing it with an Fone bar.
In my view it is the only thing that lets an otherwise great product down.

Given that the purchase price is so good, I was happy to mod things to suit for an extra $160.

Balls on the 2012 and earlier Cab bars are smaller... Just sayin'...

Yeah agree that the depower ball can be a bit tricky to grab, and those little finger notches actually make it harder than if it was just a plain ball. I moved the cleat down closer to the bar and it helped a little bit but I agree with you there.

I reckon the bar grip is ok, but this is compared to my other bars which are about 4 years old, and have both absorbed lots of sunblock into the sponge and are slippery as hell! Will see how its holding up by the end of summer :)

I'd be pretty keen to see how the Nitro goes with that spider bridle, I still don't think I like the responsiveness of the kite as much as I was hoping I would.

I actually think the bars are very grippy and durable due to the heavy duty construction. They have more grip but less comfort than the cabrinha bars I also have.

I agree that the depower is hard to reach and when depowered the ball swinging around is a nuisance. The new controller 3 has a magnet though to resolve this issue.
The bars do feel heavy but it doesn't matter once you're flying the kite.

On the plus side it's one of the most versatile bars with so many adjustments possible plus spare parts are cheap. You see people building their custom bars with switch parts.

It's great to see Switch innovating with their kites, they have released 4 new kites in the past year

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Kamikuza said...
Balls on the 2012 and earlier Cab bars are smaller... Just sayin'...

I don't even pull the balls on my 2011 cab bars, I pull the lines directly...

Just heard from SwitchHQ that the spider bridle cannot be retro fitted to the Nitro 4, bummer.

I'll just have to spend lots of time getting used to the characteristics of the kite this summer, lucky I have holidays from next Weds until Feb3rd, plenty of time on the water coming up! Yeeow!

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Alysum said..

Kamikuza said...
Balls on the 2012 and earlier Cab bars are smaller... Just sayin'...

I don't even pull the balls on my 2011 cab bars, I pull the lines directly...

I upgraded my most used bar to the later version with thelittle handles... much nicer!

Hey, has anyone replaced the Switch swivel ? - doesn't need to be a swivel, just want something to let that safety line pass through easily.

Or any idea,s on what could work. ??

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toppleover said..
Hey, has anyone replaced the Switch swivel ? - doesn't need to be a swivel, just want something to let that safety line pass through easily.

Or any idea,s on what could work. ??

Wainman swivel is the best. Ceramic bearing spins most freely...

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Kamikuza said..

toppleover said..
Hey, has anyone replaced the Switch swivel ? - doesn't need to be a swivel, just want something to let that safety line pass through easily.

Or any idea,s on what could work. ??

Wainman swivel is the best. Ceramic bearing spins most freely...

Thanks Kami, yes I've read the Waiman would do the trick, any ideas no loosing the top swivel altogether. ?

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toppleover said..

Kamikuza said..

toppleover said..
Hey, has anyone replaced the Switch swivel ? - doesn't need to be a swivel, just want something to let that safety line pass through easily.

Or any idea,s on what could work. ??

Wainman swivel is the best. Ceramic bearing spins most freely...

Thanks Kami, yes I've read the Waiman would do the trick, any ideas no loosing the top swivel altogether. ?

That Ozone thing. Allows you to keep ththe single front safety, but it looks agricultural. Otherwise, a stopper ball set up...

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toppleover said..
Hey, has anyone replaced the Switch swivel ? - doesn't need to be a swivel, just want something to let that safety line pass through easily.

Or any idea,s on what could work. ??

I replaced my swivel with the Wainman. It does self untwist better provided you maintain it constantly.... it binds really easily with sand and salt. The ability to let the flagging line pass through is the same as the Switch swivel . Both swivels will allow the flagging line to pass through when there is a reasonable amount of load on the kite... which is usually the case if you need to release the kite. In hindsight I would probably not bother with changing the swivel and rig up a non swivel single line flagging system you want certain immediate flagging in all wind strengths. The bottom swivel is easily used to untwist lines.

I wouldn't mind some detail on rigging a non swivel single line flagging myself.

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toppleover said..

Kamikuza said..

toppleover said..
Hey, has anyone replaced the Switch swivel ? - doesn't need to be a swivel, just want something to let that safety line pass through easily.

Or any idea,s on what could work. ??

Wainman swivel is the best. Ceramic bearing spins most freely...

Thanks Kami, yes I've read the Waiman would do the trick, any ideas no loosing the top swivel altogether. ?

I use BWS "bit" on most of the bars I've modded, simple and effective.

Thanks blueprint, that looks like what I'm after.

The only reason I can see why it wouldn't work could be because the lines were vastly different in diameter

Anyone know if the Switch & BWS lines are similar size ?