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Showing results for tags 'Radsails'.
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Like most people, i did not want to spend a lot on my first buggy, so decided to go for the radbuggy. looked at a lot of different reviews , and liked the fact that the back axle could be taken apart for easy storage and travel. Buggy arrived and set about building it. instructions were clear and easy to work out. i no time at all it was built nad i could not wait to try it out, but as with all new toys had to wait for the wind to come up. First time out the buggy was good . Had to adjust a few things to get comfortable in the buggy. i found for me i had to move the down tube a couple of times to get the right length. i found that the buggy is very stable and is good a speed, even when going sideways felt very safe and rarely tipped out. for someone new this built up a lot of confidence in my riding. The down side to all this is some parts of the buggy are not the best. i have had to fix the seat about 4 times now, as it just seems to come apart. has taken a lot of stitching. also the bearings were not packed not well, so these have also been cleaned and repacked with grease. Over all i feel this is a good buggy to have started out on. The problems that i have had are ownly small and can be fixed easily.
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It's my first review on this site and I'm getting back into power kiting for the winter as it's too bloody cold to go kitesurfing. I bought the Radsails Evo Trainer as a fun kite for medium wind days and have now flown it about 10 - 15 times. It comes in 3 colour options (red, blue or gold) and all look very nice. I've got the red/black/white version. It's a two line kite supplied with a bar and kite killer. RRP seems to be around £95 but you can pick them up for less by shopping around. Out of the bag first impressions are good. Nice crispy kite material, good stitching and decent bar with line winder ends and reasonable kite killer, only concern is the lines seem quite light (110kg) dyneema - more on that later. It takes about 2 minutes from getting it out of the bag, unwinding lines from the bar and being ready to fly. Great! Much better than faffing around with 4 lines and parapacking 🙂 I've flown this kite in winds from 10mph up to 25mph and it's always fun in different ways: 10mph - pulls well for it's size compared to other 2m - 2.5m kites I've flown and accelerates nicely through each figure of eight with no surprises. You need to keep it moving at these wind speeds especially in lulls or it will tend to collapse on you. 15 - 20mph - this is where the kite feels great. Lots of steady pull with no real lift. I suspect the lack of lift is due to it's profile 229cm x 95cm so not exactly high AR. It flys around confidently like a lttle jet fighter and will have you scudding across the beach nicely if you're medium weight or less (I'm 75kg). Fly this for more than half an hour and you feel you're getting a good workout. 25mph - probably at the top end of what this kite was designed for! Again very steady handling and lots of traction but on the day I flew it was gusting up to 30mph and in one gust "ping" the line broke at the figure 8 knot on the leader line. I've never had the happen before on any kites I've flown. Interestingly the same thing happened to a friend of mine two days later hot launching in same conditions with the same model kite. So would I recommend this kite? Yes if you want a great beginners kite that is well mannered has a considerable amount of pull and will give you a good workout in medium winds (10 - 20mph). It's also a great trainer kite for anyone wanting to practice kite skills with a bar prior to moving on to kitesurfing. Just be weary in taking it out in high winds unless you think about upgrading the lines.
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The radsail 2.4m powerkite Got this kite for my b-day last year paid £89.99 for it but in the deal i got the rad 145 COOL!! what you get: well you get the rucksack which isnt as bad as people say, it opens and closes, it keeps everything in and it is colour coded to the kite. you get the quad handles with the soft grips, you get two colour coded winders for the lines red for brake and black for control lines, aswell youget the radsails flight school DVD which is brilliant if you are a complete begginer aswell you get a small booklet which takes you through the basics if you dont want to watch the dvd or you forget what to do on the field also it tells you what wind conditions are suitable for the kite and you and last but not least you get the kite. when i got this kite i was totally new to power/traction kiting i have only had a crappy stunt kite what a difference suddenly i was being dragged across a field this was quite scary considering i only weigh 53kg and being only 14 so i decided to invest in some kite killers well worth it the kite killers gave me confidence to take the kite into even higher winds GREAT!! In the air: well the kite is great for begginers because it will stay aloft in minute winds just untill you get familiar with it and then the fun begins when flown in medium to high winds the kite pulls very well for its size (it easily dragged me across the full length of a beach in 14mph winds) it turns very well in most wind conditions but if you pull too hard you can create a kink which demands alot of effort to iron out in the air but it's possible but thats the only niggle i have with it totaly awsome kite! Concusion This is a good quality power kite perfect for begginers entering the sport its great because you get the ability to put on kite killers so if you get too scared you can let go and the kite wont fly off never to be seen again. i reccomend this kite to any begginer thinking of kiting this is the kite for you.
