REO V5 - Wave Kite Review - Is this the Fly Weights Dream for Wave Riding

REO V5 7m Wave Kite - Review

Ok so i was interested to try the latest Wave kites out and so I popped into Action Sports where they stock. Slingshot, Duotone, Ozone and Core Kites. So I have road tested the SST, Nexus, NEO and last on that stacked list of the who's who in wave kite is the REO V5

About me- I have a Dad bod around 95kg and still hate long walks on the beach. I ride Perth year round and outa town for last 10 years mostly on surfboards unstrapped and can go upwind drunk.
So kindly Action Sports lend me the 7m REO V5 Demo (At this point they are wondering is this kook ever going to buy something from us or will he win the ultimate TYRE Kicker Award for 2019

Wind Conditions are 16-17kn should prob be on a 8m but quite often fly smaller kites on downwinders. Note - I had REOs V4s a few years back for a season.

The Pump up -
You really notice the high visibility colour might be a tad to much road worker orange for my liking but hey who cares. I have seen the Black V5 and it looks slick. Really the one thing I always loved about Ozone is the minimalist construction with just what it needs and nothing else. Neat stitching and reinforcements on a super light canopy. One pump, One fast pump n dump valve. Neat short bridles with no pulleys. I like this philosophy in a kite its a bit like surfing you have as less gear as possible.

Barred UP-
OK there's no Click bar or NASA like gadgets going on. But I like this again its a minimal stick with 4 lines. The bar build is market leading in my opinion but I am not a techie guy I like clean effective and simple.(you may have your own thoughts on this). I personally love the 80s style tennis grip on the bar. Its fat and grippy just the way yo.oh wait no mum jokes on here sorry. The deposed is smooth in operation making it easy to adjust on the fly. Soft ends are perfect so you won't stab yourself in the eye throwing a Reo or ding your board. The quick release is a great design although maybe a tad bulky and heavy compared to some. But this is getting to fussy at this point.

Hows She FLY??
I really think Ozone have always had the best flying kites as in they are true wing designers from a long lineage of building wings and kites. Flying it straight away I was like yup its a REO they have kept their kites very similar over the years and I really like this.(because nothing grates me more than loving a kite and then some nit wit designer decides to change it from an apple to a banana and then wants to wang on about it like its the best kite in the world. ) Its easy to just love the way the REO flies.effortless fast snappy and smooth.

How does this stack up in the Wave Kiting world.lets get into it.

Straight away I notice its down on power from previous versions so I would have to ride a size up at least. Its the old speed versus power face off. For me being the beefcake I am I would like some more grunt.BUT if I was a size 8 or a human between 40-70KG in the light weight category.I am thinking this kite would allow me to kite very high in the wind range. SO on the wave I found myself having to fly this kite allot to find power.
The one thing that I think it does better than any other kite is when coming off the top I could swing my trunk and upper body through my turn with no pull anywhere. (Now that's a great feeling).
Typical of the REO it flies forward in the window( See Image attached from Ozone website) so it requires you to fly ahead of yourself a bit more and plan your assault. This would ideally suit a down the line wave with cross cross off conditions like One Eye and other reef passes. My gut feeling is they have tested this kite allot at One Eye and it seems to suit a more down the line groomed lineup where you can have more surfing style less kiting. Unfortunately this isn't the reality for 90% of the time we are in variable conditions lacking either wave or wind power at times. Look if you are going to go a REO just get bigger sizes its not an issue.

DRIFT- it drifts sufficiently but not as good as drifter as the SST/Nexus. Because it is flying forward and less straight down the line it requires some input or looping at times if you are racing towards it. Again timing is required its less set and forget. (I know there will be protests about my comments on drift.and not surprising three is a whole world of REO lovers out there with good reason when you get to know its style you wouldn't want anything else..its sexy and petite like French person that's not male.)
Ryland who is a freak rides this kite un hooked 95% of the time.and destroys waves like a beast. I can see it would suit un hooking but because its a dying art.I didn't bother trying for myself.

Upwind It does the job just fine.its not quite as up wind aggressive as previous years just due to less power in the throw. But again bigger kite with good technique its just fine.

What's there to complain about ???
For me its just the lack of power.but for a fly weight this is a gift no longer will you be over powered at over 20knots all the time. So really fly a size up if you are a Dad bod size like me.

