Yesterday I had a chance to test the new Enduro V5 10m? - WOW! What a kite! :D
Some background - I am riding Enduros since V2, so pretty familiar with it. Since I have started wave riding I have transitioned to Reos as my wave kites(6m? and 7m?) I ride Enduro in 9m? and 11m?. I am not really good in neither jumping or wave riding, but I can hold my own :) I have always wanted a better jumping Enduro, with more hang time. I was hoping that the new Vortex can be exactly what I was looking for, but it turned out not to be the case - too much bar heavy and unrefined compared to Enduro.
I went out with the 10m? V5 yesterday in 20-ish knots wind and immediately fell in love with it - a super steady feel, canopy stays tight, like made of single plastic sheet, very lively kite, bar pressure heavier than V2-V4, but not heavy at all. Also this is the most informative bar feel I have tried so far - you always know what the kite is doing and you can control it with ease.
For me it jumped (almost)as good as Vortex, climbs up much faster than V4, so I had some time readjust my muscle memory and timing. Hang time almost comparable to Vortex and much, much better than V4. But what amazed me was looping - it's better for me than Vortex: smoother, less yank, very controllable. As smooth as V4, but somehow different - a smidge slower, but more control, feel and pull in it, faster to climb back up. I have had multiple errors where I should had crashed any other kite, but miraculously I managed to control it and keep it in the air. If you let the bar go it just goes to 12 and waits for your input. I think it has better upwind than V4 and flies faster in air. I feel it will not be as good for surfboard as V2-V4, but as jumping and old school tricks - it's the better and cheaper Vortex I was looking for. I only wish Ozone had done an Ultra-X version of it as well. Probably I will have a chance to ride it again today.
PS. The only "issue" I had with it is the colour scheme - this Green-Yellow variant was absolutely not to my liking! :D I already ordered 11m? in Ruby&Red, which looks great!
...and here we go:
I've had a 13M Enduro V5 up here in Lennox and am super impressed after 4 sessions on it now. The V5 is a completely new design although based on the same concept of a 3 strut all rounder.
The 13M has a 14 point bridle, continuous curve LE and the most smooth canopy I've ever seen (apart from Alpha V3, built using the same software). The kite has low bar pressure and I can easily ride it with a 50cm bar, rather than the 55cm I had to use on the 14M V4 I also have in my kite library. Turns really sharp and with low pressure and drifts exceptionally well although not as good as the Reo V7 Ultra X.
Ozone has really stepped up their designs, they are constantly tweaking their in house design software and a mate who is software coder thinks it will be due to AI as well as the inputs from the design team.
I have had 20-ish sessions on my new 11m V5 and it's the best Enduro I have had so far! If only they have done an Ultra-X version for the bigger sizes(8+m) it would have been a dream! Like it way better than the Vortex. I fly it with 52cm bar and bar pressure is spot on and very informative. It's faster flying and turning kite than V2-V3-V4 I have had. That being said - Reo V7 and Alpha 3 are definitely better on a surfboard for me: better drift and faster/lighter steering .
Thanks for posting the reviews. How does it jump? Wondering about Enduros as a replacement for Evos..
Select to expand quotethuffam said..
Thanks for posting the reviews. How does it jump? Wondering about Enduros as a replacement for Evos..
I'd say boosting and looping is what this kite is best at, second would be its wave riding.
