Big Air Kite Test 7 - Harlem Force / North Orbit Pro / Duotone Evo D/Lab / Cabrinha Nitro v2
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- Опубликовано: 19 июл 2024
- This time on Plus Sized Kite Reviews, I've tackled the rainbow warrior that is the Harlem Force. I managed to get the treat or riding this 9m kite over 5 sessions in winds from 22-36 knots, and had a blast doing it.
As usual, I will be comparing it to some of my other favourite Big Air kites, and focussing on how it boosts, loops, how fun it is to ride, and how confidence-building it is.
Learn more about it on:
harlemkitesurfing.com/
In the video, I mention the fascinating Kitesurf 365 podcast with Ralph Grossel which you can listen to here:
open.spotify.com/episode/3bZX...
As usual, I am filming on my @GoPro 12 in 4K with Superview, now featuring some beautiful drone footage from the king himself @marcjacobskite
Check me out as always on Instagram @jasonmontreal
#kitesurf #kitesurfing #bigairkite #harlemkites #review #kiteloop #kitesurfing #kitereview #sports #watersports 
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Ozone Vortex review please 😃😃
working on it, hopefully soon!
Awesome! 🤗
Yesss 🙌
Yass. Indeed.
And the Hypermodel !
Hands down best reviews anywhere, keep it up
Cheers
Ditto!
Thank You! Another great video. I can see you quickly becoming THE authority on big air kites because of your objective Non-Sponsored reviews.
Thanks mate
Very informative, Thank you for uploading! Greetings from Munich
My pleasure, greetings from New Zealand
Rebel SLS 2024 review would be nice to see. Great video 👍
Good call, loved the ‘23
@@jasonofmontreal so, how does the rebel loops, compared to evo dlab? I'm progressing with loops and find my 8m rebel sls'22 much worse than my 9m orbit'22...
@@VK-pl1nd I've only ever ridden the'23 9m rebel sls and I found the loops very nice. Certainly not as easy as the Orbit, but still a lot friendlier than my Core kites at the time. The Dlab certainly loops a lot faster and doesn't have as much pull, but it's a lot harder to time your jumps just right, and you can over over-send the kite easily as you get used to it.
Thanks for the review! One idea to expand big air review to boards as well: Lieuwe Falcon, Jaime SLS and Slingshot Formula V3! Keep up great content Jason!
I’m hopefully going to be attempting a board review soon actually!
The Ocean Rodeo Flite 5s would be super interesting to review!
That one would probably be quite hard to get hold of down here unfortunately
Thank you for all the great reviews! Waiting on the EVO DLAP vs Vortex Ultra-X
coming soon... i hope
Another stellar review!! Thank you :)
thanks
thank you again for this Jason, love your review, very honest and precise
Thanks
Great review as always!
Thanks
Great review as always! Hope you can test the ozone vortex. And compare it to the Harlem Force, Nitro apex and evo dlap
Working on getting hold of one
Epic loops and great info
cheers
Awesome shots as always
Thanks
Love the review. Concise findings too - a really top generation 1 kite.
For sure, the future is bright for sending 😂
Good job, great video !
Cheers
Legit review once again, Jason!
Too legit to quit!
He found it... The rainbow connection! 🔥
Haha
You are a cool guy! Keep it up
👍😂
Amazing video Jason. Can you test the Naish Psycho? Looks like a core xr pro competitor.
It’s on the list of hopefuls
Great video. Would love to see a review for the alulla pivot. You do the best reviews so far
Cheers mate, workin on getting hold of that one too!
@@jasonofmontreal That is good news =)
@@jasonofmontreal and the reedin?
@@mrmonkeboy yeah working on it
Good work one hand John.
Tasty
Wow super interesting 🙌
Cheers
Hi Jason, Very nice review! Complete and honest, just the way I like it. Apart from kites, you could look into boards and straps. I think the reedin and naish straps are the best, but that's just my experience.
I’m actually thinking about trying my hand at boards too
Nice review 💪🏽
Thanks
Thank you Jasom
My pleasure
Sick video
Glad you enjoyed
Waiting for review Vantage Vulture and Ozone Vortex, comparison to other top BigAir kites... 🙏 Thx for video👍
Ozone coming soon
Brilliant work, like to see how Eleveight RS shapes up
I’ll try to get on that later in the year
The fact that the Harlem has slightly less hangtime is actually quite impressive as it is more c-shaped in comparison to the Nitro, Evo and Orbit.
Hangtime is always a tricky one to comment on, kites with great hangtime (Evo/rebel/xr/edge) are obvious, but other kites in the less to moderate range are so hard to say one over the other because the conditions vary so much
Good work . I would love to see some review of a Eleveight xs
I did convert the v3 in my first video, will try to update later in the year
I am interested in the board mount review!! come on!
