lewis_91
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Alvin reacted to a review:
Elliot Magma
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bakersdozen reacted to a review:
Ozone Frenzy 2006 10M
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bakersdozen reacted to a review:
Slingshot Fuel 11M
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So the Elliot magma, the newest kite to my collection! Sadly while on holiday this i broke my 3.5m Imp Trainer so i went out in search of a replacement kite, visited a local kite store in Denmark and was told the Elliot magma was the best kite for the job, the job of course being buggying and boarding. So off i went £170 out of pocket but with a huge smile on my face When i got home i immediately unpacked the kite and laid it out in the garage. The package included the kite,a very well built rucksack, a plastic line winder, a set of handles, a groundstake with its own carry case and a set of instructions. I then began to inspect me kite, after a few minutes of crawling on the floor i had found out that the build quality of the magma matched that of ozones small foils, very impressed! The bridals seemed better quality than that of other leading brand small foils. The kite is made of ripstop nylon and is coloured according to the size of the kite, the 4m for example has red patches on it. The handles are very much like the HQ Beamer handles, aluminum with a rubber grip covering them, quite comfortable. The lines were pre-stretched 20m lines with a strength of 180 kg, remind me of the pansh lines, strong but may need changing in a couple of months time. First Flight! Well off down the beach i went, the wind was blowing about 15mph offshore, not prefect conditions but suitable. So i unpacked the kite un-wound the lines and attached them to the kite and handles. I gave a sharp tug on the power lines and the kite powered up and went soaring into the air pulling me 10ft closer to the sea as it did so, Now that put a smile on my face Considering the wind conditions the kite had alot of pull, i could see this being a very good buggy engine, serious competition for the Flexi Rage and Ozone Cult! So i flew static for this session to get used to its power etc for about 30mins, after which my arms had had enough Landing the kite was extremely easy, gently pull on the brake lines and the kite slowly lowered in the window to the ground, no fuss or bother, and once staked to the ground sat there quite happily while i collected the bag from my little sister. Second Flight! The wind this time was alot more than before, it was blowing between 25- 35mph. I launched the kite no problem from the edge of the window to be on the safe side and stood with it above my head for a minute or two before deciding to put the handles in a strop and wear a harness. So once i had done that i launched again felling much happier. I attempted to buggy but in this wind i struggled as i was always being pulled down wind. I yelled to my dad to grab my board from the car, that felt much better, in this wind the magma felt more like a blade, very fast, very lifty and very fun!!! I did a couple of runs up and down the beach and then did my first jump on it, to be honest i wasn't expecting much as the lady in the shop said it wasn't a very lifty kite, She lied I sent the kite and Boom, i was 6ft in the air, not what i expected! Over the next half an hour i continued to jump around and try some grabs etc, i have never before been able to jump terribly well with fixed bridals but with the Magma it almost came naturally, very easy kite to dial into! Landing it this time was a little harder but luckily had some friendly German to pile some sand on it for me I then parapacked it and went home. My Overall Conclusion! Im am really impressed with this kites performance and build quality, this kite is definately up there with the other leading brand fixed bridals. This kite is perfect for buggying and boarding whether it be freestyle or just cruising around. I wouldn't recommend this kite to a beginner as it can still be a bit of a handful ( beamers still being the ultimate started kite) but once you have a bit of experience under your belt you should most definitely look into this kite. Elliot as i have found are not very popular in britain and are not very well known either, but hopefully with a few more happy customers like me there products should earn a place next to the most popular of kites we have on offer here in the UK and the rest of the globe. Lewis. By : lewis_91
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A Ozone Frenzy 06 10 review : The Frenzy: Having mostly flown Peter Lynn Arcs I was very interested to see the New Frenzy, it's not the 06 just the Frenzy this year! Flying the Frenzy 05 last year was very tempting to get, what did the latest from Ozone have to offer? Bag: The bag has some great new features this year: · Board straps to hold kiteboard, snowboard or mountainboard. · Straps and webbing on the side of the bag where you could put skis, poles, spare bars, etc. · Top pocket on the lid of the bag for putting random stuff in. · Pockets on the side of the waist strap where you could put key's, wallet, GPS or a snack. · This year they also have the kite size on the bag so you know which bag you've got what kite. · There's space for 2 kites in the bag so a spare kite for if the conditions change. There's been a lot of thought put in to the bags this year and they've done a great job which gives you a great bag for your needs. Quality/Manufacture: As usual Ozone pay a great deal to the finer details and quality of the kite, working from the kite to the bar: · The material is specially designed by Ozone for the application of kiting which results in a material that will create the shape of the foil and not stretch over time, it's UV protective and should shed water like its a ducks back. · Stitching is all double stitched with again UV protective twine. · The leading and trailing edges are both reinforced with Mylar which adds rigidity to the kite during flight increasing in the efficiency of the aerofoil. Also makes it more robust to abrasion. · The connection points on the kite from the bridal are sewn deep into the kite to spread the load and keep the shape of your kite. · Bridals are all stitched together rather than knotted which reduces the chances of the bridals getting caught up and minimises drag whilst flying. · The pulleys used on the bridal are top quality with breaking strains of 1/2 a tonne which should be enough for the largest of kiters. · Again lines are top quality all pre-stretched and stitched with cunning little tabs numbered from 1-4 for easy setup of the kite. Safety/Control: Safety on the Frenzy is good with a very simple but very effective system the same as last years system, pull the primary safety-red toggle and you're done, the kite de-powers and lands itself. They have a new system on the chicken loop this year where to completely release from the kite, this is your secondary safety. Instead of pulling the red loop on your chicken loop towards you, you pull it away from you which makes a