Got my 6m Peak yesterday, flew it today. Very very pleased. I'm gonna post a review from my beginners point of view. And a few pics 😊

Great information source this forum!

A question for Feyd:

In the beginning of your excellent Review you mentioned:
"That said we have come up with some simple mods that really broaden the wind range of both sizes but that's for another write up."

What were those mods that you came up with?

Regards,
Martin

Nothing major Martin.

We install a pigtail to the powered leader line first. The pigtail has 3 knots in it, approximately 1" apart. With this addition you can alter the depower/power range effect by the bar throw. We also slightly extended the length of our 4.5 lines to accommodate the pigtail addition and add a suicide figure 8 as a means of cleaning things up at the bar in regards to the 4.5 line slack in certain settings. Although a 1"-1.5 stainless ring will do the trick.

We have also taken to adding 5m extensions to the flying lines for lighter wind days or days where we are flying through channels and need the wing about tree line to get any wind. The Peak seems to be really sensitive to addition and subtraction of line length.

Essentially we've added some level of mechanical trim to the system while keeping within the intention of the original design of uber light weight and simplicity.

We've taken some shots of these additions and will be posting them on the Flysurfer Peak page of our website shortly.

Thanks!

I'll have a look at the website.

Martin

Bah! I've been slacking. Should have it on the site hopefully tomorrow. Been out flying with one of our kids programs which is always more fun than adding content to the site. :D

Tomorrow I'm in the office most of the day so I should be able to get it done. :P

What would you say is the low- and high end for the 6 and the 9 with your mod's?

I take it from what you said above that adding more than 5 m did not work well?

Martin

Hey Chris, I notice a couple empty slots in that Peak page. Is that maybe a subtle hint? :D I know I have seen a few allusions of such. The quote "after the 1st" comes to mind.

Hey Meat, those are just place holders. We're considering expanding our Flysurfer offerings and will have them all on one page. There are rumors around the interwebs of additional sizes in the Peak line up but I cannot confirm or deny those rumors. We have not received any information in regards to pricing or availability on additional Peak sizes but if we do I will surely let folks know.

mtuh, We haven't played much with extending the lines beyond 5m. I suspect there would be some additional benefit beyond what is achieved by simply adding the 5m but we frankly haven't found the need yet. :D But it's a good question. Of course with even more length you increase drag and steering lag but I would bet it would still be acceptable flight quality and even better ability to take more advantage of better wind up high if needed. Now I want to try it out and see. I was on ice yesterday for the first time this season and we have ice setting up nicely in a few areas that will give me room to run. I'll add more extensions and report back.

In regards to expansion of wind range. Low end is better at the expense of some depower but I feel these kites have enough depower that you can spare some on the lighter wind days if it means the difference between riding and not. I've never done a before and after comparison (Mod vs. Pre-Mod) but in side by side comparisons of two 6m Peaks the modded one flew circles around the un-modded. And that was with my extra 40+ lbs compared to the other pilot.

Another thing worth mentioning. The Peak responds to shortening lines as much as extending. So say for example you're out on your Peak and the wind increases drastically. If you double back the lines (something that is becoming harder to do on some kites with other safety systems or "Y" lines) you can reduce the power of the kite by about half.

Can be handy.

I finally had the opportunity to test my 9m peak on water in jersey for 20 min with safe conditions. it was at the end of my session when the wind started to die down and i was getting tired of doing figure 8's with my inflatable 13m. im 215 lbs dry, air temp was mid 40's, wind was 13kts gusting to 20 lulling to 10, and i was on a 165 cabrina stylus.

at 12 kts, it was a little tough to get up and cruising but on the 2nd power stroke i was off and moving and was amazed. it was easy to keep my line at the 12ish kt range and at 14 to 17kts it was easy to go up wind and didn't really have to work the kite at all. jumps were small and soft with very little hang time but i was also not going very fast. as far as the water relaunch, this is something i didn't test and hopefully never will because i shed enough tears over taking it out on sand and would like to keep salt water off it. i have seen 2 videos of it relaunching on water and from what i can tell from watching them and looking at the kite is you have to be quick if you crash it but if you get water into the leading edge its over and you'll have to restart on land unless the leading edge is pointed toward the sky. I would only use this in shallow water ( i was in 3 to 6 inches with the tide going out) or if your wearing good flotation and have boat support because if the wind dies on you or if it gets water in the LE then you'll have a sea anchor. and by wind dying i mean like no wind because this thing stays up in almost nothing.
i landed it behind my 13m which was still inflated since i was only out for 20 minutes and it went on the ground in its slinky like fashion and didn't move till i comfortably strolled up to it.

the time it took from me deciding to try the peak to being on the water with it was 6 minutes from being fully packed. cant wait to try it in the snow.

yeah, i tried the 9m Peak on water last summer and was not very comfortable with it. I have been flying LEI on water for 14 years and I rarely drop my kit but there is always that chance. I am sure it can be done though, but I just feel much safer with a water relaunchable kite. There is something different about the way the Peak feels on the water compared to an LEI. My 15m CORE xr2 is very fast so there is really no advantage to using the Peak anyway, other than the inflation part.

btw, I have a 6m Peak for sale if anyone is interested. In great condition, new last January, $650 complete. I will be ordering a new one as well as a new 4m and 9m.

