Suggestions to narrow down kites to demo to upgrade free ride kites

Rider: 80kgs, Intermediate/Advanced- older dude
Style: Freeriding, Basic hooked in tricks, boosting, Surf, foil board
Boards: TT, surf board & foil fish
Weather:14 - 25kns knots (12-10kns min for foiling)
Location: Mostly straight off the beach with a little flat water
Current Kites: XR2 9m, XR3 12m & XR2 17m
Hoping to upgrade to TWO kites - 9m (or 8m) & 12m

Possible Kites I'm looking into:
Core Free
Ozone Enduro
Liquid Force Wow
Naish Pivot/Ride
North Evo

Hi,
Looking for some suggestions from people who have ridden any of the above kites or other suitable kites ; so hard to compare due to all the Marketing Hype. That and I haven't ridden many other kites. Only other kites I have riden are BWS Noise (only good in surf - average for my style - or lack of style), North Evo (Liked), North Neo (liked but enjoyed evo better), Core XR - (love), Cabrinha Swichblade (good), Ozone Enduro (liked but didn't spend that much time on it).
Now that I've started foiling - thinking maybe a 3 strut could be the go for a lighter kite. But only really want to foil down to 12- 10 kns - too much drama below.


Thanks

Scott

Switch Element5 could be worth a look (only recently released so it could be considered as a 2017 model).

Try a Drifter. Was surprised how well it jumped on the TT too.

Like the Pivot on the surfboard but not on the TT at all.

Slingshot
Rally Freeride/LIghtWind......
RPM freeride/Freestyle. ....
Fuel for Wakestyle/Freestyle
enough said

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toppleover said..
Switch Element5 could be worth a look (only recently released so it could be considered as a 2017 model).

switch kites are ****

Everyone around our place just loves the pivot. The low end on those things are outrageous too. I was well powered on a 13m one day and a dude on a 7m pivot smashed past me

When did you ride one last Kozzie? Rode a mates element, if im paying full price next kites will be switch!

Switch element kites are awesome as long as you stay with 11m and smaller...definitely able to develop apparent wind gain and a very snappy kite that wont dissappoint.
Easy relaunch in the surf if u mess up.
The dont invert easily.
13m and up are a little slow and low performance in my opinion and dont develop much apparent wind., but certainly have their purpose.
13m and up would be perfect for someone looking for a solid reliable kite with no surprises.
Hassle free warranty also from SWITCH KITES.
Great if you not looking for high performance and very good drift in the surf.
Nitros will give you a spanking if you not careful

Naish Pivot is streets ahead of the Ride. Wasting your time trying both as you'll go for the Pivot out of the two.

(Disclaimer I'm a North fan) I rate the Neo for big sizes as it steers and drifts well in the lulls better than the Rebels and Evos. I think the Dice might also be worth a look instead of the Evo.

I'd add the Airush Union and Airush Wave to your list.

Just bought a 9m enduro and love it. 3 struts make it so light to fly. Tried the core and ozone won hands down.

Slingshot RPM for sure.

Fast, firm 3 strut kite.

The RPM is the only kite that will give you PKRA freestyle performance in a package anyone can use and take it to the waves, freeride with it and still be used by pure beginners for their first tacks.

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likuid said..
Slingshot RPM for sure.

Fast, firm 3 strut kite.

The RPM is the only kite that will give you PKRA freestyle performance in a package anyone can use and take it to the waves, freeride with it and still be used by pure beginners for their first tacks.

Yeah for sure...


If your doing any foiling I wouldnt touch the RPM.

Try an Airush kite they tend to work really well for foiling because they penetrate the window further when riding upwind and go deeper downwind then most other LEI's.

freeriding 100% hooked / 0% unhooked - Lithium

freeriding 80% hooked / 20% unhooked - Union

This thread should be called "pimp my ride"

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carbine said..

likuid said..
Slingshot RPM for sure.

Fast, firm 3 strut kite.

The RPM is the only kite that will give you PKRA freestyle performance in a package anyone can use and take it to the waves, freeride with it and still be used by pure beginners for their first tacks.

Yeah for sure...


If your doing any foiling I wouldnt touch the RPM.

Try an Airush kite they tend to work really well for foiling because they penetrate the window further when riding upwind and go deeper downwind then most other LEI's.

freeriding 100% hooked / 0% unhooked - Lithium

freeriding 80% hooked / 20% unhooked - Union

Out of interest why do you say the RPM is bad for foiling? Not enough depower? Too heavy?

I only ask as I have seen videos of people learning on RPMs as they have plenty of low end and just wondered why they weren't so good?

Pimp city on this tread!! May aswell join in!

Best ROCA for sure bro. Turns like a 6m, pulls like a 12m and relaunch like a 10m

In all seriousness tho. If I were you I would look at naish pivot, best roca. even a blade trigger that kite is bloody awesome and so undated.
Every brand has there own freeride kite so it's just a matter of what brand your local shop stocks!

I always had North.Before I had (2009) a Rebel 5th line and 4 years ago I switched to Evo. I am 72 kg and I ride between 15 knots and 25 knots and I have 11 mt and 8 mt with 24 mt bar.I use a twin-tip and now recently I started also surf board.

North will last forever, this is the first thing to think about it, the quality and durability of north is number one. Second the Evo is really a versatile kite, I can go out and have a freeride session or choose to have a freestyle session and the evo never disappoint me. For waves, it is ok but the Neo follows you better than the Evo, but don't even think about doing freestyle with a Neo.

In conclusion, I always buy/sell North and I got never disappointed. Now I have a Evo 8mt 2015 and a Evo 11mt 2014 and the new 2016 Trust Bar.

Any of the kites you have selected on your short list could suit you, probably best to see if you can demo some? I just want to add my 2c that I had an awesome 2+ hrs session on my 9M Enduro at my local onshore wave spot. Wind was around 17-20 knots and I used a 5'4" Vanguard with straps. This kite definitely handles onshore wave conditions well, a Reo would do it better, but I did not feel like it was significantly holding me back. Probably the main thing I noticed was its less pivotal turn and that it had a bit more power when it turned. This spot starts off quite onshore and then as you progress along the wave it turns side onshore, the kite handled the drift down the line sections really well, hard to pick any difference to my Reo V3 9M.
Boosting, Enduro goes big and is much better at hangtime, but the Reo will jump big and not just drop you from the sky, provided you hold the bar in, and or loop the kite. Seems like the Enduro would be a good kite for you IMO.