Id like to give it a shot at the nj buggy bash also. Or if not if the guys in the area get together when its here drop me a line.
If it dosent make it to the bash, and dosent make it around till winter, Bobalooie was some of the best snowkiting up his way, the VA,DE,NJ,PA crew should check it out up there.

I

Quote:

Originally posted by trancein1 Tried sending U2U to djkid and says recipient doesn't exist. :puzzled:

U2u sent. Lol it doesn't exsist cause its spelt wrong

The libre has landed in Mass. Got it with me . Havnt looked at it . But will be trying today after work :karate:

Dgkid, let me know your thoughts as I was very close to buying that kite this summer.

If you have a chance try to post some video, even if not good, just so we can see the kite in action.

Ok guys winds are 14 mph gusting to 21 and I can't figure out the safety systems. I think the QR is correct but the chicken loop releases way too easy. Don't feel comfortable putting her up till I figure this out. Any thoughts?

Edit: Never Mind . Figured it out

Packing it up and trying a tamer day. The QR for some odd reason was looped through parking line and stopper got caught up when i pulled the QR . This is not the kites fault guys. Mostly mine and not making sure all connection lines were free from QR.

THANKS to some pedestrians they grabbed one end of kite when I brought it down to side of wind window

any chance of this getting to wildwood for the buggy bash?

The Kite is Headed to Oregon next. I will do another libre radical pass so everyone that didn't get on the list can have a shot at it.

Isnt it on the east coast now? Theres probably 5 or 6 people that would like to try it this weekend in wildwood. Can we detour it for the weekend and get it back out to west coast on monday

Where were you guys when the sign up was going on?

Big Earl, I guess confusion about the Radical is because Jellis has sent around another Libre, the 4.7m Spirit, I believe. Todd is in posession of this kite, and it will presumably make it to Wildwood. Anticipation for your 6M Radical is due to the fact that it will probably snow here in northern NY soon, and by your description, the Radical should be a great snowkite! Next time a pass is made, it could help the sender's planning to get locations ahead of shipping so less crisscrossing of the country occurs. just my thoughts.

A few people mentioned the Wildwood bash, i though it might get worked in. Guess not.

I just got the kite Friday and was lucky enough to have great wind on Saturday! I tried to fly the kite in 3mph just to see what would happen, and surprise it didn't fly but it almost wanted to. When the wind picked up to 7mph the kite was in the air and was even allowing me to do small jumps... and I'm #215 so that's impressive for a 6m.

In short, this kite is exactly how I want my 7m blaze2 to behave (but doesn't). As much as I love my blaze, I'd trade it for this kite in a heartbeat. It's got a good low end, is reasonably lifty, and big in the power zone. When unpacking, the first thing I noticed were the lines and bar. Really nice bar, padded in the right spots and carbon fiber look in the middle. The lines from the bar were good quality but the center lines did not have a swivel. After my session I noticed that the center lines had a number of twists. The bridal lines are fantastic. The depower lines seem a bit heavy, but they do the job and the pulleys are top notch. Great kite look, very PL, simple black with yellow accent. When I got the kite in the air I noticed that the training edge swoops back a bit which give it a slightly more aggressive look.

I was able to get moving on the landboard in 7mph but the wind picked up to 13 and it was much more fun In a 14-16 wind my gps posted my max speed at 22 mph and I was just going upwind without pushing the at all, wow. And great upwind ability. I flew mostly in 8/13/16 but by the feel of the kite I imagine that the kite would perform well up into the 20's (22-25) without being overpowering.

It took me a little while to get used to the power trim system. There aren't two straps to pull, rather there is a single power strap and to repower you need to lift up the other end of the strap to release. It's not a very accurate trim system, but I got used to it and it worked well enough. The kite had medium bar pressure and I was able to dial in the trim pretty easily. Even with the medium bar pressure I could easily tell exactly where the kite wanted to be trimmed to. It's also pretty fast through the window. One odd thing I noticed was that the kite was _remarkably_ faster closer to the middle of the window. So back looping this kite in the buggy is hella fun The depower is s pretty big. I'd like the bar to have more throw, but the way it's setup is plenty sufficient if you dial the kite in. The parking strap pulls the kite down smoothly with good steering and the kite stays on the ground well behaved. Reverse launching is also easy as expected.

In 13-16 on the landboard I was able to cruise with no issue and could hit simple jump transitions and be fully powered in the new direction. With the kite on the edge of the window, it is very well behaved and a fantastic cruiser! But look out, when the kite hit the middle ofthe window it is a beast. Even in the moderate wind, I could get the kite to totally slide the board against the wind for 20-30 feet.

