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Looking to purchase my first Quad...steady wind


Jason Mockler
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If I was to start over in Revs, I would be looking at the top shelf.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing though...

But where is the fun in that? You miss out on spending all those thousands and thousands of dollars on different Revs trying to find the right one. Not to say that that sounds really all that bad, actually sounds kinda of fun.

You have it all wrong. It's not finding the right one, it's using the right one for right now. Think of them as a golf bag full of clubs. You can golf with just a 5 iron, a pitching wedge and a putter, but the better you get, the more clubs you want to use.

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As a beginner, often on a restricted budget, at least until he knows he will keep in the sport, getting multiple kites is not the way he want to go.

He want to get the one kite, preferable cheap but good enough, that will cover 80% of conditions for him while learning, and determing if he will stay in the sport/hobby, and often he does not worry if the kite will last. He knows it will get beaten up, and will need replacement at some point. So he is looking for a kite that fulfills 3 points

1. Cheap or at least not expensive (all relative)

2. Will fly OK in his weather conditions

3. Must be good enough ™. No need to pay for too good, when you expect it to take abuse and be replaed.

For me, I am convinced, that if I had gotten a Std sail Revolution, I would not have been as happy. Maybe they should be renamed. Semi-vent should be named standard as that is probably most usable for the majority of people living inland. Standard should be named low-wind/stable-wind, and vented should be higher-wind/gustier wind. Would help noobs get the right one as a starter. Or at least replace the standard name with full sail.

It is not like with golf clubs, that Revolution is selling a set of kites SUL, std, semi-vent, vent, extra vent with a couple frames for some fixed price, and selling spare sails to top up when they get broken. This is how golf clubs are sold. Or maybe a smaller set, std, semi and full vent bundle.

And compared to powerkites, I still find the Revs expensive. It is comparable to a 4-5 sqm HQ Beamer, Peter Lynn Hornet or Twister. And those larger foils has way more material, and requires significant more work effort to make, but of course they are made in China for the European companies. Still think Rev Kites should have a chinese manufacturer make a cheaper entry level kite, and possible sell under a different brand name. But of course it would compete against the EXP. Call it Quad Entry by Revolution. Use PC40 and make it semi-vent. Consider cheaper spars.

Like I said, in Germany there are many competitors at a lower price range (dropkick, Mojo, Basic /BasIcarex etc). I see Revolution is missing out in this lower end market, and many are getting the alternatives. Elliot Dropkick and HQ Mojo are both €129 RTF on Amazon. Rev EXP is €199. You can get the baSic RTF (clone) for €179 std, €199 in vents, small vents, big vents. The Skyknife is more expensive at €299. (Rev B is €329).

And chinese clones are only slightly cheaper at €115 + risk of taxes (which would make them more expensive than Dropkick / Mojo ). In EU there is not the same loyalty to US made, when there are german designed products at a lower price next to it. For non-tech stuff, germany has a better name than US stuff.

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A Beamer ready to fly package costs $380 US. A Rev 1.5 SLE ready to fly package costs $280 US. I don't know where you get your information, but it is not correct. You can find used in good condition very often on e-Bay, ready to fly, for $180 US.

A 5m foil is a training kite. A power foil is 8m to 15m+. Those cost from $650 to $4500 US, and that is usually without handles or harness. Mojos are $180 US, and they don't fly anything like a Rev. You will get what you pay for! You will not get Porsche performance for the price of a VW Beetle. Not now, not ever.

On a different note: Do you like the Transeye? I have thought of buying one, but no one in the club has one that I could try. Does it slide easily?

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I checked my prices before writing. All are eu prices. EBay prices not that interesting. Rev makes money by selling new.

A 5m foil is a good sized power/traction kite. And. The HQ Beamer one of the most popular. A 10m is another type with depower for jumping.

Still not playing much with transeye.

Needs better wind or vented. So have only had it out once after getting rev style.

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Was out with the transeye today. In gusty winds. 6-25 mph. It was doing ok, even though it was weather for vented quads. Really like how it flies. Can race it back and forward at almost the same speed. Can fly it backwards all the way up to the top of the wind window. Can't do with the Rev.

At a strong gust one vertical broke mid-air. Will post video within a day. Replaced with P400 and kept flying a bit.

It was fun. Will start flying it some more. Now I consider a vented.

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Well, no video coming today. My SJCAM SJ5000+ decided it had not recorded anything, and recovery failed.

Still waiting for stable firmware. Will see when I get time again to play with it. The Transeye certainly come sup next time if wind conditions allows.

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Was out yesterday. Way too variable wind. 2-8 m/s (avg 3.5 m/s) according the my wind meter at home (1km away).Here is a little video, most was shot with the camera tilted up, so was cut out. Added a little in the end. Not the best wind. Very variable, rather than gusty. Still on P400 verticals, so a bit heavier.

https://youtu.be/tqKUPGPxn7k

There are a couple more videos on youtube from other people.

Here the later part of my session, with the Revalike. Wind picked uo a bit. The Revalike flies lighter, with a lighter pressure. (flying the standard Freilein T2 aka 2-wrap). Just so you can compare 2 with the same skillset. Wind was better for the Revalike than for the Transeye.

https://youtu.be/zf5-N0mZ09A

Still like the Transeye, but the Revolution style is a bit easier, and has a wider wind range, at least down. Flying backwards the Transeye wins hands down. Did not experiment with frames in either (apart from replacing the verticals), even though I have a set of P400 and P90. Seen Korvo of Korvokites tried playing the the Transeye some time back, and the conclusion was, that leading edge needs to be flexible, so 3-wrap center is OK, but the sides will get too stiff over 2-wrap.

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  • riffclown changed the title to Looking to purchase my first Quad...steady windhttp://kitelife.com/forum/topic/6468-looking-to-purchase-my-first-quadsteady-wind/
  • riffclown unpinned this topic

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