Whats to LOVE- Its an OZONE and its the Light Weight KING

Drift 8/10
Construction 9.5/10
Upwind 8.5/10
Responsiveness 9/10
Turning on Wave 9/10
Ease of use 9/10
Low End 7/10
High Wind Range9/10
Will it get you laid 6?10

Conclusion- I am impressed but not surprised as I already expected a fantastic kite. The Ozone REO doesn't disappoint. Its the kite I imagine I want dropping into a long wall at Gnarloo when I just want to ride my surfboard and not feel like I am kiting. I would love to hear from some REO lovers about what you like about REOs.

Look everyone always asks me..Whats the best kite?? THERE IS NO BEST KITE. Of course if you are the dealer of a particular kite you will claim on your mothers grave that its the best EVER every year (Love you Steve).

I tend to see it in increments of bees doodles its really that close these days. But I think when you find the kite that moulds to you that's freakin cool.
Honestly the best way to do that is to go grab a demo for yourself and be open to trying new things.lets face it if you are married you don't have that opp anymore.luckily with kites you can be a slut and no will judge you.just make sure you hide new purchases well.
I will do a back to back shootout review of the SST, REO, NEO, Nexus soon. Hope my long winded garble has helped you pass another 20mins at work or avoiding the gardening. Keep the dream alive.wind is never far away.
Disclaimer- Before any of the Peanuts on here start on about sales and bla bla bla. I choose to support local businesses that have been positive advocates for the kite community. AND YOU SHOULD TOO these guys have been doing it tough in the retail space so I won't apologise for giving our retailers props. Thanks DM and the team at Action Sports for loaning your gear to us to try. Oh and sorry for the ding on the nose of that board #kooklife

Select to expand quote

vendeavours said..
Nice review A I am -80 kg and normally ride 21 Lt boards cut off nose 5'2" and 5'6" wave shape Note if lucky to have any new wave kite your a winner But for my conditions in Melbourne and trips to One Eye and INDO I prefer Reo V4 or 5V due to its high end Note it's rare I do down winders and above wind stated I be on 10 to 12 m And have no issues going up wind and never hafts loop the kite down the line waves I ride a lot with Duotone team rider on Neo and I normally one size up on him Yes it would be nice to have a better low end but prefer to have high end

Awsome ...yeh you cant have everything from a wave kite..looks like you got it sussed for your size..I have to agree having high wind range is nice...I havnt had a chance to try a bigger size yet...I would like to compare the 9s as well as a 7m to 9m can be very different across the brands.

Select to expand quote

AndreC said..
REO V5 7m Wave Kite - Review

DRIFT- it drifts sufficiently but not as good as drifter as the SST/Nexus. Because it is flying forward and less straight down the line it requires some input or looping at times if you are racing towards it. Again timing is required its less set and forget. (I know there will be protests about my comments on drift.and not surprising three is a whole world of REO lovers out there with good reason when you get to know its style you wouldn't want anything else..its sexy and petite like French person that's not male.)

JIC .. A quote from Terry McT (or Steve or...) of Ozone importer fame..
"The V5 is definitely smoother and more stable, and the onshore and offshore settings make a huge difference."
referring to the drift - you may have had the offshore settings???

I did a quick back2back A/R Wave 8m to the V5 8m. On an old power hungry surfboard in 16-20knots. The V5 had way less bottom end felt like it had been made quieter in its handling to make it more comparable to the bigger kites in the range. I found the power strokes in the lulls very soft, need more time to get dialed in for down loops etc to be smooth I liked it. Some days I really like having a power machine and other days I don't want to get yanked around that much.. But I do hate bigger waves and not enough wind / power..

Thanks for reviews...
Cheers AP

Think they come in the offshore setting out of the bag. I'm guessing that's what you had it in? They definetly improve in onshore setting when on onshore waves. My local gets both on and cross/off so I play around a bit with my settings. Couldn't agree with you more about the loss of low end.
I noticed aswell, that I could fly my v4 6m on a big bar with no issues but my v5 6m only on the small bar. It's a much faster kite and the big bar was overkill.

Thanks for the laughes throughout your review mate. Good read while drinking my morning coffee.

Select to expand quote

smook said..

Adam''KiteRepair said..
Think they come in the offshore setting out of the bag. I'm guessing that's what you had it in? They definetly improve in onshore setting when on onshore waves. My local gets both on and cross/off so I play around a bit with my settings. Couldn't agree with you more about the loss of low end.
I noticed aswell, that I could fly my v4 6m on a big bar with no issues but my v5 6m only on the small bar. It's a much faster kite and the big bar was overkill.