Good things come to those who wait 😂
Very good thak you👍
thanks
Niceee bro!
Cheers
Great as always, would be great if you manage to get your hands on a slingshot code!
A bit hard to come by in NZ, but working on it… hopefully whatever Jeremy is riding at the moment though 😂
how nobody can give you XR Pro yet ? Hopefully you get it with CORE Pace as well. great work mate !
We don’t have core in NZ… and it’s very expensive to ship stuff here
Very nice looping kites nowadays, but still in love with my xrs for pure boosting and how durable they are
They certainly are those things!
Another great assessment! Is your review for the north control bar Pro coming soon?
Yeah, this weekend I think I can get it done
Would be really interesting to hear your opinion on the Vantage Vulture as well!
Will keep it in mind
Love all your videos and very much appreciate the unbiased view and all the effort you put in. Always happy to see a new vid from you. That said, today I tested Harlem Force vs. Evo Dlab back to back for a while and have to strongly disagree with your outcome. Test: 10m kites in 15 knots and 19 knots. Harlem was significantly slower in rotations through the window, felt saggy and slightly distorted at the apex of a jump, all with an uneven power delivery. The bar design felt dated as well. For me, it was far and away Evo Dlab in every aspect of the kite. For the Harlem, giving two thumbs up for the green manufacturing and a great and friendly rep. Maybe in higher winds results would be different, but the turning speed was so much slower than Evo, that it's hard to imagine that being the case. Would suggest another go at it vs. Evo Dlab.
First off, I didn't try their bar, but I admit, it just looks like a generic bar that a lot of brands use, but I did all my testing on my trust bars. Secondly, that is really light wind to be testing kites in, I wouldn't even be able to get upwind on a 10 in that little wind. I don't compare kites until it is at least 25-30 knots or more. Now with your kites rotations through the window, how high in the air are you? I assume in only 15-19 knots you're talking about on the water? I didn't say the Harlem was a faster moving kite in general, it is a tighter/faster loop when doing powered kiteloops. The low end is far superior on the Dlab so I'm not surprised it moved a lot faster in light winds everywhere
@@jasonofmontreal Thanks for the reply. I wasn't able test it in high wind because of the conditions we had that day. Did you find the loop speed to be a good bit faster than Dlab Evo in 25-30 knots? In 18-19knots I was able to jump only about 25ft on the Harlem and 35ft on the Dlab. Everything about Harlem felt slower. On foil backroll kiteloops I was not able to fully rotate Harlem before landing, even with a good yank on the loop. On the same yank, the Dlab rotated fully midway to landing.
We even tried a couple different bars to make sure it wasn't a bar/lines issue. The only thing that could have happened is the Harlem I tested wasn't fully at 8psi. I usually pump Evo Dlab to 8.5-9 PSI. Also, because it was a demo kite, the canopy may have been stretched. (doubt it)
Hoping to try again in higher wind.
@@studiopiko I don’t find anything faster in the Harlem, the loop is tighter/softer more like the orbit style, and like in the previous videos, I did point out the dlab is still the overall highest performance kite on the market. I’m also only testing the 9m size, so can’t comment on how other sizes perform
@@studiopiko Few things:
1. You can't really compare a naturally stiff Aluula framed kite pumped above it's recommended PSI with a more flexible dacron kite pumped below it's recommended PSI.
2. Like most dacron kites, the Force really needs a couple extra PSI to feel solid. Sag you experienced is likely due to not having it properly inflated.
3. The Evo is visibly higher aspect. You would expect the DLAB to outjump it.
4. It is definitely quicker than the DLAB on turn initiation and likely quicker through the window as a result. Again, the shape plays a huge role with a high aspect vs mid aspect comparison. The DLAB might take it for overall top speed.
5. The Force doesn't have great low-end. Again, a high aspect is always going to give you more power down low. Riding a 10m Force in 15kn would be a nightmare.
Overall, I agree the DLAB is the top kite on the market. It jumps higher, has more hangtime, and is almost as good at looping. It's also harder to ride, less forgiving, costs 30% more, and has a ton of warranty issues. Pros and cons of both.
Stellar video and great analysis
First of all, loved the video. very good content congrats.
I think it would be interesting to take the prices into considerations to know which as the better value.
Would love to see a review of the vantage vulture gen4, this thing is very good
Value for money is so subjective, that would be tough to quantify for varying peoples levels.
