whats the best bow?

[Howard Marks]

Shem sounds like you have acces to most of the bow's. How about inviting all the other brands up for a weekend, and doing a test. Post it on here and i'm sure you will get many willing testers. Give them all a report form on how the kites fly. Keep all the brand reps away.

 

I'd love to see the results of sutch a test.

 

Go on Shem you know you can make it happen.

 

It's been done Mark...Troon early this year. The local shop sold loads of Waroos off the back of it.

 

Here is what one of my customers said about the waroo and nobile EXT who is a beginner.

Andy,

"That board has worked like a dream, day one up and riding both directions, no probs. Day two, turning, day three deep water and attempting jumps, the waroos have been wicked. i've been going upwind as quick or quicker than guyys who have been riding a few years. Mostly germans here, but now they've become very interested in the waroos!!!!"

[Skyhooked]

there's no straight answer to this question

 

you've got to ask yourself what you consider the 'aims' of a bowkite should be. i'm sure you'll find different kites suit different aims

 

then maybe you can begin to figure out which one is best. testing just to say @this one is best@ doesnt make much sense - best at what?

 

if the aims of the test are safety, or the aims are performance in terms of loops, or upwind, or boosting, the results are gonna be different

 

the bow and SLE concepts cannot be doubted. there are companies that are just straight copying the original bow concept and making it ovber built, and there are those that are standing on the shoulders of giants to get where there at - immitation rather than innovation

 

on the other hand, if you were to do a test with multiple categories, and managed to find enough subjective riders, it could be anticipated that the guys behind the original concept would have the best kite

 

finding enough riders without agendas could prove to be a hurdle

[BeachBeat]

Simple answer - there is no best bow. There are bow kites that individual riders will prefer but, as we all want different things from a kite, there will be no consensus.

 

Do you have a tight budget, do you rank safety for beginners as number one priority, do you want one pump, 5 lines or 4 ? The Q's go on.

 

Try and demo a few but even then rememer that you will be very lucky to get to demo the size of kite that you want in the wind condition range that you want to use it in.

 

As Colin says - few (none?) of them are bad.

[Zotty]

yeah but there are a hell of a lot of waroo owners.

 

you not think that is saying something...

 

 

hell of a lot more "blade owners" does that make them best to??

 

silly comments dude.. love your kite but dont pimp it cuz YOU love it,, thats just plain wrong,,,

 

 

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!!! just look at the amount of money being spent.. would ya spend 100 quid on a pair of jeans without trying them on??

 

 

and

 

i tried all the bows,, alot of c kites and settled on a venom 2 lol (i had other conciderations mind.. mainly my 12 yr old lad (blubs) and his arc love and land based stuff) .. heres a vid of him using the venom on the water and at times in winds that some peops say venoms wont even launch in lol... http://www.zotts.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/surfblubs.wmv (righ click n save as)

 

sorry for heading off topic lol

[Mark Rose]

Asking whats the best kite is like asking who has got the best wife.

 

The kite that suits you is the best kite for you.

[sprogg]

It's been done Mark...Troon early this year. The local shop sold loads of Waroos off the back of it.

 

Here is what one of my customers said about the waroo and nobile EXT who is a beginner.

Andy,

"That board has worked like a dream, day one up and riding both directions, no probs. Day two, turning, day three deep water and attempting jumps, the waroos have been wicked. i've been going upwind as quick or quicker than guyys who have been riding a few years. Mostly germans here, but now they've become very interested in the waroos!!!!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other people have done similar with different results. Shem has offered a try of all types. Sounds good to me. All have pluses and minuses, I have tried several and prefered one type, others have prefered different.

 

Point is that was a beginner therefore little or no experience of the different types of kite. Go and see Shem and find one you like.

[Gizmo]

Asking whats the best kite is like asking who has got the best wife.

 

The kite that suits you is the best kite for you.

 

Nice point....I always go by the motto of, "Its not what you buy but how you fly that matters."

 

You could have the BEST kite in the world but if it does not suit your riding style then you wont get the best out of it......obviously this works in reverse.......

 

At my level and most probably most people who read and post on these forum the kite is irrelevant (manufacturer model etc) does not really matter. Its what you do with it that really matters.

[Zotty]

You could have the BEST kite in the world but if it does not suit your riding style then you wont get the best out of it......obviously this works in reverse.......

 

At my level and most probably most people who read and post on these forum the kite is irrelevant (manufacturer model etc) does not really matter. Its what you do with it that really matters.

 

egg sacker lee Mr G .. top words

[jonnybfive]

don't forget the question asked was 'What's the best bow?'

 

If we all replied with 'not sure, you go try em out and you tell me' then it isn't helping very much. If we all put an informative opinion in then it might help answer the question.

 

To elaborate on the Ion. I like it because of it's incedible depower ability, it's stability in jumps and the fact I did a downwinder from Lancing to Shoreham on a 9m in about 35 - 40 mph winds!

[Zotty]

hell of a lot more "blade owners" does that make them best to??

 

silly comments dude.. love your kite but dont pimp it cuz YOU love it,, thats just plain wrong,,,

 

 

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!!! just look at the amount of money being spent.. would ya spend 100 quid on a pair of jeans without trying them on??

 

 

and

 

i tried all the bows,, alot of c kites and settled on a venom 2 lol (i had other conciderations mind.. mainly my 12 yr old lad (blubs) and his arc love and land based stuff) .. heres a vid of him using the venom on the water and at times in winds that some peops say venoms wont even launch in lol... http://www.zotts.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/images/surfblubs.wmv (righ click n save as)

 

sorry for heading off topic lol

 

sorry ive replaced the vid link now... twas the wrong one lol

[enterusername]

It's been done Mark...Troon early this year. The local shop sold loads of Waroos off the back of it.