I switched to the buggy and had an absolute blast. In 14mph wind, I hit 28 building up speed down wind and butting up wind. Could have gone faster but I didn't have enough beach! The kite has some great grunt so I was able to get some pretty massive power slides and even get up on two wheels easily, both when I meant to and didn't mean to :o I even managed to pull of a 360 slide Down loops and back loops with this kite are a breeze and due to its speed and power in the window, kite loops are killer. Due to the kites power in the window, doing a back loop up wind is like turning on a rocket. I tried about a dozen kite loops and got completely ripped out of my once, unfortunately I got this caught on video! But what was great is that the kite was really well behaved and I was able to recover easily while keeping the kite in the air.

Jumping... Even in this low wind I was able to get this kite to launch me without a problem. Not nearly as lifty as the PL twister of comparable size but plenty of lift. What I liked about this kite was that while it was lifty and great for jumping, it was not too lifty for the buggy. I fealt the twister was a bit too lifty for me in the buggy since I generally like to stay seated in the buggy; I wouldn’t even dare loop the twister for fear of death  So I would be able to use the radical for whatever I felt like doing at the time; a really great all rounder. Skudding was also very fun. With great static grunt, I was skudding 30-40 feet at a time, great pull, and easy to keep constant forward power to glide down the beach. Most of the jumps I were hitting were 5ft or so and I imagine with more wind I could have been into double digits :f I tried a few jumps lower in the window and the pull was very well behaved. Even lower in the window the 6m had good float. My knees are crap and I ever had a hard landing (thankfully)!

The kite also turns quite fast, even trimmed out. Powering the kite also did not backstall it and allowed it to be turn literally on a dime with decet repower time so long as the kite turned quickly and didn't lose air.

A few cons were that I did have good amount of wing tip tuck and when launching the kite it look a while to completely fill up. The wing tips took a good 10 seconds to fill, which is convenient while launching due to the power delay but a bit annoying if the center lines go slack and the kite needs to repower. The kite completely deflated on me, more pilot than kite, when I lot tension on the centerlines during a lower speed turn but I imagine it wouldn't do that with a bit more wind. The bag is also less than desirable; it's just a nylon sinchsack. Perhaps I'm just too used to a good backpack. I even disgraced a fuel backback with my blaze

All in all, this is a fantastic kite. A good all round kite for landboard, buggy and jumping. I'd say this is a perfect depower for intermediates looking to progress. The kite gives you enough power and lift to try out new tricks but won't completely over power you. It is a pretty gentle at the edge of the window but is a beast in the middle third. The 6m being the smallest in the series, I'd love to see how the larger kites perform. I image they have great low wind performance but are a bit more of a caddie. I found a video on youtube of a 9m in 3mph...

Would I buy this kite? Yes, to replace my blaze2 as an all-rounder. I've been tending to bars over handles lately just due to their versatility in varying wind conditions and preferred use across jumping, buggy, and board whereas I really only like to use handles in the buggy. This kite is a much improved step up from the blaze2 that I've been using as my goto kite for just tooling around in the buggy in 8-25mph. This has more low end performance, is pretty stable, and has just enough lift to keep it fun in the buggy. I'd probably still find myself on my LEI's once the wind crosses well into the 20s, but this kite would be much fun for cruising between 10-15 and will certianly be very lively in 18-25 and could be used for whatever happened to float my boat. Intersting, my google power could not find any pricing for the kites; I did find a german non-manufacturer site but the pricing seemed to be stale.

Thanks again to Big Earl for such a great opportunity to fly this kite!

great review arkay, can't wait 'til this kite comes back east. Heavy frost this morning, maybe snow at the end of the week!

Frost?! It was 65 here this weekend :D Of course today is probably the last day of sun before 4 months a rain I'll get the kite out today or tomorrow after I hear from big earl.

Arkay hows it compare to your montana ?

Quote:

Originally posted by snobdr Arkay hows it compare to your montana ?

Don't mean to jump in on Arkay, but I have the 7m Montana 2, a size up from the 6m Radical. I would say that the 7m is way more aggressive IMO, for only being slightly larger. More grunty also than the Radical. I think it's just as fast too.
BUT......... In higher winds in which both are intended for. I think I would go with the Radical. It's a little more stable. Now I am only making comparison to the 7m Montana 2..........Montana 3? Now thats a completely different kite over the II ....I would also say the bar pressure is the same. Like Arkay said in his review it does take a little while for the kite to fill as it's going to the zenith. That doesn't bother me since winds would be high for that size.

Also on the Radical I felt the power come on gradually and smooth. and at least with my experience with the 7m Montana 2, it's more aggressive. especially in gusty conditions

hope that info helps.

I've got a Montana 1 5m So the radical is much nicer flying kite; it's got almost 4 years on the Montana design.