The Peak2 has now been released before I've even gotten a chance to fly the first one, that's pretty unusual for Flysurfer. Then again, the Peak is a pretty unique kite and the first of it's kind so it of course still needs some refinement.

I hope they have made it flutter less as that seems to be a rather serious problem with the old Peak and some locals who fly the Peak are very concerned about the durability of it because of that. A single skin design simply doesn't maintain a clean airflow at the trailing edge as easily as a normal profile.

I really hope I get to try out the new Peak so I can see if it has caught up with the conventional kites in terms of general performance. It sure looks higher-performance compared to the old one. The 12m looks like a nice size and it's a real steal compared to most other kites!

Ax, don't worry. Be it the original or the PEAK 2 they are both great kites. In regards to flutter, that's the nature of the beast. I'm, told there's a substantial reduction in flutter on the Peak 2 as well as an increase in depower (I can't imagine) but as flutter is how it dumps power, I imagine it's kind of here to stay at some level. Like an SLE when depowered, they flutter like crazy. If the kite is being flown powered there is almost no flutter. Clean airflow is secondary IMO when I'm trying to dump power as fast as I can.

In regards to "catching up in terms of general performance" as far as a non-freestyle oriented kite goes IMO there is no catching up the PEAK was on par from the beginning. I would put the Peak head to head with anything out there. Even if used for freestyle once you get a feel for the difference the PEAK actually hucks well. 6m Kite loops like a dream. 9m, meh not so good but doable.

Other changes like the new bar system with trim and stopper (gonna be sweet) and changes to AR will improver the overall versatility for sure. Having the 4m and 12m is a great move by Flysurfer and we're really excited about it.

As you point out the only unknown here is durability. We put a couple thousand miles on the Peaks last season and there were signs of wear in the hinge areas that allow the flutter during depower. You could see the fabric treatment breaking down. We simple reinforced those high wear areas with sail tape and they seemed to show no further signs of wear. Do we think these kites will stand the test of time like say an '05 Frenzy? Hard to say. Seems most kites used on snow tend to last a long, long time. But as we know, this is a brand new design. Only time will tell. One could argue that Flysurfer produces some really solid stuff with killer longevity. I wouldn't think the Peak is any different. Depends on what kind of abuse they were put through in the prototype stage I imagine. This said they did make some changes in the PK2 to offset some of the potential wear issues.

The 12m is going to be a light wind day saver. :D

Well done vid.
http://youtu.be/Cb3EWmZHO8o

Ouch, just bought the Peak and a 2 is out!? Would have hung on if I'd known!

Seriously Robin don't sweat it. The PEAK 1 is a killer kite and the 2 won't be available for a couple weeks yet. The Peak one, for what you were looking for, is a perfect fit. :D

Thanks Feyd 😊

It will be interesting to see how the given sizes compare to the original. The projected areas are lower in the 6 and 9m PK2. We'll have to do a side by side and find out.

So they are doing a 4, 6, 9 and 12m in the 2?

Do you know what's different with the bar setup?

Don't answer that, they've updated the flysurfer website

Ah man, how gutted am I....

http://www.boardway.org/news/flysurfer-peak2

The bar looks mint. Clamcleat adjuster, adjustable stopper ball thing like the Peter Lynn Navigator.

:barf:

I'm sure there will be some flavor of aftermarket trim system available for PEAK 1's. If not it would be easy enough to fabricate. The bar is nice but I can't help but feel it deviates from the uber light, bare bones simplicity that I personally find very attractive. But I suppose if you want to make it more familiar to the general public the new bar makes sense. In addition to the ability to really fine tune the performance on the fly.

Stopper balls are great. That will be really nice with the Peak. But again, you can get those after market for any kite out there.
:D

Feyd, can you describe the new safety system? It's a front line release I can see, but I'm curious how it works. Always curious to see new bar mods.

finally got to try the peak 9m"1" in snow. 215 lbs 8-10in powder on a snowboard and a decent hill with wind 8-18kts luls to 3 gusts to 25. was my first time snowkiting and i was scouting a new location to do it at since ive only heard of one by me and all i can say is that it was some of the most fun ive had in my life. when the wind blew hard i was flying up and down hill. the only thing i can really add here is the boosting. most of them were pretty weak mostly because i was getting used to the differences of sending this kite and my LEI, but i had this one boost today that really surprised me and was at least 10-15ft. no real hangtime, just a soft float back down.(didnt buy the kite for boosting) the kite in the big gusts would depower almost fully on command. its appearance when depowered in that wind is not pretty but your still in control. just overall really impressed with the wind range of this kite. cant wait to explore new spots with this kite. hard to find in north jersey and southern ny

HA! So glad you were able to finally get out on the snow with it! Good observation on the jumping ability of the Peak. We've found it is a really nice jumper but with a bit different timing than kites designed for hucking.

