Im 6 ft tall and around 85kgs (12.5 stone).

New to power kiting, but keen to buy a kite that will give me enough lift and traction to have fun on a landboard.

I live in West London, so there are not a great deal of windy spots.

What is a good choice of kite and what size shall I go for?

Really it comes down to how much you want to spend, on the higher end may want to look at these companies:

Flexifoil

Ozone

Peter Lynn

Flysurfer

Mac Para


Mid to lower pricing:

Eolo Gayla

Rhombus

PKD

Invento HQ etc.

My suggestion is to try out some kites at a demo or from a shop and avoid off-brand kites from eBay. Good beginner size is 2.5 up to 5 meters, but can probably go a bit higher on depowerables. You also may want to avoid a real "lifty" kite as your first like the Flexifoil Blade III. I learned to ATB on an Ozone Samurai and still use it more than any other.

Cheers Bill,

at the risk of sounding daft - what are depowerables?

My budget is around £200 (c. $380)

Also, what is the benefit of a bar compared to handles?

Ahh, theres a v. helpful thread on bars/handles below, so don't worry about that.

Is a 5.0m kite too big for a beginner?

A de-power system works with a bar (many landboarders prefer bars because of the ability to release one hand or both for tricks). It allows you to adjust the angle of attack of the kite thus changing the amount of power the kite produces unlike a fixed bridle foil on handles.

You can find a more detailed explanation here:

Depower KiteATB


An Ozone Frenzy is an example of a depowerable foil.

A 5.0 is not too large if you start out in manageable winds (around 10 mph).

How about the airush 3M

The Airush 3m is a great 2-line kite, not depowerable. I use it with my landboard all the time. Now I use my 6m Samurai more, unless the wind is way too high.

Hey Bassplayer:

If you want to go the eBay route here is a good price on a very decent kite:

Firebee 2.0