Just an Aluula review from Adams Kite Loft.
Its hard to fault being bladderless and stiff, let's hope other brands follow suit.
While I like the idea of bladder less does anyone have any idea of how burst resistant the fabric is and if it is punctured or bursts how would you go about fixing it
Hey guys, the kite is not bladderless. I was mearly trying to explain what the fabric looks like. ALUULA is a completley water tight fabric but it is sewn similar to traditional kites, so not bladderless as water could get in through sewn edges and seems.The bladder is made from Aluula too though and alot lightet than typical bladders.
Thanks for the update Adam, is the Aluula material under a patent, could other companies use Aluula.
Why is the material more expensive than the current Dacron. - is the raw material more expensive, manufacturing process or other reasons.
Aluula is a seperate company and not related to Ocean rodeo. In recent interviews with Ralf Groesl from Duotone, he talks about new weight saving fabrics that they are developing with so I expect we'll see other companies with Aluula or similar fabrics in the next couple of years. Ocean Rodeo just seem to be ahead of the game
Like the review. All good. Looking forward to trying one myself. I particularly like the example of adding a 2kg weight to my existing surf kite and comparing the performance.
A bit of a moot point. He says at 9:30 that the 10m Roam is not the super gruntiest 10m kite and if TT riders were on 17m kites then he would be up and foiling with a range up to 25knots.
I can do that already with a cheap LEI.
Yes I would like the relaunch in 3 knots. Yes I would like the fast turning. Yes an Aluula kite is sounding more attractive than a lightweight foil kite for light winds.
I am still looking for the "killer app" that makes it worth moving from $1000-1500 kites to $3000-4000 kites.
As an aside, I view kites as consumable items. Use them. Be prepared to accept any abuse they experience. Wear them out, Buy a new one. I would happily discard my kite if I needed to in an emergency. I would be sad if it was a $3000 kite.
Good point gorgo.
at 3000 a kite, I would need house, car and kite insurance.
my wife would want a new car worth more than my kites.
And I d sweat like a drug dealer at airport baggage check in!
I see it as an absolute advantage in strong winds rather than just light. A stiffer LE is much preferable in high wind to keep the kite performing as its intended.
I've had the good fortune to be able to fly this kite 3 times before I reluctantly gave it back to Nigel yesterday. The 10M Aluula Roam on demo through Nigel and that Adam was discussing in his review video does not have Aluula bladders, but the full production kites will, and will be even lighter as a consequence!
There's a couple of posts from me in the other thread in the General section, one from a very low wind test and then after I did a downwinder in what I'd say would be the practical bottom end of the kite when riding a surfboard which was approx 15-16 knots. What was impressive in that session is that everyone else was on larger kites up to 7M larger and yet I could stay upwind and ride comfortably just by working the kite a bit.
But then I had a third session on Saturday in winds that were smack on its wind range for me at 75kg which was about 20 to 23-25 knots. The bar pressure increased with the wind but was still in the light to medium range and the kite felt very stable and was extremely easy to adapt to.
I can remember riding through some sections that connected nicely and I had to keep the kite driving forward and down but did so without looking at it once which was impressive after only flying the Aluula Roam for only 90 mins or so previously.
Yesterday I did another longer downwinder in even windier conditions and rode an 8m Reo, and Reos are the kites I use 80+% of my sessions. Didn't notice any performance differences that I can describe here, but comparing an 8 to a 10 is not quite fair other than to say that the Roam 10 turned about the same speed as my 8m.
One thing that hangs in my mind even now is the lightness, responsiveness and drift. I still had a great session on my Reo 8m and could not fault it as a performance wave kite although I think I've ridden something better and now I've never had that feeling before as far as I can remember.
Thinking about it further last night and this morning Aluula fabric is a laminate with a woven cloth core and it seems to be completely airtight and sealed. The fibres in the cloth cannot move around each other as they do in normal dacron used in kites which makes for a much more torsionally stiff frame once the tubes are inflated.
I think this is why dacron kites have a "new feel" and lose it over time as the dacron softens with use and the fibres and threads are able to move more and absorb inputs from the kiter.
Thanks Steve for clarifying that
I think there is a lot of confusion with this new product as people are using the word Aluula for several products.
From the interview below it appears the Aluula company are working on a product to replace bladders but it is a different product than what they are making there leading edges from
Thats what I thought when I first saw the Aluula gold Roam that I tested, but its not Cuben fibre. Cuben was actually quite heavy and could not be sewn (well not the way stinky Best did it).
This stuff is very different from what I can see at this stage.
Cuban fibre or Dyneema Composite Fabric as it is now know actually comes in several masses per square.
Starting at 17;4 grams per meter square up to 99 grams per square.
Not sure which grade was used by Best but there marketing of the Hellfish did nearly destroy the company.
Good to see O.R. and Aluula trying to bring a new fabric to kiting I hope it works out better for them than it did for Best
zpacks.com/pages/materials
Does anyone know if Reece Myerscough will use a new Roam in the up coming Ponta Preta comp? Would be great to see how it performs against the other non-Aluula kites.
I have got to say..... I am surprised there are not better reviews out given the kite is in circulation and was available to ride.
The kitesurfmag one...
There is a test of a 10 meter which is described as the highest performing kite they have ever flown..... followed by it being "not the gruntiest 10 meter" they have used, and it needing 2 kts extra than a 12 meter naish boxer to get up on a foil..
I think that just about sums up peoples thoughts - everyone wanted to know the bottom end, and all we know is it's not the gruntiest kite, and a it's compared with a 12 boxer in low wind????
Sounds not that great after all.... I'm still baffled how a kite that weighs 50% less, could possibly produce less power than one the same size and heavier ...
Confused?