 

OMG!! Thats the biggest lie in kitesurf history, i work in the local shop!!

i tried to organise getting waroos in stock, because loads of people wanted one, but simon at best took so long to get me a uk price list (about 5 weeks) that by that time we had an instinct demo, and then it was everyones new favourite and the truth is we did shift loads of them off the back of that demo about 10+ of them!

 

So yes howard we would have sold loads of waroos had it not been for the disorganisation of the importer, im sure hes far more effective now but at the time it was a costly mistake. We still to this day dont stock best gear simply due to that bad experience.

[rushextreme]

We have had many of the major brands kites to demo here, inc GK Sonic,Naish Shockwave,Naish Boxer SLE,Flexi ION,Takoon Nova 1 + 2, Ozone Instinct,Slingshot TD (12+14)etc

 

 

One thing is obvious....we all like different things. For me (and most who have tried it here) at the moment the Nova 2 kills it hands down.

 

But as someone said earlier the best kite is the one your using!

[Biff]

[quote name=enterusername

OMG!! Thats the biggest lie in kitesurf history.[/quote]

 

:D :D

[dbinit]

eh ripper

 

its just amazing.

no pulleys mega upwind performance very high aspect crazy lift and water relaunch so well

mark my words in the next year they are gonna be big

diamond in the rough

 

We have them in, and are well impressed. Very simple and huge range. Have you got yourself one?

 

We also were lucky enough to try out the 2007 Monkey kites Griffins. Absolutely frigging unbelievable. We sold out pretty quick.

 

I have only tried the Waroo, Sonic, Rippehr and Griffin. The griffin is by far the cheapest, and i thought the best all rounder in my view. Crazy wind range, replacing my 8,12 and 16m . The high end (30+knots) feels very comfortable, and i haven't felt over powered yet (been out in 35knots ,11stone) . At 14-30 knots, it feels superb with plenty of lift, and light bar pressure. Between 11-13 knots the bar pressure starts to get heavier, and you have to work the kite a bit. But still plenty of water time can be had. The bar is very simple. I have had 2 experienced wake style riders using it, and have sold griffins to both of them.(both loved it). i have also had 2 newbies try it , and both loved how much safer they felt, (even compared to other bows). Again both purchased after flying them.

 

 

I have used teh rippeher on a few occaisions, and it is more for the guys who love high aspect kiting. A great kite , but not so much an all rounder, more of a finely tuned monster, for the more experienced.

 

If any of you guys are planning on coming to the IKSA and BKSA joint event give us a shout for a demo.

 

A bit of a pimp, but an honest one. We'd love to see more of you guys on the mainland riding our gear, and know you'll be impressed.

[Rossall]

Sonic II

[Mark Rose]

Apparently bow kites are banned from Ainsdale beach.

I turned up with one today and was sent away.

[Howard Marks]

I was told by a customer that Big Jon said LEIS are not for land use @ Ainsdale when he tried to use one. Who told you not to use one?

[Mark Rose]

I was told by a customer that Big Jon said LEIS are not for land use @ Ainsdale when he tried to use one. Who told you not to use one?

I was told i could not use my Warroo today by Neville Tinker of TASK.

The reason was that according to the beach regulations LEI kites were not allowed to be used as a land kite on Ainsdale.

Edit:This has now turned out to be untrue.

[Howard Marks]

I was shot down last time I said anything about that...sorry to hear that one of the safest kites available for people to use is banned.

 

If people on land used smaller sles like the 5/7m waroo for buggying in high winds, then lofting would be a thing of the past.

 

Can you use them in Buggy races?

[Mark Rose]

I was shot down last time I said anything about that...sorry to hear that one of the safest kites available for people to use is banned.

 

If people on land used smaller sles like the 5/7m waroo for buggying in high winds, then lofting would be a thing of the past.

 

Can you use them in Buggy races?

I was trying to use it in a buggy race.

I am a little confused as to where the rule is though.

I have a print out of the beach regs and it's not in there.

[Houdini Flyer]

It's been done Mark...Troon early this year. The local shop sold loads of Waroos off the back of it.

 

OMG!! Thats the biggest lie in kitesurf history, i work in the local shop!!

i tried to organise getting waroos in stock, because loads of people wanted one, but simon at best took so long to get me a uk price list (about 5 weeks) that by that time we had an instinct demo, and then it was everyones new favourite and the truth is we did shift loads of them off the back of that demo about 10+ of them!

 

So yes howard we would have sold loads of waroos had it not been for the disorganisation of the importer, im sure hes far more effective now but at the time it was a costly mistake. We still to this day dont stock best gear simply due to that bad experience.

 

Sorry, I don't believe you!

[hankster]

i've only flown a sonic,and swithcblade but a takoon nova 2 is the kite i want to get my hands on.

[sprogg]

i've only flown a sonic,and swithcblade but a takoon nova 2 is the kite i want to get my hands on.

 

You know where to get one.

[Spyke]

So for a beginner, who isnt intrested in freestyle, just cruising what would people suggest (i know you wont mark it down to one kite but a few differents ones too look at would be useful)

 

This is for a 48 year old man with a rather battered body!

[monkeyvizion]

From what i've seen so far any of the bow's are the way to go for a beginer.

Find yourself a retailer that has as many brands in stock as possible, and try as many as you can. Be carefull when listening to the hype that some folk give, and go with what feels right for you.

 

Try before you buy, and dont belive the hype.