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Originally posted by ripsessionkites my suggestions is still that they should be on 20m lines ... or the most 25m. 30m is just too long. I would like to have tried one at SOBB just to see how much upwind it go ...

Richy I was there you should have asked ...
Sky Country has a great custom oriented business. They not only can make a kite any color you want, but also can put any lines you want (20, 25, 30 m), dyneema 160/80 kg or 160/160 kg.

I could agree with flying on short lines if you have good ground wind...

On the beach, short lines would rule.

In our home park, I have ~20m lines on my cooper 3.3 and if the wind comes from the NW I have to keep the kite higher then I would like to find cleaner air. Now if we are talking S winds, I could see even shorter lines working great.

Are the reflexes race kites? I don't know. The 3 and 4s are plenty fast.

Would they win races? Don't know. (Anyone racing with them?)

Are they easy to fly? The 5m is the easiest of the bunch. The 3 and 4 can be a handful in higher winds.

Are they good kites? Yes. And the quality seems to be up there. (dusty's 5m has seen lots of air time and looks good other than the white looking gray from all the dirt.

My 2 cents,
Ron

Here is some video that a passerby put up of me and a friend flying yesterday. It is not that windy. I could have been flying a much larger kite, but we wanted to fly match kites - 4 meter Reflexes.
S

Well I had the pleasure of meeting up with Don (kitejumper) again over the weekend. This was the 3rd time that we've met to fly this summer, and each session is even better than the next because he is a great guy to fly with. I don't think I have ever flown with someone who gets so excited about kiting. This time we met up at Edgewater Park in Cleveland, OH, and to our surprise we stumbled upon the 23rd Annual Cleveland Kite Festival! Neither of us had any idea that there were any kite festivals in the area, we just wanted a nice open spot to fly. Well needless to say, there were a ton of people flying many different types of kite. Everything from sinlge line diamonds, 2 line stunters, Revs, to the big octopuses and pairs of legs. It was a blast. We met a bunch of cool people and at first, we were the only 2 power kiters there. I got some more practice in on my bunny hops with the Blaze II and I lost my Blade virginity on Don's 10.5m Blade III (after a lot of coaxing from Don). Now that kite is a monster and extremely hard to hold on to, but there are plenty of threads about that. I figured what the hell, go big or go home. It was fun for a bit, but really too much kite for me to handle at my skill level. We had many inquiries about what exactly we were doing and then later on, we received an honorable mention from the festival crew over the announcement system. They even briefly described different applications of the power kites such as buggying, kitesurfing, etc. Anyways, the special recognition was pretty cool. Then all of a sudden out of the woodwork came a few other power kiters. Don and I talked to them briefly and we referred everyone to this forum, so hopefully they will join the community.

Anyways, the whole point of this little story is that I got to fly the reflex too. And oh man, that kite is fast and it does produce a lot of pull for a 4 meter. I personally don't like handles too much anymore because I really like the feeling of all the pull focused on the harness, it adds a little sense of security for me. I am really terrified of getting lofted and, with the handles, I'm worried I will let go. But with the 4m Reflex, there was no getting accidentally lofted involved. On the lowest AoA setting which we had it set, there is not too much lift. We didn't bring out any wind meters to confirm, but the wind was fairly gusty but remained at about 10 mph when I flew the Reflex. Did I mention the kite was fast? Well it is, like race kite style fast. All it wants to do is dart around like a maniac, but at the same time it is extremely responsive and stable. With brake input on the turns, it pinwheels like a pro. It is a very fun kite and because of the speed, it does develop some nice power, but it is a smooth power increase. It puts up a good fight if you want it to. Overall, I am extremely glad that I was fortunate enough to fly this kite, and I recommend everyone try it at some point, you will not regret it. I did not get the chance to try it on Don's buggy, but he was moving pretty good with it when the crowds died down. It really wasn't the day to get a lot of buggying in because there were a ton of people everywhere. Anyways, there is my $.02 on the Reflex. Thanks again for the awesome opportunity with the "Pass the Reflex"

good review erik--lol