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I have been kiting for around a year now, started off with a 2 stacked flexifoil super 10's. Figured its time to go 4-Line, initially I was looking at a Rage 4.7 / Blade 4.9 but one day while flying at the beach came accros a guy flying a Radsail Pro 6m, impressed with what I saw I decided to try one out, at the price that they go for I would have been stupid not to,decided on the 4m as its my 1st 4line. I am about 1.8m tall 88 kilograms so figured i could hold it. Weather sucked the weekend I got it, so the initial inspection was on the lounge floor. I was impressed with the kite itself, considering its price, even comparing it to my flexifoils. The bag is perfect for its purpose, not that high quality but I bought a kite not a bag so I was happy with it. It fits the kite in and the handles with ease. The lines looked rather thin and cheap though, which was my only real worry, I believe they are 158kg/60kg. Handles seemed decent enough, although I cannot compare as I havent used any other. One thing which really impressed me was the caps that you place on the ends of handles which are used as the winder - brilliant idea - the handles themselves become the winder so there is no disconnecting any lines. Maiden voyage: Took it to the local beach - wind was great many kitesurfers out maybe a bit too strong for a maiden voyage but there was no way in hell I was going to wait. The handle winder system made setting up really easy, was ready to go within 2 or 3 minutes. Picked up the handles, lines became taught and kite took its shape without taking flight, a gentle pull on the control lines saw the kite lift into the zenith in all its glory - a very decent pull sent me scudding allong the beach a few metres. With the kite above me could feel it tring to lift me off the ground, I "tried" a pedulum jump, having the kite take me a good few meters after a few tries.Braught the kite into the power zone saw me scudding like mad. What amazed me was the stability of the kite, I could bring the kite to corner of the window, very low and just walk the kite a bit while I gave my wrists a break, the brakes work well to. The lines which I was initially worried about are working well after a few flights, I think I was comparing to my flexi lines which is a bit unfair. Over all I am very impressed, would reccomend it to anyone.
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This is my first review on race kites and it's also the first power kite I have bought. So basically I am just telling you how I found it as a beginner. What's inside Once I opened the package I found a very neat useful looking backpack and inside the front pocket there is various info from radsails about their products and also a guide on how to set it up. If you haven't done this before IT IS VERY USEFUL. Now inside the main pocket I found the handles and the kite. Its amazing how small the kite is in it's packet, when you roll it out flat however: its huge! The handles are cleverly built so you can easily wind up the lines. The quality Not having anything but a stunt kite to compare this to I was shocked by how thin the lines are, this it turned out was my ignorance. I have used the kite several times and the lines all feel very strong and of good quality. The handles are extremely useful with their wind up parts for the lines once you have finished, it also prevents annoying tangles. With 4 very long lines avoiding tangles is essential. The kite itself is of high quality, made of strong light material. Though I have nothing really to compare it to I think the quality is fab for the money as I no their are kites much more expensive than this. Use I was so excited that I made the mistake of going out and using it in practically no wind at all. Of course it didn't work, but I was too eager to wait. When I did use it properly for the first time it was when I went on holiday in October. God it certainly is a power kite. Ok I admit it was a pretty windy day on Newgale beach in pembrokeshire, but the power of the thing had me dragged around the beach all over the place. I do mountain boarding as well so I wanted a kite that would help me combine both skills and it needs enough power to move me. It has more than enough power. The kite felt strong yet just about manageable, if I got any bigger it would be too much for me as a beginner. It has challenge, but I can cope which is what I wanted it to be like. When its in the air it feels stable and turns easily. I cannot stress how fun it was for me to fly it, I really like it. Conclusion I bought this kite after getting advise from all the good people who use the forums on racekites. I was not disappointed. It is a challenge as I am a beginner, but you get great enjoyment from it too. This is the perfect kite for people who want a challenge when starting up, but don't want something too powerful either. It is also a good kite for kiteboarding as it has the dragging power. I personally think it is awesome, but I haven't tried all the kites out there. The only downside is that it is tiring, but you don't hold on to kite with that power and not get tired. If anyone would like to ask me anything about the kite feel free to personal message me, I am happy to answer any questions. Hope this helps Ella (~:
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If your like me, you will have watched people fly these strange looking kites and wondered what its all about. You've then gone onto the inter-web and found something that looks like a power kite but costs an arm and a leg (and some gold teeth). So, as like most people you turn to trusty e-bay for a bargin. Well the genral rule is, keep clear of e-bay bargns, but then you spot the Radsails 145 for £20. You think its not a very big kite but then again it is only £20 and Radsails is a propper kite company. What do you do? Do you ask people if it's any good? Do you checkout the Radsails web page? Do you go to a kite shop and ask about the £20 kite in the window? Well, here is what I did. Buy it. This was my first power kite, yes, it's a power kite, yes it only cost £20, yes it is good value for money. When I took this kite out for the first time I found it very easy to set up. It only has 2 lines so its prety stright forward to attach them. You can launch it by yourself but a willing assistant is recomended. As for me, I just lay it on the grass, gave a tug on the lines and up it went, easy as that. Ok, ok, your right, its only a small 2 line kite so if your looking for lift / traction then errrr nope, your not going to get much from this, but you will learn the flying skills you need with this kite. Thats right, for the beginer this really is a good kite. Face it, you dont want to part with £150 hard earned to have three or four full speed dives straignt into the ground, whack, but a £20 kite hmmmm sounds like a better idea. Trust me, as a beginer, you will crash your kite into the ground a lot. Once you can keep it in the air for more than 15 seconds you realise that this little kite is rather responsive, zipping accross the sky at a good pace. The controls are nice and easy and the kite reacts well to your input. Being quite small it does require a bit of a breeze to keep it in the air but not as much as you think, about 5 mpg min should do, as for the max wind, 20 mph would be a good top end, this will result in the lines stretching but in the end we all have to live with that anyway. Right, I have gone on for long enough, so here is my conclusion. This is a great little kite, but, it is a little kite. If, like me your looking to learn how to fly, crash and even destroy a kite, buy this one, its a bargin for £20 and it takes a beating. If you want real power or something that will reverse launch look for something a bit bigger with 4 lines. My Radsails 145 has pride of place in the boot of my car, ready to fly where ever I go. By : stevenqneuk
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Like a few other people, this is my first quad line kite, although not the first one I fly By the time I got my Rad I had tried various quad line kites like Ozone’s Frenzy (3m, 5m and 10m), New Tech’s “Burner Ballistic” 3.6m, so I knew what quad lines are supposed to be like... Having said this, and with my limited experience, I think that somebody at Eolo should redefine the terms “Ready to Fly” and “pre-stretched Dyneema lines”(starting the wrong way round, i.e from the conclusion) The conclusion: Definitely a value for money choice, for beginner to intermediate pilots The kite is nice to fly, pulls well and turns quickly for its span. If you apply a bit of brake it turns on its axis like a propeller! Too much pull on one brake and it might fold and become a tangled mass of ripstop fabric and lines falling out of the sky. Reverse launching by pulling on the brakes is easy if the foil is still standing. Parking the kite using a ground stake, it sits where it is put and behaves well. .. all these of course if some “childhood diseases” that might come up, are treated and cured! Kite Killers are not really necessary for this size but better be safe than sorry, I recommend them as well as other protection gear (elbow / knee pads – helmet) Well built, well stitched! Had some serious crashes but shows no signs of wear. Hint: Check the length of