little more sense, there's also less effort required to pull the new safety which has passed the latest safety standard in France. The Chicken loop doesn't have a "cow's tail"/"donkey's doo dah"/"kickette" attached to the chicken loop itself but comes with a "Kickette" which attaches onto your spreader bar. It works in the same way by putting your chicken loop on your hook and putting the "Kickette" through the hook to stop the chicken loop from coming off. Once you've pulled the safety it's easy to reload by looping your break lines over the bar ends then reaching forward and re-attaching the centre line into the primary safety toggle, then just twist the bar so the loops on the end of the bar drop off and then you're flying again. Launching and landing: To launch you can release the breaks, take a step backwards and the kite takes off and you're flying. To land you can either pull the break line handle or pull your safety and the kite lands safely on its trailing edge. Flying: Firstly, looking up at the kite you can see a difference between the 05 and this latest edition is that it's a higher aspect ratio than the 05, also the kite looks like every part of the kite is doing work. The kite is more stable than I expected, it stayed at the Zenith (top of the wind window) for a good while and in clean winds I might expect it to stay there! The flight across the window is smooth and the power stays on during the turn. When jumping the kite has great float which left me on occasions wondering when I was going to touch down. Unhooked riding is good, the power is constant and predictable, you can ride it from when the kite is just getting going to powered up like this. When doing larger jumps you get very direct and positive feedback from the kite which makes it intuitive to know where the kite is without even having to look up whilst airborne. So to conclude: A great package and a great flight. Author : lewis_91
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Slingshot Fuel 11 (2004) Slingshot released the new 2004 Fuels along with their Jenna Jameson pump with a bang. This package is one of the year's most exciting releases. Many people would have believe that the kite's new one pump action is what all the hype is about, but all is not hype as I was pleasantly surprised with the overall performance of the kite and what the Fuel offers as a package. Unroll the kite and you will find all the standard features such as multiple attachment points and durable material. The kite features kook-proof connectors that prevents you from attaching your lines the wrong way around. The most unique feature about the kite is the ability to pump up the leading edge bladder along with all the other struts by using the main valve. There is even a pressure gauge on the pump - according to Slingshot it is recommended to inflate the kite till about 3.4 psi. Having one valve for the entire kites certainly saves time and is a nice feature to have. All bladders are still separate - it's just a valve system that connects all the bladders together. After inflating your kite you can lock all the strut valves with a simple clip that will prevent the entire kite from deflating should any of the bladders get a leak. Bar : I got a real shock when I unpacked the bar as it is really short. But the bar turned out to be one of the best features of the kite. On the 11 it provides just the right amount of turning speed and feels just perfect. I think that Slingshot provides kiteboarders with a bar that fills most of our needs, but not entirely. For me, it is the kind of bar that I would want to have on my kite - if only they had incorporated an additional feature or two. It features a simple safety system that works - similar to that of the Wipika, a front line swivel system that prevents your front lines from twisting, and a simple means of making your depower line shorter or longer by moving a plastic ball up and down the depower rope and locking it in the desired position. Front line swivel system on the bar : Depower adjustment on the bar : The only thing lacking from the bar is a front line leash system (it uses a wrist leash), and line wrappers similar to that found on the naish bar that prevents your lines from twisting. It's such a simple feature to incorporate into a bar, that one often wonders why kiteboarding companies are still failing to produce a bar that fills the needs of all kiteboarders. Overall I was impressed with the bar. Pump and system: The one strut system worked well and without problems. The pump came with a reinforced aluminium rod, a pressure gauge and a line that attaches to the kite that allows you to inflate the kite with both hands on the pump. After using the attachment line for one week, the clip sprung off, and got lost, and after only three weeks of storing the pump in my garage along with my other kites, I noticed quite a bit of corrosion on the gauge. (see the above picture). The gauge also started malfunctioning after the third week - sometimes I had to give it a knock before the needle sprung up. This is quite disappointing as these pumps are not cheap, and given the conditions the fact that we use these kites so much, one would surely think that these pumps can stand up to everyday usage and conditions. Most of us live near the sea where corrosion is an everyday occurence (they could have given it a coating). Conditions: I have tested the kite over a period of 3 weeks in conditions ranging from 15 knots to 27 knots. I found the kite to really perform between 21 and 27 knots. I took no time to adjust to the kite - the kite is always predictable and stable. I enjoyed jumping with this kite - it provides good lift and slightly above average hang time. This kite would be a favorite among all types of rider given the smooth delivery of power. Some of the kites on the market are more in favour with lighter riders due to its light pulling power, and some kites are more in favour with heavier riders due to its solid pulling power. I find the kite to be nippy with a lot of power. The kite provides good solid pulling power, but not too much that you can't dig the rail in when you need to. This kite offers good blend between a front line and a back line flying kite, with the kite handling slightly more like a back line flying kite. I couldn't really find fault with any of the flying characteristics - the kite flies with precision. I would say that this is a really good kite for anyone starting to do more advanced manoeuvres. It is not the kind of kite that you want to put a beginner on - there's a lot of power in the kite and it gets deliver fast. It is also the kind of kite that you would enjoy doing kite loops with, but once again, it is not the kind of kite that you would like to try your first kite loop with. It will certainly punish you with a lot of power instantaneously. Conclusion: My impressions of the kite far exceeded my initial expectations I had. It is a good, solid performer. The Fuel is a great package - the bar features and one strut system completes the kite nicely. The Fuel is the ultimate statement of POWER!!! Though its nice to fly! By : lewis_91
