Anybody have more feedback on the Peak?

(Shrug) ... meh..... I'm eyeballing that new Speed 4..

Anyone try this one yet?

This is a good peak thread, even though it gets clogged up with a lot of talk about other single skin kites....http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=26950

We've had very good feedback on the Peak from our customers and riders who have purchased them or had time on our demos. I'll see if I can get someone to write up a quick review on it.

We had some concerns about the kite initially when we first saw it. But after looking more closely enough, as a kite who'd design philosophy fits our snowkiting environment, we couldn't resist adding it to our offering.

It's turned out to be an excellent option for the dedicated snowkiter but has also be very good for our school as a teaching tool on light wind days.

Based on videos I'm assuming it has what would be considered no or at most very little lift. Feyd, can you confirm that to be true? It doesn't seem like the most stable canopy for jumping.

We thought exactly the same thing B-Roc. Especially when we first got a look at how the kite works and how it depowers. We figured that jumping it would be near impossible.

Turns out she's actually a very nice little jumper. Since we actually had some powder for a little while some people got to do some jumps with it. Jumps almost exactly like an Apex 4 but a little floatier. The timing is a little different than you would find on a freestyle type kite but for a touring type it jumps well enough to have fun with.
:D

How well does the size to power claim match up? Is the 9m really similar to a 15m LEI in terms of wind range and power? I believe that is the claim made by F$ I remember reading on their site before.

I believe FS stated that the 9m pulled like a 14m foil. I'm not sure so don't hold me to this but I think that the range is based on a 170lb rider.

Pretty much everyone here agrees that the 9m pulls more like an 11 or 12m foil. The 6m is more like an 8 or 9m in pull.

That said, it will fly in damn near nothing. Almost creepy how easily it launches in light wind. Maybe not pull too well but it will launch in about 2mph wind. Out on a lake it's common to have super light wind at ice level but solid wind above tree line and higher into the gradient. So even if you don't feel any wind on the ice you can often still get some good riding in IF you can get the kite into the air. The Peak makes that a bit easier.

Put some line extensions on and you're really in good shape on light wind days.

One thing everyone has noted is how well it reverse launches. Easier than anything out there and unlike a Speed or Psycho SA which may fly in light winds but can be a bear to reverse launch in really light wind the Peak does it like nothing at all.

I have a 5.5m Apex and a 11m Apex would the 6m Peak be a good fit between the two instead of the 8m Apex?

So what doesn't it do well and what needs to be improved based on initial impressions?

Hmmmm. Not really sure. We've learned that it can be flow well beyond the recommended upper end. Of course it depends on your skill level but the depow is pretty substantial. A customer in Michigan has had the 9m past 25kts and was happy with it. We just sent him another 6m for higher wind days.

As you can imagine with such a different kite it has some quirks but it seems to do what it's designed for very well so far. The only common comment, not so much a complaint, is that you have to sheet in a lot to get full power in the "tour" mode. "Freeride" mode seems to be a better option in high winds but everyone here really likes it as a lighter wind engine. We added 3" to the center line leader to change the sheeting response and it's very good but at the cost of some depow. An adjustable extension with various knots for settings might be the way to go for fine tuning to the rider's tastes.

As it doesn't have a trim strap there has been discussion about installing one and seeing how that goes. Really it isn't needed in the stock set up do to the amount of depow with the throw. FS's design philosophy with this kite was to make it as simple, lightweight and durable as possible. Bare bones would be compromised with the addition of a trim strap. But a trim system with more than 2 settings might be more beneficial or at least appealing to riders. Again, it flies great w/o any trim system.

We thought deep or heavy snow would be an issue as it filled the leading edge. Turns out not to be a problem as the edge is flexible enough to dump anything in it on reverse launch. Super snaggy ice can be a problem. But it hasn't proven to be any more of a problem than any other bridled kite.

It's just kinda ugly when it's depowed. Looks like it's going to fall out of the dang sky but if you don't look at it the kite feels fine. The only comparison I have is it depows like an SLE. let go of the bar and she falls out of the sky.

I think there's a lot of potential in single skin designs.