@@jasonofmontreal for sure but you could mention if one kite is a thousand bucks cheaper than an other one. Would help us decide what's better for us to buy hehe
@@noebonne2028 I have mentioned in a few of the videos the dlab is 25-30% more expensive than the other kites. I think most standard dakron kites are all within a few hundred dollars of each other. We only have North & Ozone here where I live so I don’t know the prices overseas of other brands
Hey Jason - LOVE the videos. I ride XR7s (9M/11M) - on the surfr app I'm seeing 13M as highest jumps in 30MPH winds. Looking for my next kite - curious if you'd recommend an 8M Orbit Pro; Evo Dlab etc. I'm a bigger rider (230+lb) and have had several ACL repairs so getting caught is my biggest priority. Any thoughts on where I should look next? Thanks!
What level of rider are you currently, what are you looking to do? Eg go higher, learn to kiteloop, learn to do board offs etc
@@jasonofmontreal boots rider. Always want to go higher. I can mega loop but I have a tendency to loose line tension and not get caught so my landing % is much lower then I would like. My jump style is sent (lots of movement and land with heli loops). Main goal for the kite is 70%+ caught mega loops
@@KramarD well first off ditch the boots 😂. No point riding boots if you’re not doing freestyle… I made the same mistake to keep riding boots after I stopped doing freestyle and just did big air and ended up breaking an ankle 🤦🏽
The 9m xr7 is quite a challenge for loops, it’s got a lot of pull and can be harder to catch. Most other kites will be better for loops, but will sacrifice height. You definitely don’t need the orbit pro, but the standard orbit will be an awesome kite for loop progression at that level, or the flysurfer era if you don’t want to sacrifice quite as much height but still want to have a more loop friendly kite
@@jasonofmontreal thanks for the awesome response!! Glad what I’m feeling is inline with your thoughts. Should I consider xr8/pro? Being a heavy rider would I benefit from allula?
@@KramarD I haven’t tried those but they won’t be the easiest kites for loops progression. The dlab will loop faster/easier and have better low end
Nice work 👌 how about doing a Review on the new Vantage Vulture Gen4?
Will keep that one in mind
def looking forward to the navigator vs navigator pro comparison. I wonder, mate, if it would be also an option to test more ¨beginners friendly¨ kites. Don't get me wrong, I love to dream about loops and board offs, but not there unfortunately yet :D. What do you think ? Rides might get a bit boring for you, but I also feel that the target audience might be expanded significantly (ergo increasing the size of the channel and thereafter leading to more views for these ¨top tear¨ kites). Just my 2 cents.
Either way, keep it up man, as everybody already mentioned, amazing content!
I’m not against it, my wife is a beginner so I actually have the perfect Guinea pig to get actual feedback from as well… the trouble is, in Auckland we have North, and Ozone… all these kites I’m testing I have to borrow from friends or be sent from overseas which is why it’s so tricky to test everything. I also just do this for fun as a hobby, and my editing skills aren’t great so they take me forever to make 😂
Great work! Did you happen to be overpowered on the Harlem Force? Curious about your opinion on that topic.
Not really, it was getting pretty strong on the 9 but it was very manageable around 30-35
Hi,
What great review.
Question what kind of watches do you wear at a kite sessions? En what do you prefer? Surfr app or WOO in combination with the watch you waar?
Greetz Arjen
I’ve only ever tried them on Apple Watch, I’ve been using them on 7 and 9 lately, they seem to function the same
@@jasonofmontreal
Thanks for the info. 🤙
Core XR pro is so overdue really hope you get one soon!!
Certainly the most requested, windy season is coming so hopefully, or the pace
Might as well directly compare them
@@boblugen4475 if someone sends me them I’ll compare, but they’re not cheap and NZ is very far away from a core store 😂
Airush Lift v3!
Thanks for the suggestion
Hi i have a question as a loop beginner: why are you looping so far behind you? It seems like you steere through the wind window and loop completely at one side. I always thought that it is more powerful to loop down the wind.
In example on 15:48: you can see the takeoff point by the white in the water. And your loop is nearly above that point
So a bit of this is sometimes rider error, as I mentioned my timing on the Harlem wasn’t always great, but also I do sometimes do that for the cool shot, and the nature off the GoPro will also embellish angles a bit
When you put out the surfr vs woo I would be interested to know if surfr works on your phone, under your wet suit, and on your watch at the same time... and if the session is separate on the app later?
I haven’t tried this but I asked this question to someone at surfr and they said yes, you can have two sessions going at once apparently
How have you found using the North Navigator Pro bar with the Evo Dlab? Have you been concerned about line wear with using the Y splitter on the Navigator Pro bar ?
I’ll cover that in the upcoming review, but in short the bar is great
@jasonofmontreal great. Looking forward to it👍🏼 Thinking of swapping from Click Bar to Navigator Pro
I have a 10m force and like it but I agree it doesn’t have a lot of hang time and I feel the loops are fast but also don’t seem to have a lot of catch on the counter loop. But I have landed almost all loops I pull. Would u reccomend a 8m orbit pro or rather 8m force??