My 5m get's off the ground in 11mph and is a a good cruiser til 18 then it starts to turn on up thru 25. I don't even like laking it in the buggy much beyond the low 20. So the radical wind range is much bigger imho. The M1 has got good power on the outside of the window but really loves to fly up to zenith very fast... which generates some good lift. In constrast, the radical seems faster in side the window The 5m M1 also doesn't have nearly the ammount of float the radical 6m does. The 6m also has much more grunt.

The construction of the M1 seemed more robust; the bridal lines were sewn into reinforced patches, all of the edging on the kite was seamed (no open ended fabric), ronstan pulleys, and the depower lines are lighter weight.

Given the choice between an M1 or a radical I'd go with the Libre for the Libre increased versatility and better (more recent) design.

I haven't flown a M3/4 which i think is a better comparason, I've heard the flight charaistics are drastically improved. Anyone with an M3/4 fly a radical?

I flew the M3 5m at the buggy bash and was digging it for a foil.

hey snobdr, maybe you could get together with Todd when he gets a go at the Radical, that way you'd have first hand comparison to the Montana III.

i could probably get Jessies montana again to do a side by side comparison.

Actually depending on when Todd gets it i could probably run it up to you bob, maybe bring the montana with me and you could have a go also.

The kitedid come with a nice backpack but I didn't send it to keep shipping cost down. Glad you liked it Arkay!

We had some nice clean winds today. They varied in speed but gave me a good chance to try the Radical.

This is the 1st 6m kite I have flown. It wasn't as wimpy as I might have expected. Yet I agree the power comes on smooth.

The Kite : Libre Quality all the way. Precise stitching and attention to detail. Nice material.

The bar : I hated it and liked it. Odd colors on the trim strap and chicken loop safety . Extremeley simple , almost cheap look. 1st night out I NEEDED to deploy the safety and was delayed trying to reach it above the trim strap. It was there but out of reach and I had to pull myself toward it. Scarey moment. A bar does not make a kite.

I disliked the way this kite filled. It is like the internal pressure doesn't overcome the external pressure for a prolonged and sketchy period. The tips take a long time to fill and make for sketchy feeling launch / recovery. The one time I messed up and it lost internal pressure this happened again. Once it filled I liked the feel of the kite. Not too much bar pressure but enough you didn't need to watch the kite. Easy to fly by feel.

This kite wants to go fast. When the wind was up I was able to ride with the Buggy boys no problem. There was only a short spell with enough wind to try jumping but this thing lifted way better than I expected. Landings were O.K. !

It almost can't be forced to overfly the window. It can be set way forward and just ride with you for nice snowkite freeride. If it was closed cell it would probably be a good wave kite ?

I had a real fun , safe feeling day with this kite today.

It and I didn't stand up to the crazy gusty rotors on my 1st attempt. It wasn't the kites fault.

I was watching Bladerunner flying this kite today and even though I am a fixed bridle flyer, this kite was very fast and sharp looking being all black with yellow.
I hit a PB at 40.6 kmh in our small park today and BR was keeping up with the Radical.
Then BR took the 16 Scorpion up and was getting some massive air (at least 15 ft) and all this with his Coyote's on all day.
Nicely done Ken.

Quote:

Originally posted by tdmc96 I was watching Bladerunner flying this kite today and even though I am a fixed bridle flyer, this kite was very fast and sharp looking being all black with yellow. I hit a PB at 40.6 kmh in our small park today and BR was keeping up with the Radical. Then BR took the 16 Scorpion up and was getting some massive air (at least 15 ft) and all this with his Coyote's on all day. Nicely done Ken.

It was a FUN day for sure! That was actually the Syn. Richard had the Scorp up until I arrived and then IMMEDIATELY swapped over while I used the Rad'. The Scorp lay there like a mattress the rest of the day.

In that little space it seemed like that little kite never stopped increasing speed . When the wind was up, the faster I went the faster it went. A race kite company CLEARLY built this one ! :wee:

Big Earl Thanks for the passing the Libre Radical around. What can I do to make it up to you?
http://kitebuggyspeedshop.com/radical.htm




http://kitebuggyspeedshop.com/libre_spirit.htm

The Radical is currently in Southern Maryland. I'll be taking this with me to visit WeldnGod but weather predictions aren't looking favorable. Thanks Big Earl!

Glad everyone is having fun!

A big day today with the Radical at the Bowl in Baltimore. Bunch of folks took it for a spin and it's currently in Ragdens hands headed to NY to meet Bobalooie at the festival at Tug Hill next weekend.

This is one kite that could generate a huge amount of power with little effort.

Thank you Earl for giving us this opportunity to enjoy the Libre Radical.

The Libre is in the frozen North! Has been since Friday, but since I really didn't want everyone to see me get my @$$ kicked by that kite, I haven't flown her yet! Seriously, I was kept quite busy showing newcomers the ropes on 2-3.5M Trainers, but I intend to fly her at the first opportunity. U2U'd you Big Earl.:roll: