My 2 youngest boys at ages 9 and 10 are wanting to get into the ATB scene like their big brother.

It seems from the Viron crash test videos on the web it is a pretty resilient kite.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Viron's and can let me know what they think of them.

I have also been checking out the HQ Hydra Powerzone Edition which mods the Hydra into a depowerable kite.

My boys have been flying 2 and four line foils on a bar.

Right now they are flying the Pansh Flux on an Ozone bar.

This works well, but I think a Viron would aid them in control when the gusts kick up around here.

A friend's son (13 I think) came out for our kite fest in February and hooked into a 6m Viron in about 18km/h winds. He weighs about 93 pounds soaking wet and it was perfect for him. He got going on his skis (he IS a good skiier) with just a little direction. Rode for HOURS he was so stoked! Granted he had come out with us at Xmas time and got going with fixed bridles but he really liked the depower / bar / harness experience as we all know the lower center of gravity makes quite a difference.

Relaunch was fantastic for him and never any tangles. The guy that was helping him ddn't need to help him at all - he actually just let the little guy ride and ride and ride. He was in heaven.

I watched a team rider purposely crashing the living daylights out of one a couple weeks before the fest and it was almost like a tetherball bouncing right back up. Hardly any power though there was a bit.

This is all on snow but it was crusty icy stuff and it fared well so I imagine softer grass might be just fine other than a few stains.

Now, in talking with the FS distributor he seemed to think the auto-relaunch of the Unity would be even better than the Viron and even further out at the edge of the window. Haven't heard one way or the other and don't know what the smaller sizes are in the Unity but thought I'd add that.

I have tried the Viron and it is a great kite just wanted to fly itself very fuss free and reliable I just couldn't afford the price tag.

Thanks for the feed back. It sounds like the Viron is a great kite.

I have no idea what the Viron's price is, but it seems to meet the mark for a starter kite for my boys. I was also told the Unity might be a better choice as it would be a kite they could advance further with and that it's auto-relaunch would be better. I have not check the sizes available for the Unity, but I would expect the Unity to be even higher in cost than the Viron.

I guess I will have to find some pricing on the Viron.

I like my hydra but haven't flown the rest. I would guess it is quite a bit cheaper than a viron. Hard to argue with flysurfer quality but you might be able to buy both sizes of hydra for one flysurfer.

I was talking to a couple of my buddys today about starting them dragging arround in the water with the hydra.

stetson05

So how good of a job do you feel PZ did on the depower mod on the Hydra? How's the quality? Do you have any video of your PZ Hydra you could post?

Thanks in advance.....

Quote:

Originally posted by g00fba11 stetson05 So how good of a job do you feel PZ did on the depower mod on the Hydra? How's the quality? Doe you have any video of your PZ Hydra you could post? Thanks in advance.....

If its coming from John I guarantee you will be satisfied on the quality of workmanship. He really knows his stuff, and takes pride in his work. I can't say that I have experience with either kite, but like mentioned above the viron is a bit more pricey. The Unity is definitely gonna be over the $1k mark. If you don't have access to multiple boards, you may be able to get the Hydra and a board for around the same cost of the Viron. Tough choices though, that auto-relaunch and Flysurfer quality is real appealing. Good luck.

shaggs

The price point on the PZ mod'd Hydra's is very attractive. I am sure I could get one for each of my boys for the price of a single Viron. That durability demo of the Viron is quite impressive. I don't think if have every seen a kite driven into the ground on its LE that many times and have it keep flying.

We are mainly looking to use the kite for snowboard, skis and ATB. All my boys already have snowboards and skis. I just recently got my oldest a GI Flight ATB from Dakitez.

I wish I could find more video of both kites on youtube but I haven't had much luck so far.

It is really going to be a tough choice.

Here's a real nice review of the Viron. Has a nice ATB video at the end. If my 9 year old boy would take to his 1.5m imp more, I'd consider it for his first depower.

http://www.board-mag.com/2011/03/flysurfer-viron-kite-review...

Hey shaggs, thanks for the link. My 2 youngest were hard to get out to fly until the ATB and buggy arrived this spring. Now it is hard for dad to try to sneak out and get some kite time.

That Viron does look like an awfully nice kite.

