Gentlemen,

Today I was royally spanked by my 15m Synergy, while it saved and almost killed me.

While setting up, the winds were about 15 gusting to 20, which is a good normal day for me. But the fun had only just begun.

Soon afterwards, I was cruising along getting a feel for the board, wind, kite etc, and decide to hit a jump. By far one of the best jumps I have ever pulled off, landing smooth, probably 3-4 off the ground but 20+ forward. Unfortunately, after a very wobbly cruise back upwind to the car, I get off and notice that my rear axle is about a foot behind the board. Seems that this jumping thing doesnt work well with the GI boards.




Ill be calling them today, and see about a replacement

If that wasn't enough I was then flying static, and decided to pull a jump. Living inland, we have some gusty winds, and as I jump The wind shifted left and gusted to maybe 25-30 and I got launched. Straight toward my car going 20ish mph and about 4-5feet off the ground.

As I go over the hood of my vehicle I kick the fender with my right foot, so I could pop over the car and not into it, this worked, but I was still moving. A second gust lifts me straight up about 25feet, which I gained control of the kite and set myself down slowly.

Video to come later of the good stuff.

All in all a pretty nerve racking experience.
Lessons learned: 1. Never kite with a car to the side or downwind of you. 2. Watch out for gusty winds

Surely a Humbling experience

Brian

Yikes.... that's the second time with this board and trucks. :sniff:

I could have sworn the kingpin was stainless and should have been able to handle a 3-4 foot drop.

Post back what you hear from GI.

ATB,
Sam

wow-sounds frightening.......i guess a person could pull the top hat, but things happen very quickly sometimes......glad youre ok--ive never been able to bring myself to fly depowers......something scary about being harnessed to that big of a kite--other people seem to love them--not for me though.......

Yup, second time on the board and trucks, I'm hoping I can get GI to help me with some sort of upgrade, considering the lack of quality products at the moment.....

Video up soon, Some good cruising, some ugly jumps, :wee:

I love depower, but you gotta be careful, I learned my lesson today.

Brian

UPDATE:

Vimeo vid is better
http://www.vimeo.com/10993010


Quality is kinda crap, ill reupload for better quality

Sweet field. Upgrade to bionics or their spring trucks.

Thanks man, I love it now that they started to groom and water it.

Hopefully, as usual, GI will be cooperative, and we can work something out.

Nice spot! I'm jealous
Surprised at the bolt snapping!

Love the song choice, also that hands free riding was pretty sweet!

Like the car part, it's rare that there's actually proof of those mishaps so nice job there. I noticed in one of your other videos that you had made a hybrid motor, what was the fuel and I'm assuming that was an oxygen line running into the casing?

Thanks guys,

The spot is great, maybe we could have some sort of meet up here sometime, weather permitting.

The inadvertent launching was definitely pretty scary, all I could think about was redirect, but I couldn't see the kite haha. Lucky for me, the kite just hung above me and dropped me relatively slow.

Power, that is a propane burner thing I made. Check my youtube, or Platzrandd.tk

I think the details are on there, cause that was 2 years ago and I dont really remember.


Also, I am really hoping GI steps it up to support their product, considering I have done nothing but normal wear on the board, and the trucks have broken twice on me. Pretty sure they should remove these trucks from their lineup or fix em.

I really like the GI stuff, but if I cannot put my safety in the hands of some defective product, I am not so sure.

I think some of these baby's are in order, titanium sound like it will fix my problem.

http://groundindustries.com/index.php?option=com_content&...

Brian

go to the channel style
GI should help get you square

You should not need it, but if you need help with GI, let me know.
Dave Rosenfeld is the Sales Manager (864)295-3992-office
They are in Greenville, SC

Was that board originally drilled for two different trucks? Looks like maybe larger trucks mount to other holes? Just noticed extra drill holes in the board.

Looks like it was drilled to take both the skate truck and the bionic truck.

yes the prodigy comes with mounting holes for the 9" skate truck as well as the bionic truck.

Thanks angus, I appreciate the offer, but I shouldn't see a problem.

You guys are right, the prodigy has 2 sets of holes, so compatibility is easy.

No word back from GI yet.


Brian

I wouldn't be surprised by a lag in the response over the weekend.

You might also have better luck with the over the phone using the number Angus gave rather than email.

ATB,
Sam

Not for nothing, being a skater for years and running shops in the past, kingpins break as well as baseplates. It's just nature of the beast. The kingpins are standard and can be found at any skateshop, or even hardware store for a couple $$$. Hit up GI though, its worth a shot.

I hear yah DirtDave, but the last time I called them, they insisted that my report was one of the first reports of broken baseplates they have had, and told me they should take extensive abuse before breaking.

Brian

Be careful with auto-zenith inlands. I have also been loften unintentially a couple times with my VenomII's - its really scary when you are not expecting it.

Won't use auto-zenith on land anymore, only on clear coastal winds, on land i keep it now low, just like the tube kiters do.