So whats everyone going to be riding this upcoming season??

I will still be on my (nearly) one kite quiver for 14 knots to 35. That kite is still in great shape. Going to make the 15m Hyper last as long as possible (until it falls to pieces or explodes) and get a replacement for it.

I am hoping the 14m Royal Era will be a good kite, because the price point is fairly unreal for basically a Hyper type.
If it sucks (which is unlikely), I will get a 14.5 Ion2 as my light(er) wind kite.
I am really hoping to go back to my "old" strategy of buying a kite one year after its release, keep it in good shape, sell it used for a few hundred less than I bought it, and buy the '08 kites when the '09s are released.
That strategy worked great for a few years, with me spending (after trade in costs) about 700 a year to get two new kites.
This year though, the two kites I personally liked the best actually sold out long before the 08 stuff came out . Hope that doesn't happen again this year.

With the onslaught of the "Trans-guess-kite" revolution and people doubting C kites values, I had one year where I did buy the kites NEW and also had very little resale value in my C kites. That was a sucky year in terms of kiting cost.
Oh well, it was worth it to not have to constantly second guess myself on which kite to rig. Hopefully we have a market correction for used kite values back in play (?).

In other words, I plan on demoing your guys' kites and then cherry picking the best ones at close out prices at the end of the season!

[bryanleighty]

a 15 as your high wind and a 14.5 as your light wind??

errr....

or are you saying you will replace your hypertype once its run its course w/ a Royal or a ION2?

[inferno]

Originally Posted by Skyway Scott

I will still be on my (nearly) one kite quiver for 14 knots to 35. That kite is still in great shape. Going to make the 15m Hyper last as long as possible (until it falls to pieces or explodes) and get a replacement for it.

those two lines were suppossed to be two seperate thoughts.....

[Erick]

I'm still a true C-Kiter not by choice but by budget limitations. Anyways, I'll be flying my Fuel 11, Octane 14 and 16 and the infamous Machine 17.5 until the kite gets disintegrated or until Gary or Steve S. (the other Machine lovers) decides to buy mine.

I’ve been a Kite-Ho for the past 4 months trying every kite that I can but guess what? they all have something that I like and that the other doesn’t have. Having a lot of choices is a wonderful thing but also makes you more undecided. I would like to demo the Ion2, XBow 3 an why not the new Naish Zigma series.

One thing for sure is that I can’t wait for the wind to get here in FL.

[toby wilson]

8M, 12M and 16M 2008 Eclipse Thrusters. I saw some of what Eclipse has in store for 2008 when I was up in Hatteras riding with Dimitri and both Eclipse and Skywalker are looking great in 2008!!! All will be welcome to demo my kites and boards and if you are interested in getting Eclipse or Skywalker products, let me know!

I never would have guessed that, Toby. Man, life is really throwing curve balls lately.

I will still be on my (nearly) one kite quiver for 14 knots to 35. That kite is still in great shape.
Going to make the 15m Hyper last as long as possible (until it falls to pieces or explodes) and get a replacement for it.

2 different kites. Both sold out before the end of the season and thwarted my attempts to buy them "new" and sell mine used.
Yeah Brian, if the Hyper explodes or something, my current idea is either a Royal or an Ion2.

This is slightly off topic, but related. How much better do you guys think the kites of 08 will be than the 07 kites? A lot? A little? Enough to really want to hop on it?

[bryanleighty]

I dont know man.. i think in the end a kite is a kite is a kite..
i think the move to keep the shape in the kite, keep tweaking the shape and working on getting as much depower as possible while minimizing the hindenburgs and/or inverting is the right thing..

But reviews are worthless in my opinion beyond hearing what local folks have to say. You guys ride in the same conditions I do and thats where the best info will come from. I read kiteboarding magazines and all they typically demo is a 9 or 10 meter kite in 20+ knots. And for the most part they same the exact same thing.. fast kite, good depower, good for unhooking, good upwind... etc... means nothing for us.. i think everyone here rides their 12 or above most of the year..

oh well..

i think its just a matter of budget and taste .. for the most part.

For me personally.. i want a big kite with tons of low end..
i want a med kite.. that has a great range to handle the upper teens to the high 20s..
and i want a small kite to handle above that..

[Erick]

Yeah !!!! I just became a Senior Member ....Whoa!!!