Airush's new bow kite??? (Or forecast & current events)

[dewey]

Has anyone heard of this kite. It's called the Halo, I've seen it on the live2kite website. Funny that airush would come out with a new bow style kite and nobody has even mentioned it on any of the forums. Live2kite have you had a go on it yet???

Dewey

[charlie]

ya,
check it out
nash
ss
cab
ww
gk
ar
or
takon
i think f-one has a ufo
every one, trip me out last week
i think evan is out of town...?
but he has them on the web page for a bit,check them out
under bow,in kites.
www.live2kite.com

[dewey]

Yeah, I know about all the others, but this one seemed to come in under the radar. Did anyone notice the price of this kite? Seems to be simular to a crossbow, but about $400 less. I am just wondering what makes this one different from the rest.

[Pablito]

The Halo has it's own specially designed pulley bar with some pretty cool features -- it's supposed to be much lighter bar pressure than the CB. The kite itself is pretty similar -- they're licensing the design.

Airush has its own forum on their website, and alot of AR users post there instead of on other sites. They are putting the Halo into the "intermediate" kiter slot, and pushing the safety features and easy relaunch. They're not pushing it as a high-performance kite or as a replacement for traditional kites, yet.

Remember that most of these kites are made at the same factory in China, so most of the new bow kites are probably identical kite with different color schemes and graphics. That's why everyone was able to come out with their "own" version so fast. It seems like there are only three different designs: CB, GK, and WW.

[charlie]

o and now best has one too

[dewey]

The Halo has it's own specially designed pulley bar with some pretty cool features -- it's supposed to be much lighter bar pressure than the CB. The kite itself is pretty similar -- they're licensing the design.

Airush has its own forum on their website, and alot of AR users post there instead of on other sites. They are putting the Halo into the "intermediate" kiter slot, and pushing the safety features and easy relaunch. They're not pushing it as a high-performance kite or as a replacement for traditional kites, yet.

Remember that most of these kites are made at the same factory in China, so most of the new bow kites are probably identical kite with different color schemes and graphics. That's why everyone was able to come out with their "own" version so fast. It seems like there are only three different designs: CB, GK, and WW.

I don't think all the kites are made in the same factory. All bow kites have their own tweaks that set them apart from one another. The halo is a second generation bow with airush tweaks. If they are identical then the guys who bought bows got screwed. The halo is little more than half the price.

[Pablito]

Isn't the Rap priced similarly? Sure, they made some tweaks, but why the price difference. Maybe the Halo price is for kite only and the bar is $250. Most of the bow kites can only be flown with the special bar.

Anyway, "early adopters" always get screwed, don't they? They don't see it that way -- they see it as getting in on the hottest thing a year early.

If you read Airush's forum, you'll see some interesting honesty from the team riders about the Halo. They really don't seem to be pushing it on anyone. They compare it to other kites in their own lineup. One guy said that it's hard to relaunch when it lands lead-edge down, because of some special feature of the bar. The posters there seem to agree that the kites have tons of depower and range -- they're recommending people get a 9 and a 14 and skip the 12.

But then the reps say that they have decided that bow kites don't perform well in sizes larger than 14 (too slow turning), so they're not going to make anything bigger. I told them I had flown the Rap 16.5 and it doesn't have that problem.

[Pablito]

Dewey,
The bar is $220, which takes you up to $900 for a 7M kite. $1000 for the 10 and $1200 for the 14.

[dewey]

I think I like the sizes of these kites the best. I could do a 10m, 14m quiver easy. With the raptures I would need a 9m, 12m, 16.5m to cover about the same wind. Almost $3000. 10m and 14m airush with one bar is $2000. I still think I'll go with the raps. I'm going to give it time. The season will not start for me until late March. More people will be throwing in their hats, with more reviews.

Any kite is hard to relaunch leading edge down. They are talking about leading edge down and pointing at you. Same position as you would sand down your kite on the beach.

[elli]

I posted a question in this forum mostly for live2kite in another thread, I don't think there was any feedback, it was too early back then.

Its good that we have so many options, right now I would say sit on the fence and keep flying your existing kites until the season starts. By that time there will be more bows out (like Best), "Service pack 2" for existing ones, and many reviews. Right now its hard to tell one from the other. I wish some kite magazine or a good pilot will make a head to head review and rank them in different aspects. I may need one urgent if the vacation plan happens.