Forums > Kitesurfing Gear Reviews

2012 Flexifoil Hadlow ID

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Created by iRideWainman > 9 months ago, 9 Dec 2011
iRideWainman
VIC, 219 posts
9 Dec 2011 3:30PM
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has anyone got anything to share on this?

Sanjay
147 posts
9 Dec 2011 6:56PM
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I rode the 12m as demo yesterday for 2 hours. I normally ride the Hadlow Pro, so my comparison is to that.
The wind was okay for 12m, if anything there should maybe have been a little more wind, but I was okay powered.

I has really nice grunt and good power for pops.
Seems more stable than the Pro.
It is not as direct on the bar feeling than the Pro at all. But the Pro excel in that, and I would think it is more direct than comparable SLEs
It seem slower turning than the Pro, but not slow in itself.
The bar pressure was pretty heavy, but not a problem on the Flexi bar as you ride with semi straighten arms. Give a good feeling of the kite. But is does ride a lot on the backlines.
It is pretty C like when going unhooked. There is not this power surprise at you often get from SLE kites. Slack was fine
There is no much power dump when letting go of the bar, pretty Pro-like in that sense. There might be more range via the depower strap, but I didn't try that.
Relaunch was piece of cake even when the wind was a bit down

Another rider here have changed from Ozone C4 and like this one much better. Better bar feel he says and more grunt.

I am in doubt whether to prefer Pro or ID. The ID is less direct and slower turning, and does not give much more power dump if any.
However 4 line simplicity is nice and there might be more range via the trimstrap. And it is more stable it seems.

iRideWainman
VIC, 219 posts
21 Dec 2011 12:18PM
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Got to ride the 12m Flexifoil iD last night down at St Kilda, wind was between 15-20 knots (85 kg rider; check out 20/12/12 wind graph between 6-8:30pm if you want to know more details on wind speed, direction, gusts etc).

This Kite has phenomenal low-end grunt, explosive pop and pretty wicked apparent wind, and feels very direct with loads of feedback through the bar (perhaps too much!).

I let a friend ride it who has loads of hours behind a cable, and he described its power similar to this. But we were both too overcooked to appreciate its characteristics unhooked. Between the lull's i came out of the spreader bar, and was pleasantly surprised. However hooking back in will take some getting use to as the chicken loop doesn't self locate (below the bar swivel).

This kite is nothing like an RPM, and more like a Hadlow Pro, so, no use comparing it to other C/SLE hybrids.

As far as construction goes, think Slingshots level of attention to detail and reinforcement, if not better. This kite is ultimately let down by its bar. Wasn't a real fan. A review of this would be perhaps better in isolation, as i feel it would detract too much from the good aspects of the kite.



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"2012 Flexifoil Hadlow ID" started by iRideWainman