Hi guys, sorry if this has been asked before; I did a search but couldn't find anything.
I'm getting into kitesurfing and I am currently looking at buying my own equipment. I have found a fairly good deal on a kite but it has had two repairs done to it: one 5-cent hole in the canopy and one leading-trailing edge tear. What effect does this have on the performance of the kite? And since this implies that the kite has been pretty poorly treated, should I just be wary of potential other problems.
Cheers
The implication is unfair
Punctures happen
My first kite I repaired all the valves, flew it once and dumped it on the market with a warning
Dangerous
If the bloke who flew it was it good bloke you should be right every time
Tip: always buy from a good bloke / chick,
Who knows they might show you how to use it as well
Ok, I was more asking about its effect on performance though - especially the tear which goes from front to back.
Its from a shop (selling it for someone) so I'll just have to go and check it out.
Thanks
I tore my kite front to back when it was two weeks old. Awesome repair from hold the line, and it's still going strong two years later, loops and tomohawks to boot.
How it's torn and how it's repaired makes all the difference, mine had leading edge intact and tear was only about an inch from the strut
Thanks Nick, it looks it got the leading edge and went around the tube right between two struts. It does look like a fairly solid repair though. The problem is that the people selling it are ~1 hour from me so I don't really want to drive and find it's in pretty bad nick.
Depends on the quality of repair.
Now if your buying a repaired kite is woth about $200-300 less than the same excellent condition kite.
Personally I dont buy repaired kites. Its a good indication that the kite has had a hard time.
Performance won't be affected if it's a good repair, but it definitely drops the value. Anyone with any kite can tear a leading edge with a big smack after a mistake :'(
The ones to watch out for are the small/tiny repairs and scratches that indicates it has been in a Bush or on shells..
these lead to blown leading edges for no reason while just flying or lots of little pinhole leaks that are almost impossible to fix.
Hope that helps a bit
Yes it will be affected. - if its a very good repair it won be noticeable by you. If its a bad repair avoid - look at the sail cloth either side if its in any way twisted or taught in parts and slack in others it's worthless, same with the leading edge repair- good work should look as neat as manufacturer stitching. Albeit in a different place to what it would've been when originally designed
Select to expand quoteKajjit said...
[br]Hi guys, sorry if this has been asked before; I did a search but couldn't find anything.
I'm getting into kitesurfing and I am currently looking at buying my own equipment. I have found a fairly good deal on a kite but it has had two repairs done to it: one 5-cent hole in the canopy and one leading-trailing edge tear. What effect does this have on the performance of the kite? And since this implies that the kite has been pretty poorly treated, should I just be wary of potential other problems.
Cheers
tore my kite to shreds & paul from cape town repaiered it and it flew better than when it was new but.... but it does affect the performance of the kite..... my current kite was torn on the right panel leading edge to trailing edge with 1 panel change completely and has a bit of a twitch in strong winds, flys like a dream, u get used to the way the kite reacts in different winds
If it has been professionally repaired you shouldn't have a problem. Here in WA Neil from 'Hold The Line' does an amazing job. I wouldn't go anywhere else. However any repair will reduce the price. None of the repairs on my kites have affected the way the kite flies.
Agreed thorn, anything done by neil you can be assured the kite is fine. If it is a repair that will affect its performance he will be the first to tell you. For many years now I have not gone anywhere else, his work is just too good to consider another option.
So in WA ask, has neil done the repair. If so, you will be fine.
Ok, thanks for that guys. I'm probably not going to risk it - I think it was an old school kite so it was probably beaten around quite a bit. I will however know where to go if I do end up damaging my kite :)
I know this is deviating from the original topic but does anyone have a link to a list of all beginner-style kites? I don't really need opinions (there's plenty of them elsewhere on the net I've found :S) just like, which ones I should be considering to buy.
Cheers
