Advance Offroad

okay so these kites have been around a while, but it doesnt seem there is a lot of info about them, excepting the two great reviews already posted on here.

advance kites are a swiss company, i'm not certain but i think they have a bigger following on the continent than they do here - which i feel is a real shame

the advance offroad is essentially a depowerable kite, which can be flown in handles or a bar, mine is on a bar

build quality of this kite is very satisfying, cool design and colours, with a decent bar with groovy neoprene line savers to keep your lines on the bar once you have packed up. the depower system is simple yet effective and easy to use, the quick release from the harness is seemingly faultless in the tests i made, and easily re-assembled

the kite itself flies very smoothly through the air, and is very easy to position at various point around the wind window. it is rock solid at the zenith, and flies well to either side of the window and sits there without crumpling. to say i was impressed was an understatement - this kite far outshines anything else i have flown in its size range in terms of stability and smoothness - including bullets and blades

the depower system on this kite is truly a feature to behold. i have read articles stating that the depower is not that effective, well i can tell you that is wrong. basically the depower works just the same as an LEI, and the kite responds in a similar way. with no power the kite flies lightly, slowly and with less pull. pull the bar in, the turn rate picks up, the power increases and the kite speeds up. let the depower strap out and hook into the harness loop and you have a kite that is significantly more powerfull and with a turn rate that would rival any kite on handles

the bridle is set up like a cross over system, so one flap of the kite is sheeted in each time you turn. when powered up, the kite turns very quick, (just like an LEI) but unlike foils on handles, doesnt crumple or stall, it keeps on flying. the bridle has the advantage if pulling the leading edge and the trailing edge in at the same time, giving you a big power boost

although i have yet to test the advance offroad in a variety of wind speeds, i am confident that the depower will handle many conditions, meaning that in the Advance Offroad you have a kite that would do the job of two or more fixed bridal kites

it is such an engaging and interesting kite to fly, with all the different power options to play with. my friend and I regularly use LEI's, and were very stoked with the way this little kite behaves, it is one hell of a machine. it inspired confidence - even fully powered up it sits at the zenith, rock solid - how many LEIs will do that in light winds?

as for beginners, under supervision the kite would be very rewarding to fly, it is light on the bar, forgiving to errors and with the depower you can introduce more speed and grunt as they progress.

earlier that day, i flew a 3.5m bullet. it wouldnt sit at the zenith, was unresponsive at the edges of the window, and you couldnt walk downwind without it collapsing. by contrast, the Offroad flew far more positively and transformed what could of been a dull frustrating day into a truly good session

the kites are more expensive than others on the market, but in terms of performance i feel that a cheaper, less performing kite would be a bigger waste of money. the advance offroad is i think a masterstroke, and once you get to know it, is very very hard to put down.

By : mickjones