Thanks for the laughes throughout your review mate. Good read while drinking my morning coffee.

I have not noticed any less low end in V5 to previous models But mainly use 10 and 12 m and prefer to be lit Adam you mean your morning reefer Ha ha

Haha, yea, IV only tested 6m v4 back to back (2 weeks apart) with my v5. I tend to rely on my board more than my kite so yes,I'm always pretty underpowered. At 72kg I getlit pretty easy

Select to expand quote

AquaPlow said..

AndreC said..
REO V5 7m Wave Kite - Review

DRIFT- it drifts sufficiently but not as good as drifter as the SST/Nexus. Because it is flying forward and less straight down the line it requires some input or looping at times if you are racing towards it. Again timing is required its less set and forget. (I know there will be protests about my comments on drift.and not surprising three is a whole world of REO lovers out there with good reason when you get to know its style you wouldn't want anything else..its sexy and petite like French person that's not male.)

JIC .. A quote from Terry McT (or Steve or...) of Ozone importer fame..
"The V5 is definitely smoother and more stable, and the onshore and offshore settings make a huge difference."
referring to the drift - you may have had the offshore settings???

I did a quick back2back A/R Wave 8m to the V5 8m. On an old power hungry surfboard in 16-20knots. The V5 had way less bottom end felt like it had been made quieter in its handling to make it more comparable to the bigger kites in the range. I found the power strokes in the lulls very soft, need more time to get dialed in for down loops etc to be smooth I liked it. Some days I really like having a power machine and other days I don't want to get yanked around that much.. But I do hate bigger waves and not enough wind / power..

Thanks for reviews...
Cheers AP

Ye I agree AP well summed up...The old Airush Wave had issues with intermittent power but again lighter guys were ok with it. Interesting that for the V5 they chose this power drop. I guess that was a thing for me is when there is a increased focus on the kite flying it naturally can take away from the board riding. The beautiful power and sting that the V3/V4 had is missing but yes its a smoother kite as a consequence. I would imagine that Ozone will tweak this next year. (Why fix what aint broke from the V4)

Select to expand quote

Sik shots!!! Making the internet envious...for me I hate riding anything over 9 or 10M. But I would like to try the 9M ozone and test speed/power on it.

vendeavours said..
Nice review A I am -80 kg and normally ride 21 Lt boards cut off nose 5'2" and 5'6" wave shape Note if lucky to have any new wave kite your a winner But for my conditions in Melbourne and trips to One Eye and INDO I prefer Reo V4 or 5V due to its high end Note it's rare I do down winders and above wind stated I be on 10 to 12 m And have no issues going up wind and never have to do loops with kite down the line waves I ride a lot with Duotone team rider on Neo and I normally one size up on him Yes it would be nice to have a better low end but prefer to have high end Even when I did downwinders at Scarborough I still used powered up kite size so I can stay in a spot and power up wind to stay there Pic with V5 INDO last year 12 m V5 and 21lt Board

Select to expand quote

AndreC said..
REO V5 7m Wave Kite - Review

Ok so i was interested to try the latest Wave kites out and so I popped into Action Sports where they stock. Slingshot, Duotone, Ozone and Core Kites. So I have road tested the SST, Nexus, NEO and last on that stacked list of the who's who in wave kite is the REO V5

About me- I have a Dad bod around 95kg and still hate long walks on the beach. I ride Perth year round and outa town for last 10 years mostly on surfboards unstrapped and can go upwind drunk.
So kindly Action Sports lend me the 7m REO V5 Demo (At this point they are wondering is this kook ever going to buy something from us or will he win the ultimate TYRE Kicker Award for 2019

Wind Conditions are 16-17kn should prob be on a 8m but quite often fly smaller kites on downwinders. Note - I had REOs V4s a few years back for a season.

Hi Andre
I loves youse too! Hey this is getting a bit silly this Reo's are underpowered thing. You were out in winds way under what is recommended for a rider your weight, so the kite is obviously going to feel underpowered. I think you said that BUT I want to EMPHASISE you were way underpowered. My quiver is 6/8/10/12 and I need 18-20 for my 8m to be happy and I weigh only 75kg.
Reo's are not underpowered or smaller than most other brands wave kites, but compared to the Neo which is physically bigger than a Reo, it will feel smaller or "less powerful"!

