anybody, got a real idea of the difference between the 2 versions.?
thx
dude

V3 ran over 2 years, first released in late 2014 as a 2015 model, and then given a new graphic and colour changes for 2016. The V4 was released in August/Sept 2016.

Overall the kites feel familiar to a regular Reo user, as they are based on the same design. New software developments allowed the designer to make a tighter, crisper canopy. The bridle was modified to give a quicker turn rate on the larger sizes and less so on the smaller sizes, giving all the sizes a similar turn rate and very good control of power in the turns. I've found I can generate more power from the V4 just by "working" it slightly. The canopy is more solid/stable and drifts smoother. Relaunch is super easy and almost guaranteed, something I could not say about the V3 (due to its thinner struts). The V4 12M is quick and turns like a smaller kite, I've had many people say to me its the best 12M wave kite they have flown, and people liked the V3 too.

I've also used the smaller sizes this year quite a bit and thats where I can see a significant improvement in stability and smoothness of power delivery, as well as much better drift and I think my riding improved with the forgiveness of the V4, when you get a bit out of sync with it on a wave.

There are subtle, as in not easy to see, reinforcements on the V4 over the V3, which make the kite even more durable.

V3 is still a great kite though and there are lots of new or used ones getting around that are a bargain.

Select to expand quote

Ozone Kites Aus said..
V3 ran over 2 years, first released in late 2014 as a 2015 model, and then given a new graphic and colour changes for 2016. The V4 was released in August/Sept 2016.

Overall the kites feel familiar to a regular Reo user, as they are based on the same design. New software developments allowed the designer to make a tighter, crisper canopy. The bridle was modified to give a quicker turn rate on the larger sizes and less so on the smaller sizes, giving all the sizes a similar turn rate and very good control of power in the turns. I've found I can generate more power from the V4 just by "working" it slightly. The canopy is more solid/stable and drifts smoother. Relaunch is super easy and almost guaranteed, something I could not say about the V3 (due to its thinner struts). The V4 12M is quick and turns like a smaller kite, I've had many people say to me its the best 12M wave kite they have flown, and people liked the V3 too.

I've also used the smaller sizes this year quite a bit and thats where I can see a significant improvement in stability and smoothness of power delivery, as well as much better drift and I think my riding improved with the forgiveness of the V4, when you get a bit out of sync with it on a wave.

There are subtle, as in not easy to see, reinforcements on the V4 over the V3, which make the kite even more durable.

V3 is still a great kite though and there are lots of new or used ones getting around that are a bargain.

it sounds good that the smaller sizes have won a bit in stability, although to my opinion they were not that "unstable" ( V3)but in gusts they could jellyfish a bit ( propably due to the wide wings) pulling just a cm of depower and it was gone
I like the 12m too use it on my sector54 if needed with 3m extended lines, works as a dream for just fun lightwind, no need to racing. It turns fast for a 12m, and that should by your saying be improved...nice!!

how about the overlap in the smallest sizes, I do not like my 5m so much, 7 and 5m are overlapping a lot in the V3 and the 5m does not bring me a whole lot more range, its range dives to far into the 7m one.
But going from 7m to a 4m looks to me a too big jump...
I also tried the smaller kites ( 7 and 5m ) on shorter lies ( 19M) but did not like it so much on these kites, where my previous ( other brand) really were myuch more fun

Any comments on that?

Thx for the review
Dude

Select to expand quote

naishdude said..

Ozone Kites Aus said..
V3 ran over 2 years, first released in late 2014 as a 2015 model, and then given a new graphic and colour changes for 2016. The V4 was released in August/Sept 2016.

Overall the kites feel familiar to a regular Reo user, as they are based on the same design. New software developments allowed the designer to make a tighter, crisper canopy. The bridle was modified to give a quicker turn rate on the larger sizes and less so on the smaller sizes, giving all the sizes a similar turn rate and very good control of power in the turns. I've found I can generate more power from the V4 just by "working" it slightly. The canopy is more solid/stable and drifts smoother. Relaunch is super easy and almost guaranteed, something I could not say about the V3 (due to its thinner struts). The V4 12M is quick and turns like a smaller kite, I've had many people say to me its the best 12M wave kite they have flown, and people liked the V3 too.

I've also used the smaller sizes this year quite a bit and thats where I can see a significant improvement in stability and smoothness of power delivery, as well as much better drift and I think my riding improved with the forgiveness of the V4, when you get a bit out of sync with it on a wave.

There are subtle, as in not easy to see, reinforcements on the V4 over the V3, which make the kite even more durable.

V3 is still a great kite though and there are lots of new or used ones getting around that are a bargain.

it sounds good that the smaller sizes have won a bit in stability, although to my opinion they were not that "unstable" ( V3)but in gusts they could jellyfish a bit ( propably due to the wide wings) pulling just a cm of depower and it was gone
I like the 12m too use it on my sector54 if needed with 3m extended lines, works as a dream for just fun lightwind, no need to racing. It turns fast for a 12m, and that should by your saying be improved...nice!!

how about the overlap in the smallest sizes, I do not like my 5m so much, 7 and 5m are overlapping a lot in the V3 and the 5m does not bring me a whole lot more range, its range dives to far into the 7m one.
But going from 7m to a 4m looks to me a too big jump...
I also tried the smaller kites ( 7 and 5m ) on shorter lies ( 19M) but did not like it so much on these kites, where my previous ( other brand) really were myuch more fun

Any comments on that?

Thx for the review
Dude

This season I'm riding 6/8/10/12, and have used a 7 once. I'm happy with the overlap in these sizes. Smaller kites do have larger wind ranges, where do you kite? WA? I've got friends that have 5's in WA, they have said nice things about them, but agree that on a given windy day you could use a 5 or 7 still. Friends up round home are using combos of 6/8 and another on 6/9/12 and they have no issues with overlap. I'm quite amazed at the range the lighter 6/8 rider gets from her 2 kite quiver.

Short lines, I've tried 20's, didn't mind them in smooth winds that were on the stronger side for the size kite being used, but the change in timing takes a bit to get used to, overall though I prefer the 25M stock lines.

The 4M is a very small kite, we have not sold 1 in Australia yet as far as I know. How much do you weigh?

Select to expand quote

Ozone Kites Aus said..

naishdude said..

Ozone Kites Aus said..
V3 ran over 2 years, first released in late 2014 as a 2015 model, and then given a new graphic and colour changes for 2016. The V4 was released in August/Sept 2016.

Overall the kites feel familiar to a regular Reo user, as they are based on the same design. New software developments allowed the designer to make a tighter, crisper canopy. The bridle was modified to give a quicker turn rate on the larger sizes and less so on the smaller sizes, giving all the sizes a similar turn rate and very good control of power in the turns. I've found I can generate more power from the V4 just by "working" it slightly. The canopy is more solid/stable and drifts smoother. Relaunch is super easy and almost guaranteed, something I could not say about the V3 (due to its thinner struts). The V4 12M is quick and turns like a smaller kite, I've had many people say to me its the best 12M wave kite they have flown, and people liked the V3 too.

I've also used the smaller sizes this year quite a bit and thats where I can see a significant improvement in stability and smoothness of power delivery, as well as much better drift and I think my riding improved with the forgiveness of the V4, when you get a bit out of sync with it on a wave.

There are subtle, as in not easy to see, reinforcements on the V4 over the V3, which make the kite even more durable.

V3 is still a great kite though and there are lots of new or used ones getting around that are a bargain.

it sounds good that the smaller sizes have won a bit in stability, although to my opinion they were not that "unstable" ( V3)but in gusts they could jellyfish a bit ( propably due to the wide wings) pulling just a cm of depower and it was gone
I like the 12m too use it on my sector54 if needed with 3m extended lines, works as a dream for just fun lightwind, no need to racing. It turns fast for a 12m, and that should by your saying be improved...nice!!

how about the overlap in the smallest sizes, I do not like my 5m so much, 7 and 5m are overlapping a lot in the V3 and the 5m does not bring me a whole lot more range, its range dives to far into the 7m one.
But going from 7m to a 4m looks to me a too big jump...
I also tried the smaller kites ( 7 and 5m ) on shorter lies ( 19M) but did not like it so much on these kites, where my previous ( other brand) really were myuch more fun

Any comments on that?

Thx for the review
Dude

This season I'm riding 6/8/10/12, and have used a 7 once. I'm happy with the overlap in these sizes. Smaller kites do have larger wind ranges, where do you kite? WA? I've got friends that have 5's in WA, they have said nice things about them, but agree that on a given windy day you could use a 5 or 7 still. Friends up round home are using combos of 6/8 and another on 6/9/12 and they have no issues with overlap. I'm quite amazed at the range the lighter 6/8 rider gets from her 2 kite quiver.

Short lines, I've tried 20's, didn't mind them in smooth winds that were on the stronger side for the size kite being used, but the change in timing takes a bit to get used to, overall though I prefer the 25M stock lines.

The 4M is a very small kite, we have not sold 1 in Australia yet as far as I know. How much do you weigh?

I am in Europe, and do not have the massive Aussie waves ,;:=))
But I would have loved the 5M in 35 to max 40 knts...maybe I am expecting too much...winds are pretty gusty here whe they come into the high ends.