In 8m size I’d go for more stability personally… if you’re using a high v bar consider the rebel sls, or get crazy with an Evo dlab… but if you want a less powerful loop friendly kite, you can take the v splitter off and go nitro2 or standard orbit. But those also mean swapping pigtails which is annoying
@@jasonofmontreal awesome thanks
the Flysurfer Era looks to be great kite, too. Do you plan to test that one as well?
I did already, it IS a fabulous kite
Reedin hypermodel and supermodel HTF2?
Trying to get hold of one soon
@@jasonofmontreal also get the space agency board it's magic
Seconded!
@@johnssam haha, nice
It would be awesome if you could add the Hoolan app to the Surfr and Woo comparison as well
I tried the hoolan app, but it was just a jump measure, not really much else
Hey Jason when you rated the evo dlab you only gave it 7,5 in confidence building. Why do you think, that the evo dlab is not confidence riding?
Although very light and responsive… it’s very intimidating to try new tricks on because of how fast and how much power it delivers… I’ve struggled to try any new tricks on my 8m in a year of use, where other lower performance kites like the nitro, orbit, or vortex make me feel more confident to try stuff when I ride them
Can u make a reedin Hypermodel review?🤩
Yes I will soon 🤘
thank you, great review ! why don't you speak about depower... is it beause it's not really a problem for all of these kites ? they have similar depower ? I ask question specially for harlem high end...
I don't really think of kites in terms of their depower, as it's something I only use to balance the kite depending on the conditions. I think it's something perhaps that is a bit more important as you as learning, but probably doesn't apply as much to big air and looping etc that I cover in my reviews.
@@jasonofmontreal, ok thank you, here in south of France, we often have wind increasing from 35 to 50 knots (sure you know lord of tram spot 😅)... Thank you.
@@jumelalexandre yeah that’s a tough spot by the looks 😂
Ocean Rodeo Flite 5s! 7-9m please!
will try, i only really test 9m, hard to get hold of multiple kites from any brand
Hey Jason what board size are you using?
138
Ocean Rodeo FLITE 5S review please
Will try
Just gotten myself a Harlem Force, at which height should the splitter be placed in the center lines?
You don’t actually need a splitter to ride it, but it’s recommended at 4.5m from the start of the line closest to the bar. Keep you eye out for wear around the splitter
I see, thank you for the splitter position. I´ve gotten myself a 7m force and went for a rather lower end ride yesterday. Conditions were very challenging so I couldn´t go for loops, but coming down from jumps it was not possible for me to reproduce the landing loop behaviour you have described. But I will keep an eye open for that.
Regarding the splitter ... I havent used one yesterday but I wanted to check that in direct comparision to see how big the effect is. Anyways, thank you for your reviews, they are extremly valueable.
@@Alexomator I’d have to imagine on a 7m the splitter has even less effect, but I’m told it just makes the bar to kite response a little more direct. As usual, I was only testing 9m size
hey which watched for woo you are using?
Mostly 4
Vantage vulture gen 4
Thanks for the suggestion
I really would like to see, how the current F-One Bandit is doing against them. Seems that this Kites are not on many reviewers lists.
I do t think I’ve ever seen one in NZ unfortunately but will keep it in mind
Yeah and the new trigger, i’m quite curious
Ps : amazing work on those reviews 😉
@@mauriceaubert2246 cheers
Can you compare every new alluuaa kite?
Probably not all of them, but I've arrange a few more to try soon
What do you think about Vantage?
It seems like a very powerful and intriguing kite, but I’ve not tried it enough to really get comfortable on it to do a proper review.
Do a vantagekite
Thanks for the suggestion
Like, comment and subscribe!
Ps Plkb hook v4 test if you find one 😘
Thanks man 😂
@@giorgio4660I’ve never heard of that brand so probably a tricky one to get hold of here
@@jasonofmontreal 😂
peter lynn is one of the first brands anyway, they are dutch now
@@giorgio4660 we’re a bit isolated in Auckland… we have a shop that sells North or Ozone… even my duotone or core kites I had to order from Australia
core xr8
and xr pro
@@dajobra hard to get XR kites in NZ, but trying to figure it out
what do you think about the valves. is that a push in like duotone?
A bit annoying but not the end of the world
Amazing as always. I think you will make a video on it, but I see you are using Navigator Pro for the Evo Dlab, how did you set the high Y, you used the trustbar line split? I also have the Navigator bar and a Dlab in my quiver.
The Nav pro has an optional high v splitter very similar to the duotone one, but it seems a little bit smoother on the edges that attach in the fixed position on the the safety line, review coming soon.
@@jasonofmontreal omg did I throw it away with the box? :O
@@Jakkillah not sure it comes by default
Jason Montreal, I really like your videos! Let's be friends!
haha, thanks