Ion 5 10.5m Review
http://www.thekiteco.com/info/rider-blogs
5/11/10 - Yesss! Took delivery of a crispy new Flexifoil Ion 5 10.5m
today to demo around the North East. First impressions are really good,
the rucksack is well made tho maybe on the small side but nicely done
all the same. The Bar setup is what you'd expect from flexi and looks
like it will stand the test of time really well. Now the kite itself is
what really impresses me the most - the materials used for the canopy
and reinforcing give the kite a really solid feel to it and the extra
special touches like the flexi badge on the strut ends and bumpers on
the outer edges of the LE (which take the most abuse when relaunching)
make me feel all warm and cosy ;).........now bring on the wind!
interested in trying this?? ring Rob -07872318298 or e-mail yorkierob@hotmail.co.uk
13/11/10 - After a no wind show at Redcar we headed over to Allonby,
Cumbria only to be greeted by a nice Sw cross on wind 17-25mph!
The kite was nice and quick to set up thanks to the one pump system and
as i have said before I was really impressed with the build quality on
this model, especially the leading edge, which is reassuringly
solid.(well done to the RnD at Flexifoil)
As soon as I launched it I felt tuned in to the kite, with just the
right amount of feedback and bar pressure which lets you know where the
kite is at all times. It turned nice and quick (on the faster setting of
the two) but didn't have any unexpected peaks of power through the
turn, just a nice solid pull throughout, I can see this being a kiteloop
dream (have to let someone else comment on that lol)
On the water i felt really confident with this kite, it was predictably
smooth and had plenty of power on tap, even in the lulls when I was able
to generate more power through the turn speed. Not once did the kite
stall or overfly and the only time it touched the water was due to my
shallow boardstart! Relaunch was really, easy which is reassuring
especially in waves (damn it was cold!!) and i felt at ease with the
mini 5th safety system even though i never had to pull it!
In summary I really like this kite it feels smooth and predictable to
fly but also gives you the confidence of knowing theres more there when
you need it. The 10.5m would be a good size for the water and at 12 1/2
Stone I was riding in 13mph wind (on a 132x41 board) and even when the
wind picked up to 22-25mph i still never felt the need to de-power the
kite at all, so i would be comfortable on the water in +30mph meaning
that this would make a pretty good one kite quiver in my opinion. Lets
hope i get to test out its top end as i can see it really being a great
grin-maker!
The only real drawbacks were pointed out by my mate Chris Tomlinson who,
after some really nice un-hooked raileys, concluded that the chicken
loop was a pain to hook back in - but bars can be modded can't they
Chris ;)
look forward to the next session
yer nice kite the build was a great improvment with nice thick ripstop in all the stresspoints of the kite and clean cuts and stiching
I flew this bad boy back to back against a f-one bandit 3 11m and the ion 5 was 10.5
first thing I noticed was the light bar pressure and how it turned in a pridictable tight arc this is gonna be great for looping it felt super stable in the sky the bar is really smooth when powering up and depowering, you can feel where the kite is at all times and dont have to look at the kite much at all
flying back to back i could tell quite a difference in the size from the delta shape of the bandit 3 which in this wind was park and ride where as the ion was needed to fly around in the lulls to keep the pull on but i must say that the bandit is made for low wind and is a 11m where as the ion is only a 10.5 and held its own generating enough power even in the lulls
ok unhooked flew really well stable and easy to control boosting nice with the bar getting light in your hands as you apex ready for the pass if you dare (not me havent found the balls yet )
hooking back in i found a pain im used to chicken loop looking in to the bar on most my kites and using the ion I had to grab loop to hook back in a lot of people do it this way anyway also the chicken finger is well tight but should loosen up with use great kite bar cold do with a little more r&d for me but worked well enough
All round a great kite will help anyone progress in the sport a real easy kite to get into fun to fly with loads of pop and hang time dont think Rob will get it back when he demos it out to people
