Can anyone give info on the differences between these kites? Jumping especially. I'm hearing good things about the xr4 and 5 as an alround great kite. I ride edges and looking at the core. Cheers

I'd like to know too as I'm upgrading and want to pick between the too.

I've got XR4's and find them a great boosting kite and they will also drift if you want to ride a wave. From what I've read from the marketing blurb it seems Core has really only thinned the leading edge on the XR5...and banged on about the fabric. If they made other design changes they weren't mentioned in the material I've read.

I've read some good comments of the V9's ability to boost big and with the new shape I'd expect it to turn quicker than previous models. I did ride an older model edge and found that the kite didn't drift like I could do on the XR4.

I'm taking a bet each way and going to get both but I need to work out which one will be my main kite (12-13m) and which one I keep for +25kts. From what I can gather, and I may be wrong, it seems that Edge it is an all out boosting kite and the XR5 will boost but still let you have a play in the surf. I want increase my boostige this year so I think the Edge may win out, but I'll miss being able to have a fluff about in the waves like I can do on the XR4's.

Hi Ste,

the short answer is both these kites are great for jumping, they provide good lift and a lot of hangtime. As usual, technique is everything so don't think that changing to another brand with a similar kite shape will suddenly improve your jumping performance. Remember that the majority of record jump heights are actually achieved on Freestyle/C-Kites!

I've been a huge fan of XR's over the last 3-4 years as I found them to be very powerful (ideal for heavier dudes) with solid bar pressure (if that's what you like). They mainly excel for easy sheet in-and-jump and hangtime and would best suit someone who is mainly into boosting on twin-tips. As for wave riding...the drifting performance is actually quite poor. These kites are designed to pull hard at the edge of window and go upwind as much as possible, so I really wouldn't recommend this kite if you plan on riding waves. Same goes for the Edge, not a good choice for waves. Also I found the larger sizes of the XR to be quite slow, which seriously limits your jumping performance. Small sizes like the 7m are fast, pretty impressive (and scary) in high winds, I managed to get heights of up to 12m with 7 sec. hangtime. Perhaps the edges are faster in larger sizes, I have yet to try the newer models.

XR's are marketed as a great all around kite but they are actually quite aggressive and not for your average Sunday afternoon lawn-mower. They tend to pull very hard during boosting and quickly fly far forward above your head, which makes re-directing for landings quite technical and quite scary at times if i'm being honest. Took me a long time to get used to it and get clean landings from big airs. I can nail tricks like dark slides quite easily on other kites, but the XR makes it that much trickier due to the kite flying too far forward in the window.

If jumping bigger is your main objective, invest in some coaching with some video analysis and radio helmets. Small and accurate changes in your technique will have a far larger impact than changing kites.

I clearly remember the Bridge family (professional kiters) in a 30-35 knots day in Augusta, getting at least 5 more meter of airs than me in every jump, and they were all on C-Kites! Was a pretty humbling day for me.

Christian

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cbulota said..
Hi Ste,
I've been a huge fan of XR's over the last 3-4 years as I found them to be very powerful (ideal for heavier dudes) with solid bar pressure (if that's what you like).

This is a major consideration for me....

I am yet to find a kite which has lighter bar pressure than the Edge, with the same amount of grunt.

Bar pressure really plays havoc on tennis/golfers elbow....

Ashley27, if u don't mind heavy bar pressure take a look at the North Neo....great boosting kite, turns on a dime and very good surf

kite.

Core XR 2 and 4 does not have heavy bar pressure, it's light. Even at top end. Can't imagine they changed that.

I found the XR4 to have very light bar pressure, so light in fact that I didn't like it when I first bought them. Now I couldn't imagine going back to a kite with heavy bar pressure.

I've ridden both an xr3 and an ozone edge (2014). Mostly the same kites but the ozone edge jumps better.

The edge felt a lot smoother on the uptake and you just glide down. The core xr3 I used to have was aggressive on the uptake and still had pretty good hang time compared to the edge. All in all the only difference I found was the xr3 felt more aggressive on the uptake of the jump and had slightly less hand time.

I did feel that the xr3 was an overall better kite in the sense that it has some drift and it is designed as a do it all kite. Where the edge just pulled. This was almost 3 years ago so there may have been some changes.

Thanks for the replies all. Much appreciated.

hey ste hit up Jason from westoz he's got both in demo and try them.

Myself and Alessandro and are going to do a back to back boosting session to see which one we personally (omg partiality and an opinions!!) like more. Just waiting on the Xr5s to turn up in store.

Review will follow (with possibly even some photos or videos)

I'd demo steve
last editions I found the cores a tad spongy in feel
compared to a more connected feel of my edges
youd have to throw the rebel and evo in also, was pretty impressed with the 2017 rebel in the 2 hrs I spent on it, only dislike was coming out of downwind powered carves was that moment of lag ,
hard to go past the edges in feel imho, and this latest edition looks worth a good run

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Alex4398 said..
Myself and Alessandro and are going to do a back to back boosting session to see which one we personally (omg partiality and an opinions!!) like more. Just waiting on the Xr5s to turn up in store.

Review will follow (with possibly even some photos or videos)

can't wait for this review, awesome.