300678

So i got this, my first depowerable about three months ago, having spent about a year and a half boarding with blades and bullets. Ozone bill it as an 'entry level depower foil designed wih ease of use for backcountry snowboarding in mind'. It's an easy kite to use, with loads of pull, but with next to no lift, making it great in a buggy. First off, the Access 10mtr retails for about £470, a great price for an ozone depowerable. The kite comes with everything you need; bar+lines, chicken loop locking finger, repair patches and of course, ozone keyring. Everything is up to the usual incredible build quality so often seen with ozone products; i expect to be flying this 2 years from now (at least). The access comes with the Ozone re-ride safety system as seen on the '05/'06 frenzy, and works perfectly, whenever you are in trouble just give it a pull and you are instantly safe, and of course it comes with the new chicken loop safety, although i havn't had a chance to test yet (thankfully). Access is made from ozone 40d nylon, as seen on the fury, and is fine, nice and light, making the access useable even in the lowest of winds. Although called a de-powerable it doesn't have a sheeting system as seen on any other, instead it is adjusted using a series of knots, which is just as effective and easy to use. The kite is designed to be flown unhooked as well, in that it comes with a wrist leash which you can attach to the handbrake. Unhooked this kite is incredible, even in the low winds it pulls like a train! This is a great kite for medium wind boarding; it flies very well, predictable and smooth, with very little luffs or stalling. It pulls a great amount in around 10mph, and is enough to ride in easily 6, although just like ozone say; this kite has no lift whatsoever, in any wind. This is fine, as it is designed as a beginner's depower foil, a job that it does very well. This is also a great kite for use in the buggy; it has great upwind performance, and performs incredibly will, allowing you to 'lock and ride' i.e hold it in one place, and gun it! I have seen it being used on the water, but obviously it is not water-relaunchable, so isn't best for surfing. I believe this kite would be very good in the snow, but again i havn't been able to try it. In conclusion, a great value depowerable foil for the beginner market, it is very safe and very efficient, and i would recommend this kite to anyone (just bear in mind that it does not lif at all). By : 300678

This was my second board after riding an old scrub '39 to death. First impressions out of the boxare that it looks good, usual flexifoil standard of quality, from the looks of things it could stand up to one heck of a beating. Of course i wasn't ready to board until I had planted my racekites.com sticker on the underside . Ride comfort: The flexifoil range of boards has a very uniqe bend to the deck shape which is supposed to counterbalance the pull of the kite, making the ride more comfortable, but all i found was that the bend meant you were almost always up on your toes which could get very uncomfortable. The bindings are just normal velcro like seen on most boards, they are fairly comfy, but one of mine tore after about 6 months of riding, again because i was on my toes so much. Ride quality: The board comes with channel trucks but no shocks with which you can set them for riding styles. No problem whatsoever with the trucks other than this, ther work fine (no as well as mbs matrix, but i dont have £110 to spend on new ones) they are a bit heavy, but i will get onto this in a sec. One other problem with the deck is that because it is so long it bottoms out in the middle often (although I am a meaty bloke) Weight: By no-one's standards a light board, weighs the best part of 10 kilosso if you are into jumping stay well clear of this. I could get jumps in with my '39 and nothing with this. But then again, this is marketed as a racing board, so really it is trivial. The board comes with regular diamond tread tyres which are fine, but i decided to get the same 10" tyres as fitted to nosno boards... WOW!! it goes over anything and you don't ever even feel it. Build quality: I've been riding this board for over a year and a half now, and it is still fine except for the binding tearing. The deck is still fine and in great condition, the trucks and hubs are still pristine. The left rubber grip tape is falling off, but whatever, who ever cared about that???? Overall a reasonable board, very heavy and long, but if you want a board for long runs go for it, although if yo uare serious you might want to get better, comfier bindings (i know i spelt it wrong) and bottom line it's flexifoil so i dont think it's gonna break for a while yet, but if you aren't sure whether or not to get this board i'd honestly consider getting a scrub instead... OVERALL : 2.5/5 btw im sick of long heavy boards now so i'm getting a lion canyon pro!!!!! By : 300678

after (trying) to learn to kiteboard with a 2.1 LD i decided to go for something a bit bigger. I was a bit wary at first of buying a 'budget' kite since my kiter friends all ride frenzys and phantoms, but i went for it anyway. This kite is awesome: Build Quality For a cheap kite it is very well made; ive been pushing it very hard(20 mph+) and there are no problems with the kite after 6 months its still nice and crispy. The lines aren't as good, they seem to be just fibres twisted together, but they were fine for me untill about 4 months of flying, where i got a fray and decided to go ozone for lines. the handles are fine, pretty comfy with wierd clip things for brake adjusting on the fly (pun intended). Flying characteristics The kite rarely luffs, and gives a reasonable amount of pull in the lower wind ranges. Doesnt give much lift, but i don't mind about that (as a learner kiteboarder i didn't want much). The brake adjusters are useful so you can set the brake level quickly and easily. overall it is very stable in the air, easy to control, and because it doesn't stall often it is a great choice for beginners. After a while i rode it on a harness with a strop and the kite is geat for that; in the right winds you can use it like a sail which was just what i wanted... Durability exept for the lines the kite is in perfect condition, i rode it very hard for about 6 months, at which point i opted for a more lifty kite (13m peter lynn bomba ) but i think that for over 6 months the kite would do very well. Conclusion This kite is of excellent build quality, and flys very nicely. I think that for the price it is a very good buy, and having tried most other cheaper kites (beamer, firebee) i think that it is the best kite for that region of cost. overall a good beginner/intermediate kite for landboarding, great for buggying (so i am told by my buggying pals who borrowed it for a short while) and very, very good value for money. By : 300678