First purchase

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fabian2 said...
[br]How does an Ozone Reo 2013 rate as a freeride kite? are there any disadvantages with using a wave kite for free ride and will they be significant enough to affect me as a begginer? apparently the easy relaunch comes in handy

I use my reo's for everything and love them, they are definitely at their best in the waves though. If you are heading towards wave riding then go for it, if you re looking more towards the free ride then get your hands on a catalyst. For me the 2013 reo's lack jumping ability but others may disagree.

Ive flown the 2013 Reo 12m a few times and for me at 95kg in gear it lacks low end majorly. Its a amazing kite don't get me wrong but not a great beginner kite as its very fast turning and your kite skills need to be good to keep it in the optimum area of the wind window. The times I rode it i was wave riding strapless and it was great for this but I suspect from the times i did edge hard that attempts to "load and pop" will only serve to push the kite to the edge of the window and stall so I really doubt it would be very usable as a free ride kite unless you are very lightweight.

In my opinion as someone who is a relative Newbie (who rides 50% strapless wave and 50% twin tip free ride) this kite is a excellent wave kite but really not good free ride characteristics. As a heavier rider and having demoed many kites I found the 2014 Naish Park the best all rounder which works for me in all situations. As a beginner i would certainly recommend any of the major brands "Do it all" kites as they tend to be very user friendly... in other words try and get your hands on any of the following; Ozone Catalyst, Cabrihna Switchblade, Best TS, North Rebel, Naish Park, Slingshot Rally or F-One Bandit from 2013/2014 ranges and your learning curve will be sooooooooooo much quicker.