AND you did not seem to notice or know about the front bridle adjust for onshore and offshore conditions? From your description of how the kite was flying I'm sure it was set in the offshore setting, but you were riding in cross onshore. Makes a big difference to where the kite sits, if I accidentally forget to adjust my kite before I go out and its in the wrong setting I can feel it and will come in and change, but it will fly ok in the offshore setting in onshore winds but the kite will tend to be forward of where you'd like it to be.

Thats all, over and out.

thanks for the review, spot on from my use of the V3 & V4 7 & 10m reos.

I find the 7m is a weapon for WA wind and waves, and is the most used kite by far for me this season.

I was a bit disappointed with the 10m drift in the lower wind ranges and I found out early that you need to fly it a lot more in the low onshore wind conditions. Seems to get better when the wind is mid to high range for the kite.

Select to expand quote

Ozone Kites Aus said..

AndreC said..
Let me re phrase then it was the least powerful kite out of the bunch so a size up would help. It was also less power than previous REO V3,V4. I did a whole season the REO too so I am familiar with the kite. In the end it scored the highest so you can sleep well young Stevie...luurv u m8 xx

You have to test it again with the front bridle adjust to onshore, makes a big difference.

Plus one on that. 100kg and love my V5s

I have the 9m v5. It's a great kite, never pulls my harness violently and excellent drift, but also feels slightly underpowered. I should have gotten the 10m as I now have a large gap with my 12m (another brand) .
Wondering whether getting a 10m as well is worth it or not??

Couple shop owners are probably wondering why they are getting asked now all the time if the reo is a girly kite with no powaa Cheers Andre A new way to tease my reo friends

Select to expand quote

exal said..
Couple shop owners are probably wondering why they are getting asked now all the time if the reo is a girly kite with no powaa Cheers Andre A new way to tease my reo friends

Slightly concerned there's some truth in that

Apparently the Neo has more powah

I currently have 10m v3, and 8m v4 reos.

So, with all this talk of the v5 being undpowered, would it be safe to say if I replace my 10m with a v5 its not going to give me much more low end than the 8m v4? Which then leads me to think, maybe I should only update the 10 to a v4

Select to expand quote

AndreC said..
Yes the ozone riders are feircly loyal (wee bit sensitive could be a height thing (Steve) and for good reason it's been one of the best kites for a long time. my take on it was in specific conditions to my weight I would need to go up a size or compared to Neo/nexus/sst but these are all grunty kites. If I lived in Gero or Cape Town it would be my pick for high wind. Or if I was in the 55-80kg bracket I would like how light and fast it is. Having a few more beef burgers ?? under my belt I have always liked kites with low end grunt. The V3 V4 had more power. But put it into context no one has said it's a bad kite. So suck it up Ozone princesses #Steve lol)
I would also suggest try a few kites out and try to be objective it's healthy for your riding.

Hi Andre

Many people are brand loyal across all sorts of things, so what? I'd say most of the aggro on here towards Ozone comes from people who are not being honest about their relationship to their favourite brand or they are posting completely anonymously, with the mission to discredit any brand thats not "theirs". This crap has been going on here for years, decades even.

As for me I've always been this height since I was 15 or so, I'm pretty used to it and completely happy with my height too, and at least I don't take up as much space as some of you FC's or TC's!

The story of the Reo being underpowered goes back to the very first versions, they were physically smaller than most other kites on the market, so when a 2012 Reo said 8m on the side of the kite it was actually more like a 7m compared to other wave kites.
But from V2 onwards, Ozone made them physically bigger and comparable in size to most other kites, since V3 they are physically very similar in size and power to all other wave kites on the market.
Remember I ride Reo's all the time and have been on them since the very first ones, and I've ridden many other brands of wave kites too, especially SS Core, LF (and best when they were around )and Cab because my shop sells them.

The fact is that the Reo V3/V4/V5 are virtually identical in canopy size and there is no power difference to speak of, between the V3/V4 and the V5.

Fair Call Eppo.

What made me laugh is Andre is a solid 95 Kegs riding a 7m in 16-17 knots, I'm 88-90 kgs and i'd struggle downwind on my 9m Naish Slash in those conditions and it has a lot more power than the Reo.

I haven't seen you kite Andre but you must be bloody good to fly a 7m in 16-17 knots on a surfboard @ a solid 95 Kegs???