Pari

Hey Kevin, thanks, very helpful info. It makes sense what you said about moving the foot pads out. I matched the width with my 134cm twin tip but I could tell in the very short time I tried the board out that I just couldn’t get the front end up. Need much more pressure on that back foot, so I will definitely be moving those pads further out. I’m still excited about getting some extra sessions in with this. But yes, getting good on the foil is my ultimate goal, I just need more trips to flat water spots where I can practice- hopefully this year now that travel in Australia is back on.

The Flydoor arrived today. Had to have a try on it, but there was a little too much chop to get past and the front kept digging into the water, as I feared. It rides very flat and trying to pop the front over the waves proved to much. Mind the wind was really lite, maybe 9 knots. I think I have a bit of learning to do with it. But I was surprised at how quick I shot off once I was up on the board, so I'm hopeful that it will find a place on those days when the water is flatter and the wind 10knots up. It's a nice looking board, must say. Feels very big, especially next to my everyday twin tip.

Oh, I wasn’t asking so much about riding waves, I get it that it’s too flat a board for that. More just asking how do you find it in the chop and general swell. Are you still down Balina way? If so I’m guessing you have similar conditions to me- waves you have to get through. Just wondering what it’s like with a big, flat board in those situations. I guess I’m going to find out soon enough. Mind you I’m not liking thought of going out in this cold!

Thanks for that info. Yeah, 170 is big. I might have seen the same board for sale, there was a Flydoor 4 on seabreeze that I almost went for. but I didn't like the look of the big fin in the middle for shallow water. My main concern is how it will perform in waves, I doubt I'll be doing much flat water riding- sometimes we get a bit of flat water in Kingy when the tide is out. How did you find it in waves?

Last season was one of the worst for years. I'd planned to get more practice in on the foil board but that didn't happen. I blame the wind condition of course 😉. Nah, just so frickin' hard and I didn't get enough time on flat water conditions. Anyway I want an easier, more immediate solutions to get out in those really low wind days so I have a new Flydoor 6 on it's way. Once I get a bit of time on it I'll report back, maybe a little review. Has anyone had experience with the Flydoors? I'd be keen to hear what you think of them.

There seems to be a move to more minimal design in a lot of products generally, clean and simple- from fonts and graphic design, to interior and industrial design, but there are probably some advantages too, to the construction of some of the kites.

Seems the trend for all kites is this really minimal, linear style of graphics. This seems especially so when you look at Ozone or Duotone for example. But yeah, the Speed 3 was a really nice looking kite.

This answers my question. Our Kite Life review. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0vja9KhCOzY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I just watched the new Soul video from Flysurfer and it has a new colour scheme. Does anyone know if there have been any upgrades to the kite?

Looking forward to seeing those pics!

Thanks @SoutherlyBuster, yes it was a bit of a stretch that an old 5m FS would be OK for a wave kite. But I never heard back from the seller anyway.

Thanks dude. Yeah I put this up on the ‘pimped’ thread also. I think I didn’t understand- there’s a gallery? Oh, great and thanks

Hey @plummet, how’s it? I’m not seeing notifications for some unknown reason, so sorry for delayed response. I’ve just finished MK1 of my board rebuild. Here are some pics. I’ve put a more detailed description on the ‘Pimped Boards’ thread.

OK folks, here is some proper home grown board porn for you. wheels and truck housings are 3D printed in PETG and ASA respectively. The grab handle is printed from Nylon/carbon fibre filament. The top of the deck has had a new coat of epoxy as the original clear wrap delaminated. The deck has been reshaped, loosing quite a bit of weight, plywood sides sealed with polyurethane varnish. The bottom of the deck has had one layer, all over and a second layer in the middle section for reinforcement, of uni-directional carbon fibre. Unfortunately here I had ran out of peel ply and was using several scraps to pieces, just enough together to cover the board, so you can see were the patches overlap. But hey, it’s on the bottom! CNC alloy trims on the trucks against the black housings in my opinion look “fully sick mate” (said in a south London accent). All hardware is stainless steel. At some stage, probably far of into the future, I will get round to doing the alloy wheels, but I’m going to do it properly with coloured anodised parts for wheels and trucks.