I a really happy with John's work. As far as I know I got the first one he did and I am sure if there were changes it only got better. I talked to Flash over memorial day weekend at Quincy and she said she had flown one and liked it too. It definately extends the wind range for my son. For me, I weigh 200 lbs and I haven't really flown it in winds that I could really appreciate the depower like my Neos or flysurfer

Video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c_Py8jV4tk

This is my son at 50lbs. He was on grass and it isn't very impressive but I think it is more his skill level than the kite's problem. He rode out a down loop but hadn't figured how to turn upwind to keep from catching up to the kite.

Quote:

Originally posted by g00fba11 stetson05 So how good of a job do you feel PZ did on the depower mod on the Hydra? How's the quality? Do you have any video of your PZ Hydra you could post? Thanks in advance.....

Goof- its a little veer but i would consider the hq apex III, my son is 11 and really liked his apex II which we recently upgraded to the III and it is very stable and a great first depower, i am referring to the 5m but in the III they also have a 3m
just a thought
Scott

Thanks for the reminder. I completely forgot that HQ added the 3m to the Apex III line. I had a 7.5m 1st Gen Apex that was my first depower and a great ride. I will have to do a bit more comparing.

HQ is definitely going to be cheaper. Even PZ's modded Hydra is going to be less than a 2.5m Viron. His mods are top notch. John does great work. However, it doesnt increase the quality of the canopy... Not to say that HQ doesnt make good kites, they do. However, Flysurfer is just going to be a bit better. You are going to pay for it though. The question you have to ask yourself, is the quality worth the price?

Market research places Viron prices as below:
2.5 ~$600
4m ~$750
6m ~$900

Unity costs more, but it's also bigger:
6m ~$1150
8m ~$1350
10m ~$1450



Aside from price, the other thing to consider is the safety built into the kites. Unfortunately, I dont know what kind of safety is built into the Hydra. I would expect that PZ puts a good safety mechanism into that kite. With the new Infinity bar on the Flysurfer kites, you know you are getting a top notch safety.

When I got into Flysurfer kites, the safety was one of the main reasons. Something to think about.

Good luck! Hope this helps.

All the info everyone shares here is a big help and much appreciated.

I knew the HQ would be the cheaper route whether it be the PZ hydra or the Apex III that flyguy reminded me about. I have found some more video on the Viron and other than one poor guy who really needs a lesson, it looks like the Viron is pretty bullet proof as far as kites go.

It would be interesting to be able to fly both the Apex III 3m and the Viron 2.5m back to back for a comparison.

Quote:

Originally posted by g00fba11 ... It would be interesting to be able to fly both the Apex III 3m and the Viron 2.5m back to back for a comparison.

That would be an EXCELLENT idea. Highly recommended in my opinion, if you can pull it off..

Erm - we're comparing a cheap fixed bridle powerkite (not designed for depower) that someone modified, against a depower trainer designed by what are probably the most capable engineers in the industry. I must say i haven't flown this modded Hydra (i doubt there's any of those near me), but i'd be extremely surprised if there was any kind of depower inthere like there is in the Viron. There's a couple of very different design criteria between a power and a depower kite, that pretty much contradict eachother. Therefor in my eyes (again, i'm open to be proven wrong), a modded powerkite can never be anywhere near as good as a recent model depower kite, much less a brandnew Flysurfer.

Virons look pretty tuff - haven't you seen the vids?

I believe the idea wasn't to compare quality of kite, as its obvious the Flysurfer is a top notch depower kite. More the idea is to justify which would be more justifiable for a 10y/o looking to fly his first depower. IMO I'd go the cheaper kite route just for the price factor. And the off chance that the two little ones decide they'd rather not kite. Once they have proven more that they want to stick with it, then other kite options could be considered. But if money is no object then I'd definitely go for the Viron.

The vids are the reason I am looking at the Viron. Damn tough kite....

It is balancing whether to save some funds or to go for what seems to be a fairly indestructible kite.

Unless your like this poor guy that wraps his Viron in a palm tree. You may want to fast forward..... This is pretty painful to watch.



It was nice to find a couple of folks here that shared some experience with all the kites I am considering. Thanks everyone.

Yeah that guy has gotta be the canidate for dumba$$ of the year. It would be comforting to know that no matter how many times your boys plow it into the ground, it will just turn over and happily take to the skies. Seems you are in a real pickle with this one. Its too bad you can't get your hands on both to give em a try.

When I found that video and saw the beating that Viron took and the way it still tried to fly I was quite impressed.

That would be a good video to post in a poll and see if anyone can name everything that guy is doing wrong..... and I thought I was a goofball.....