the brake and the flying lines before your first time out and make sure that flying lines have no more stretch to give. “Pre-stretched lines” are not always what their name suggests. Now the Long Story (and less important details)! The kite arrived in a nice, “cheep-ish but does the job“ rucksack. It was neatly folded, the lines are colour coded on plastic winders and inside a plastic sachet with a piece of paper stating line strengths and “Pre-stretched”. The handles do the job, although there’s much room for improvement. There was also a DVD, nicely put together and gives basic but necessary instructions if one’s clueless, plus shows some fun moments with jumps and buggies. Unfolded the kite on the living room floor: Thick bridles and crispy ripstop nylon! I also noticed the little piece of paper with the coding of left-right flying / brake lines. Helpful as a guide only if it were put the right way round! Measured the lines and found them of equal length. (but didn’t compare the flying to brake line lengths – big mistake!) First flight: A complete disaster! My "Ready to Fly" pride refused to take off, although the cell swere fully inflated. After spending some time, (“Ready to fly, so what’s wrong with it?” ) I discovered that the flying lines were about 2 metres longer than the brake lines. Went home to shorten the flying lines, (should have done that as soon as I unpacked the kite in the house) The kite refused to fly with the lines included in the pack, no matter what length adjustments I made on the flying lines... A bit too short and the breaks were useless, a bit too long and soon as it was in the middle of the wind window it would fold and suck the air out. I tried flying using a mate’s quad bar and the Rad was flying exceptionally well and pulled nicely, I even made small jumps with 15mph winds! (I’m round 64kg) So, what was wrong with my flying kit? I pegged the lines on the ground and pulled them tight. The brake lines were firm. The flying lines stretched for another 1.5metre! I don’t know how can somebody call these lines “pre-stretched” – or am I expecting too much at that price? I swapped the flying lines with some older ones and the Rad flies beautifully ever since!! Hally flights! Author : Mountaineer
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it came with a good looking functional bag. the power lines and the brake lines came on different winders and were easly unwound with no tangles (but they did look quite cheep and lightweight). the handles on first impression look realy good apart there was no loop to put a ground stake through. After a short time of flying the small parts of plastic did brake off but apart from that they are fine and the handles are compftable. the build quality of the kite is reasonable the holes where the air goes in are simply holes (no netting like on my flexifoil) the material is ripstock nilon (i think) witch feels thicker and heavier than my flexifoil and so it feels harder to launch because it takes more to fill. i have flown it a few times now in about 15 mph and once in the air it flys fast and is responsive.you are able to fly it close to the wind with out it luffing it gave a reasonable pull when down low but not so much when it got closer to the wind. at no point did it give much lift (i think it would take a gd blow to lift you). i have tried flying it with my buggy now and its ok, nothing scary. it was about 15mph when i flew it and it wasnt enough to go upwind because as the kite it taken close to the edge of wind its pull decreases by alot. i also tried the kite with my bar but shortly after i changed it back. i found that it was tritchy (but it did turn very quickly and tightly) in conclusion i thought the kite flew exelently, but leave it with the quad line handles. it is fun to fly but in a strong wind im shure it would be good with a buggy. the lines could be upgraded because they do look quite lightweight. By : sp4rky-m4rky
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Bought this kite from marionville models, and for the money its bloody good value. Only cost 95 quid including next day delievery. comes in a good quality bag with clear and easy instructions. took half hour of setting up and i was flying the kites performance so far has been really good, theres plenty of power there and its not frightening like a blade 3 which makes it good as a beginners kite.It turns quiet fast, although you do need to pull alot on the handles to get it to go. thats one thing i ahve changed the handles were aluminium and the power lines cut into your hands so i changed them for some blade 3 handles. overall though very good kite for the money. By : vale46