Flysurfer Speed5 12 vs Sonic 11
Bad winter conditions in Brno kiting spot - so landkiting! Comparision of new kites Flysurfer Speed5 12m vs Sonic 11m. So here we go...
Instead of snow searching we met on Saturday afternoon at Brno city kite spot Slatina, where the ZeroGravity crew were already shredding the asphalt on longboards.
After a few moments of riding on a suitably loaded kite Flysurfer Sonic 11, Leguan arrives and shows his brand new Flysurfer Speed5 12m. We spread the kites side by side on the grass.
Width of the canopy is almost the same; the only difference is just the smaller profile depth and thickness of the leading edge. However, this difference is not that noticeable as for Speed4 or 3.
In total, the shape of Speed5 is much closer to Sonic at a glance. An interesting finding is that while Sonic is reinforced by the plastic strings on the entire leading edge, reinforcing for Speed5 is just from the leading edge and strengthen the upper part of the kite profile.
Firstly, we are shredding what we are get used to, but then we are curiously changing the kites. Speed seems to me a little bit softer in a canopy, so even a gusts of wind absorbs somehow flexibly, unlike Sonic, where it is necessary to correct it by gentle movements on the depower.
Speed5 pleasantly surprises me even during the ride or jumps, cause there is no need to even think about the control and it from the force of habit almost mindlessly. Instead Sonic (especially for the fist ride) needed a little bit more “getting used to” within the manipulation with bar. Sonic has the ability to efficiently go through the wind window only due to bar. It means that you need just to set the direction and the angle of the lines relative to the ground and then simply release for extra riser or pull for reversing deeper into the power zone to gain a proper speed.
As Speed5 has smaller backstalling effect , so it is possible to have for the whole jump the bar close to your body, do not worry about anything and simply enjoy the hangtime in the air. In contrast, Sonic needs releasing a little bit in order to get a second wind instead of rapid landing.
So we both had to get used to the kites, but the airs on both kites were pretty massive. It sometimes happened to me, that right before landing; I released the Speed5 and let him fly out of the power zone. Vasek occasionally held the power of Sonic too much and missed the opportunity. According to this, both kites have their specifics as stated above.
Anyway we both agreed that we could have imagined all two Flysurfer top kites as our main kites. Finally we encouraged ourselves and we have walloped longboarders. At the end we also did some synchro jumps. See attached photos and feel free to ask about comparison or other stuff…