Psyched your happy with it. :D If you get the urge to come on up and visit us here in New Hampshire this winter we'd love to see ya. We've got a bit more riding here than your location it sounds like.

They sound great for snowkite. I'm looking forward to trying the 6m on the buggy. Although, it's going to take a lot to impress me as much as I like my current single skin kites.

I'd be curious to hear the differences between the NS2's and The Peak. I've never flown a NS2 or any NASA wings.

Quote:

I'd be curious to hear the differences between the NS2's and The Peak. I've never flown a NS2 or any NASA wings.

I can't wait to compare the 2 firsthand. To my knowledge, I haven't heard anyone that has both.

I'm guessing the upwind ability will be better on the peak, but upwind isn't really an issue for me riding in fields. All I need is a little bit of power to make it back to my starting point with the nasa's. My high drag conditions is where my ns2's really shine. They are the only kites that I have been able to start creating apparent wind and park and ride in my field conditions. I expect the ability to fly in very little wind will be similar in both kites and is the main reason I'm completely obsessed with single skin. I'm hoping for a large wind range and good depower ability with the Peak. There are times when my wind is spread out over a couple of sizes of NS2's which makes rigging the right kite a challenge at times. I'm pretty sure I'm going to like having both. Looking very forward to comparing them.

I live vicariously through you Sean. Lol

I got to try out the peak 6m this weekend, static only. As I expected and was hoping, it's very stable and flies very easily in light wind and/or lulls in the wind. Saturday, I flew very briefly due to the mud but I was able to launch it in 17-23 winds and it seemed very controllable. I did keep it to the edges of the window because it was the first flight and I didn't know what to expect, but that was enough to see how well the depower worked. Today, winds were 7-10 and it flew very nicely. It's probably the easiest to re-launch in light wind of any kite I've ever flown. Seriously impressed with relaunch. I need to get a run on the buggy with it to form more of an opinion, but I think it will work nicely and give me depower ability on the really wacky days.

I can't say if I like it as well as the ns2's until I have more time on it and use it in motion. My first thoughts are the ns2's turn much quicker and pack up much smaller. The Peak, I assume, will provide more upwind and depower capability. For simplicity and ease of use, I would give an edge to the ns2's, but for performance and depower ability, the peak might even the score.

I do have a couple questions for Peak users. I noticed as you loop, the center lines develop twists. The only way to get the twists out was to loop the kite. Am I missing something? Also, It landed very nicely by pulling the steering lines, but what do you do next when getting ready to pack up? Do you stake down the safety line? Do you walk one of the steering lines up to the kite?

Hey sayre, glad you like the Peak!

If you want it ti turn really fast - and without lots of power - just pull one of the steering lines and the kite will loop almost instantly. As you become more in tune with the kite you can turn the kite according to your power needs by adjusting your steering methods spontaneously.

Good observation/question about the lines twisting. It is preferable to minimize the line twists in order for the safety to work properly (if needed). A few twists are inevitable sometimes but I always try to have it completely twist free when possible. Basically there are 2 ways to do this.
1. loop the kite in the opposite direction an equal number of times. again you can do this as a powered up long loop (hands on bar) or a fast spinning loop (using one of the steering lines.
2. unhook and untwist with the centerline below the bar.

I use both methods depending on the situation.

As a side note: I fly CORE inflatables and the Core Sensor bar has a below bar swivel built into the QR/chicken loop assembly. I really like the way this works, but needless to say it adds weight, complexity, and cost. I am sure that the Peak would fly on a Core bar. But I think part of the (FLYSURFER) objective of the Peak is to keep it simple, light, and affordable. So for the moment they probably try to stick to their philosophy for this kite. The other Flysurfer bars have a below bar swivel as well. Maybe in the future they will have other order options on bars...you can order a different bar separately if you really want, but that's a bit expensive...and to be honest I am fine with the simple setup of the stock Peak bar and have worked out all of those little issues for myself reasonably. I have seen a wide assortment of "above bar" swivel, mouse ears, ets, and none of those was very reliable...and I hate clutter above the bar if it can be avoided.

If you have landed the kite and it's windy enough that the kite blows away, you can either stake the safety line down (sometimes I wrap a line around my ski binding) and and walk to the kite...or walk hand over hand up the safety line...

In either case use your best judgement in terms of safety....i.e you wouldnt want a ski flying thru the air at you if for some reason the kite launches itself.

The more you fly the kite, the more comfortable you will get with these methods. Practice everything in light wind so you know the drill. As you know more wind can add many challenges.

Thanks Roberto, that's pretty much the conclusion I came to on the center line twists and the landing methods, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't overlooking something. I like the simplicity of the bar as well and don't see a need for a swivel. The twists occur right above the depower line so it's easy to see which way to loop to untwist if necessary. My only other observation is the small hole for the depower line. If it was at least flared a bit, I think that would help on depower line wear. Again, nothing major, and overall I really like the simple design. Looking forward to some motion with it if it ever stops raining.