I have 78/ 80 kg..naked, I use a 5'5 airush compact , a 5'8 airush cypher and the Airush sector 54 for the lightwind and or cruising along the coast a bit...
I have 12 9 7 5 where I find 12m and 9m fit perfectly, 9/7 also does the job, only the 5m does not go that far into the high end...even on the widcharts from ozone V3 you can see that the range of the 7m and 5M are very overlapping, where the 5m seems not to have a high top end.

Well maybe I have to review my sizes, when buying new...V4
cheers
dude

Select to expand quote

naishdude said..



I am in Europe, and do not have the massive Aussie waves ,;:=))
But I would have loved the 5M in 35 to max 40 knts...maybe I am expecting too much...winds are pretty gusty here whe they come into the high ends.

I have 78/ 80 kg..naked, I use a 5'5 airush compact , a 5'8 airush cypher and the Airush sector 54 for the lightwind and or cruising along the coast a bit...
I have 12 9 7 5 where I find 12m and 9m fit perfectly, 9/7 also does the job, only the 5m does not go that far into the high end...even on the widcharts from ozone V3 you can see that the range of the 7m and 5M are very overlapping, where the 5m seems not to have a high top end.

Well maybe I have to review my sizes, when buying new...V4
cheers
dude

Ok so you are probably around 85kg wet, in wetsuit and harness. The small bit of windrange between a 5M and a 7M can be hard to find in gusty conditions, on the V3 especially. The V4 in the smaller sizes have a smoother more consistent power delivery and handle gusty conditions better. In 30 knots or above I'd be on a 7M V3, but could use it from 26/27 knots easily and somewhere around the high 30's to 40 knots is where I'd be wanting a 5M, but I've not experienced conditions where I'd like to kite in those winds.
I'm guessing that you are getting onto the 5M fairly early - low in its wind range, when you actually could still be on the 7M, and thats why you feel they overlap so much? Then you are not really getting conditions at the top end of the 5M, so you are also thinking thats its wind range is narrow?

Please don't kite naked, I think its a bad image for our sport. ;-)

I like my old 4m reo. I use it when it gets around 30 knots or even high 20s. In these conditions there aren't many others out on 7m and if so they tend to be over-powered and not lining up waves well.

There's a fair bit of over-lap with 2m gaps. I accidentally took out my 8m in 25 knots and I actually didn't notice (I thought I grabbed the 6m - they're the same colour). Then it went in the wrong bag and I did it again in the following 25 knot session. I usually use my 8m in under 20 knots. So there's definitely range and overlap. These are the 1st gen Reos though.

It's rare to see another kiter on a 4m. But to be fair I haven't used my 10m this season so yeah, I like strong wind, efficient boards, I'm light weight and like less power.

Select to expand quote

Ozone Kites Aus said..

naishdude said..



I am in Europe, and do not have the massive Aussie waves ,;:=))
But I would have loved the 5M in 35 to max 40 knts...maybe I am expecting too much...winds are pretty gusty here whe they come into the high ends.

I have 78/ 80 kg..naked, I use a 5'5 airush compact , a 5'8 airush cypher and the Airush sector 54 for the lightwind and or cruising along the coast a bit...
I have 12 9 7 5 where I find 12m and 9m fit perfectly, 9/7 also does the job, only the 5m does not go that far into the high end...even on the widcharts from ozone V3 you can see that the range of the 7m and 5M are very overlapping, where the 5m seems not to have a high top end.

Well maybe I have to review my sizes, when buying new...V4
cheers
dude

Ok so you are probably around 85kg wet, in wetsuit and harness. The small bit of windrange between a 5M and a 7M can be hard to find in gusty conditions, on the V3 especially. The V4 in the smaller sizes have a smoother more consistent power delivery and handle gusty conditions better. In 30 knots or above I'd be on a 7M V3, but could use it from 26/27 knots easily and somewhere around the high 30's to 40 knots is where I'd be wanting a 5M, but I've not experienced conditions where I'd like to kite in those winds.
I'm guessing that you are getting onto the 5M fairly early - low in its wind range, when you actually could still be on the 7M, and thats why you feel they overlap so much? Then you are not really getting conditions at the top end of the 5M, so you are also thinking thats its wind range is narrow?

Please don't kite naked, I think its a bad image for our sport. ;-)

At 62 yo, I do not think kiting naked, would bring more hahahha
Well depending o the boards used, compact 5'5 and cypher5'8 ( wider board) my windranges and kites used are approx as follows:
9m 14knts>20knts
7m 20knts>30 knts
5m 29knts .....>>>40knts in gustst max...I do ot like the winds here going towards the 4o knts max...its no fun on the surfboard especially as we do ot have clean waves nor flattish water inbetween them.
Anyways the more stability in the smaller sizes will surely improve the feeling...
Now trying to get rid of my V3 Reo's first
( still not allowed to kite right now after a neck surgery...let's hope I get the green light soon !
cheers and thx for the info
Dude