round

Give me an idea what you want. I have no idea what it is worth, but I know what I have got to spend and that isn't much . THanks David

Thanks for all the info. Have you listed the PL arcs in age order? It looks like I could get a Phantom or Venom for the kind of money I am toying with complete with bar and lines. What size should I be looking for? There is a Venom 10m on ebay, but I suspect that is too small because as I understand the effective area is much smaller. Should I be looking for a 13? 16? Keep in mind I don't want to fly at this stage. I should think I am looking for something like the equivalent of a 8m Beamer in power, perhaps a bit more because of the depower... Thankd for all the help David

There is that. On the other hand my car is 20 years old. Modern ones are better, but what I have is good enough and I'm not going to loose a lot of money with it! Kitesurfing is a new thing though and the technology is moving very fast. I am sure that some of the kit out there is somewhere between useless and dangerous. If the PL arcs are good enough and cheap then they will do me. If they are old and respected, then they will still be old and respected in a year or two if I want to move on so I shouldn't loose much... Of course, I could be deluding myself! Thanks David

There is a Pansh Ace 8m on ebay and the price is right, but I am not sure what to make of it really. I'm keeping an eye out for large, fixed bridle kites. I guess the time to find bargain monster kites is in the winter! I am happy with handles, but the extra control of a depower is tempting. THe downside is that I have no experience with a bar. I have got a trapeze harness for sailing that I was going to compare with a kite harness. The idea is basically the same, hook at the front on your CofG so it might work. Thanks David

There are lots of words I like there. "Super friendly, eats gusts, perfect for learning" etc.. What is an arc and what are the differences between one and a SLE or LEI. Are there any snags to an arc? THanks David

Thanks for the reasurance about phantoms etc. At the moment all I want is more power to move. Like you say, in a few years time I may have other ideas. I'll try and meet up with the locals first. It would take a lot of planning to schedule in a trip to Rhyl, and then Murphy and the weather would probably gang up on me! Thanks David

I think waroos might be out of my league financially. There is one on ebay now, £350, reserve not met and plenty of bids... I can't find any atoms. Thanks David

I'm not sure about fixed bridle - I already have the 5m Beamer, which is pretty big for a fixed bridle as far as I can work out. I see LEI/SLE (still not sure what the difference is) on ebay all the time. Some of them seem pretty cheap. The trouble is that there are so may types/sizes/years/manufactures/models that I can't figure out if the cheap ones are lethal or useless etc. If I could simplify it to wanting a 12m Phantom or something, ebay will provide. There seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for LEIs on this forum and potentially one a few years old seems pretty cheap. I just don't have enough opinions yet to know exactly what I am looking for and if it actually adds up. I'm tempted to try a bit on the water and so like the idea of something that might work for both, but that counts out the access as I understand. Then again, if the Phantoms etc are a pain to set up and launch then I might regret that. The Beamers are up in the air in no time, which is handy given how little time I have to play. How is that for wooly thinking? David

The surface was soggy sand. I guess there must be better bits of Redwarf bay or I can't see it being popular with mountain boards. A bit more power would have dragged me through though to explore the rest of the beach. David

Currently I have 5 and 2.5m Beamer IIs. They are great, but I was disappointed again last night. I went to Redwarf Bay, the wind was 10 knots in the lulls and 16 on the gusts. I couldn't get enough power out of the 5m Beamer to go where I wanted over the soggy sand even with the 10" wheels on my mountain board:mad:. I am not interested in jumping or going very fast:eek:, just going at all! Anyway, I am considering something larger than the 5m Beamer. It looks like the cheapest way forward would be an older kitesurfing kite, a LEI or SLE (I'm not really sure of the difference..). I am a bit worried about getting in a mess with a bar and things because I am used to handles, but that is what the cheap secondhand kites are and a bit of depower would be nice. Is it sane to just get one of these kites and "have a go" on a quiet day? What should I look for that is cheap? There are so many. Please keep in mind that I don't want to race or jump. Good manors are far more important to me than performance. Does anyone in the Bangor area want to show off their favorite kite to me? Oh, I am 5'8 and 14st, I suppose I have to tell you that bit if I want useful advice:( Thanks again David

My kids play mostly with the Tribord 2.4m, which is on very short lines. They also like the Beamer II 2.5 in light winds. The short lines are great as they are less likely to tangle and it is hard to crash the kite hard, which will can destroy a foil kite. From what other people have said here, short lies really limit the power of a kite - the tribord 2.4 on its short lines is certainly far less powerful than the Beamer, but I have never tried them the other way round. Anyway, I'd suggest a 2.5 like the HQ Beamer etc, but also some short lines for windier days. You can buy line extensions, which would be about the right length for short lines if you don't want to make your own lines. My kids are 10, 9 and 7.

Cheap is good! Pink? So long as it is really cheap! How light winds will these things fly in? Currently I have a 5m beamer 2, a 2.5m beamer 2 and some other tiny kites for really high winds. The trouble is that summer is actually nearly here and I am finding the 5m beamer will not fly at all in less than a few knots and below about 8 knots it is beyond my skill to to keep the kite in the air reliably while on the board. Anyway, I am wondering about a much larger kite such as a best waroo 10-12m for very light wind days initially and moving steadily up the wind range as my skill increases. I find that watching the kite surfers, I am being seduced by the dark side and so would probably choose a SLE/LEI next, just in case. Anyway, suggestions would be much appreciated. David

If you are going downwind and not really working the kite then you will get exactly that result, gets you going nicely and then the kite falls out of the sky. Try running across the wind. I saw a chap doing just that on the beach. 4.7 kite, 15 knots. Took off dead downwind at ballistic speeds, but then the kite fell out of the sky as he overtook the wind. I have a 2.5m Beamer II and it will easily pull me wherever I want to go in 15-20 knots. I'd leave the big kite in the bag until you have thoroughly mastered the 3.5 in anything above a few knots. Also keep in mind with the big kite that the power you get is not only related to wind strength, but also to kite speed! David

I have 10" tyres on my mountain board. They do make a lot of difference, but they do still get bogged down eventually. They are a lot heavier too. The contact area goes up a lot with the larger tyres as they are much wider so the footprint is both longer and wider. I think for a beginner the big tyres are great as they allow you to get away with a smaller kite. David

Talking from my vast experience of maybe three or four goes with the kite... I think the 10" wheels I have are the brilliant. I am having a lot less problems getting bogged down etc. Like for like they are considerably faster - which is not necessarily an advantage for a rookie. The real downside is that they are heavy. Ground Industries do a solid tyre designed for tarmac which might be something you want to try. It fits on a standard hub as I understand but the resulting wheel is much smaller.