Thanks for that. I haven't heard back from the seller yet.

I've just seen a FS Pulse 5m on Seabreeze. I've shot them an email to see if they'll sell it on it's own as it's advertised with a Peak 3 12m. Does anyone have any experience with a little Pulse like this, I'm thinking as a high wind wave kite!

Hi and sorry for not replying sooner. I don't get notifications from this forum for some reason so didn't know this thread was active. PLA won't be good in the elements anyway and is too brittle. As you know from experience ABS is very problematic for getting good bed adhesion and no spiting layers unless done under very controlled conditions like an enclosed housing. A good replacement that is really taking over from ABS is ASA. It doesn't shrink as much and doesn't give off so many toxic fumes. I used it to print a black pair of truck housings and they were quite successful. But honestly for cost of filament, reliability and ease of printing and strength for this application I still reckon PETG is the best. Just a reminder on the one wheel of mine that broke- it was done with on 2 or three perimeters, only 20% infill and I and previously bounced that wheel of the concrete floor to see if it would break which it did chip a bit of the rim off and that is were the break originated when I used it on the board. The other rim, which I didn't bounce of concrete and is also printed with the same settings is still going strong. These were printed in PETG. The image shows the black ASA truck housings, one of which I tried my first attempt of acetone vapor smoothing. The wheels are an updated stronger 3D model done in black PETG, I did a set of four of these ready to go on the board. I hope this is helpful. I really think you should go with PETG for future wheel prints. Hi, I have no problem with tolerances for both tire or bearing fitting. I've been developing the CAD for this project for a while now so each time I try a new prototype the 3D gets refined. My advice for you would be to learn the basics of CAD. It is a must in my opinion for any product manufacturing and especially for 3D printing. Fusion 360 is the choice for a lot of novice designers and is free for none professional users. Once you have the basics, (and these wheels are basic designs, just extrudes really) you can draw the model to fit the tires and bearing you are using and get the tolerance right.

Same as the title WTB Flysurfer 10m SOUL

Straps are a must for any kind of traction, and you need to have a wide stance to have good balance, so find what stance feels right and work backwards from there, adding the diameter of the tires, to work out your board length. I don't know anything about NASA kites. But it helps if you have a kite that allows a certain amount of going up wind, a kite that flies forward when you are tacking. You'd might be better off getting a decent traction kite either on a bar or handles but I can't say for sure as I've never flown a NASA kite.

You really need a plywood for the deck so you have more strength running in two directions. Good job on getting it together @Renato Borowski Filho

So I got back from my Kitesurfing trip last night. Five days of great kiting and a few aches and pains. The last day was an unexpected gift as I only drove to Thoedolite Creek, Woodgate, to say my farewells and have one more look at what’s got to be one of my favourite kite spots to date. But the wind gods were on my side despite what the forecast was showing and I had the best session of the trip before the drive home. I spent the first day at Elliot heads and the rest at Thoedolite, driving there and back from Bundy. It really is a beautiful kite spot. For anyone wanting to learn on flat water, learning to foil, freestyle tricks or just wanting to kite in an isolated beauty spot I can’t recommend it enough. I will definitely be making more trips up there.

I got to Bundaberg, yesterday, Wednesday, evening. I’m staying at a backpackers as it’s only 20km to Elliot Heads. Another session saved by the Soul 12m. Very light wind, maybe 8-10kn. But still really easy to get up on the board and planing along. Having Some food, then try the twin tip, but wind is still a bit low. Should be better tomorrow. Day 1 pics:

Thanks @bakersdozen, that worked. haha

Just a posting question. How do you refer to another member and get that highlighted, example - @Pari or @membersname?

I don't know either of these tires. I think the one with the tread is the same dimensions as mine, but just more rugged. What I do know is that the smooth tires, with less tread, are better for the hard to medium sand as they do not break up the sand. But for the other terrains you listed- well I suppose the tire with the tread might be best, just a guess. I don't think you'll get the perfect tire for all the terrains listed, just a compromise. I'd also be mindful of weight. These tires look very heavy. The ones that I have and others like @Plummet and @bakersdozen , are the lighter of this size