Noobie to buggys wants help......

[EvilTwin]

I've been buggering about with a small kite for over a year now, and i'm due a bonus from work soon....

 

I've decided i can afford to shell out £600 on a new buggy, kite and the rest of the stuff. I could go over by £100 if the kit was worth it,

 

So i ask you one and all what kit should i look at????

 

 

(dont worry i've read the stickys, i'm aware i need other stuff, but i'm only intrested in answers about kites & buggies)

[king_of_the_sky]

have you buggied before?

[EvilTwin]

err not as such....

[king_of_the_sky]

ok then 1, get your self to your local kiters place and look at whats there they might veen let you have a go if there nice second a lesson might be good to get the basics.

and for the 600quid

id get the flexi intermidiat pak from TOTEK (http://www.trick-of-the-eye-kites.com) and hav 45quid left ova for a lesson or such.

 

[big-jon]

Go for a second hand flexi or PL buggy - there are a few on e-bay at the mo. This way you are not shelling ou too much on a buggy that you are only really going to learn on.

 

You should spend about £200 on a buggy or less if you can, this will give you about £400+ for at least 2 kites. You could get a couple of the newbies favourites the Bullet or you could get a couple of decent kites that will last you a few years. The Buster or Little Devil may suit you better if you are confident with kites. Of course if you want lift then go for the Blade. If you want to go the Blade route then again a lot these come up second hand at good prices.

 

So overall I would say go for a cheap buggy to learn on as you will definately want to upgrade once you get better and spend your hard earned cash on some decent kites. Look around at sites, do searches on this forum and take your own pick, each kite has its own benefits and drawbacks. They will all give you loads of fun and you will probably 'grow' out of whatever you buy in a year or so anyway.

[king_of_the_sky]

if you go down the route of buying all seperate then i think rebbles would be good very stable and good power and not to expensive.

[desciple]

Hey Evil,

If you are going to seriously buggy then you need a Libre Vmax end of story. Your budget easily covers it and you'd have a few pounds left over to play with. You can of course spend a bit more on high end buggies like the Chameleons and the Parastorms but you'll probably find the Vmax does the Job.

 

With the spare cash you could get a couple of good Traction kites. You should try out as many as possible before you buy that way you'll get a feel for what you like. I fly Gin Yoz kites and can highly recommend them although I have also flown Ozone LD and Razors too.

[EvilTwin]

thanks so far, having looked around, i have a question or two...

 

should i go for big/wide wheel buggys, or stick to normal wheels????

 

i'm looking for somthing good to use on both open grass feilds, but the odd time i go home to the NW, i'd like to go on the beach near southport as well.

 

also i've seen the HQ beamer kites look quite well priced (about 140 for a 3.6m kite), are they worth looking at for a beginner???

 

suggestions please

[Aeryk01]

Personally... I'd say go for the standard stuff... Either a standard PL or Flexi will do you just fine and the wheels/tires won't make a difference until you're rather experienced at it and know what the differences are anyway...

 

As for kites... Elliot Ekko's... cheap, GREAT build quality, excellent starter buggy kites, and they pull like a truck doing 90mph on the autobahn... nuff said...

 

But thats just my opinion

[buggyboy1597507287]

With reference to the wide wheels, I think it will depend very much on the beaches you want to buggy on. Some beaches in the UK pretty soft and if you have normall wheels it can be a pain. I only talk from personal experience as i usualy buggy on grass and on the occasional trip to certain beaches I have found this. If this is the case i think it depends on how often you want to use the beaches as wide wheels will add a fair bit onto the price of the buggy. Best bet is too see if other people are using the beaches you are looking at and see what they use!

 

I also agree with other views that a cheap second hand Peter Lynn buggy is a great starter, however prices on ebay are a little high (although not always). Always best to look at buggy before buying in my experience if second hand and postage costs will compensate for a fair few miles in the car to go see and buy one. Things to check on a second hand PL buggy are:

 

Bowed rear axel

and

Wheel bearings ( although pretty cheap to replace)

 

as well as all welding joints.

 

Hope this is of some help.

[Sparhawk]

And since you are only in Reading - Middle Wallop Festival is only a few weeks away - get along there - there will be a whole plethara of buggies and kites to consider -and all the top buggy riders in the country to ask questions of.

 

Even the scary looking ones are happy to assist

[GaRRy]

And since you are only in Reading - Middle Wallop Festival is only a few weeks away - get along there - there will be a whole plethara of buggies and kites to consider -and all the top buggy riders in the country to ask questions of.

 

Even the scary looking ones are happy to assist

 

Best tip ive seen here yet. You really should come along even if its only for a day.

 

Also you have one of the best kites shops in country right on your doorstep

Tradewinds in the Harris Arcade. Richard & Gill will give you usefull advice as well.

[MadAndy71]

Reading.

Down the road near you we fly,

 

libre v-max

libre truck

libre (allmost) full race

PL comp

PL XR

 

Tyres range from big foots, kenda401's, intermediates, barrows and disks.

 

A few to look at sit in and try.

 

 

Dont part with cash for new though. Try some out first and then go 2nd hand to gain your basic skills.

[EvilTwin]

i've only seen people fly on the sports fields in aldershott round here....

[MadAndy71]

We are further down the M4 on the Slough side.

 

pm me if you want to meet up but it needs to be soon as we will be leaving our current venue until later in the year.

[EvilTwin]

thanks everyone so far, havilg looked through the forums etc etc etc, i have decided on a choice of kites / buggies. Now its simple, which do i pick (remember i'm a beginner) ???

 

Buggies: PL or Flexifoil buggy, which do i get and why (at the price of these i can pick which i like)???

 

Kites: Buster4.0, Firebee4.0, HQ beamer 3.6 or EOLO Rad sail 3.6 ???

 

btw. will something arround 4.0m be big enough to learn on over summer???

 

any other suggestions much appreciated...

[MadAndy71]

Given your choices,

 

I would go for either the flexi buggy, strong and durable or the PL XR.

Personally I would not go for the PLC's unless you like things rattling away.

 

Kite wise, I would dismiss the firebee's unless you are comfortable with a kite that needs tweaking and 'flying' to get the best out of it in the buggy. There is more to it and its not park and ride like the others you mentioned.

 

The buster is a good entry level buggy kite and I have heard endless praise for the beamer but no real personal experiences.

 

The rad sail, forget it. From the size you said, I think this is not the rad sail pro which is better.

[dmb]

We are further down the M4 on the Slough side.

 

pm me if you want to meet up but it needs to be soon as we will be leaving our current venue until later in the year.

Apologies for the brief thread hijack ET, but what's the change of venue Andy ? (When/where ?)

[bullet69]

a 4m kite is more than enough for buggying in normal winds over the summer