thinking about replacing my old and bagged 4.5M 2022 Cab Mantis Looking at the heavily discounted offerigns on MacKite. I've played with some other wings and the Mantis has been a great budget wing for me with that nice tight cannopy that really suits my riding style. I do alot of tacks and upwind manuvers and having a tight canopy is really important.
The 2022 Mantis is still available - for slightly more than i bought it for 2 years ago somehow!
Other wings sub $500. Are they any good or is the Mantis still the king of the poor peoples wings?
-Ensis Watersports Wing v2
-2022 North Nova
-Freedom Session(Freedom isn't really a wing/kite brand so i assume these are a joke)
-A few different slingshot wings(looking at vids these have some loose baggy canopy so thats out i guess)
-Other Cab offerigns (vision, etc)
-Airush Freewing Air v2
-Naish Matadors (Baggy floppy Garbage)
-Eleveight WFS (doesn't look like anything special)
The Mantis is going to be hard to beat at that price. You might look into the Dakine Cyclone too. I believe it's the same as the 2022 Mantis (double check that) and you might find it cheaper.
the v3 Takoon wing is only slightly above that price and I bet it's a better wing than the Mantis. The Takoon v2 wing was a really good wing for the price but I'd buy the 2022 Mantis over the v2. I think I'd buy the Takoon v3 over the 2022 Mantis though.
the Vision is more of a beginner wing and it doesn't have the performance of the Mantis. I found it unstable, sticky through upwind maneuvers and really didn't like it. Personally wouldn't consider any of the other options you mentioned over the Mantis, but other than seeing them on the beach/water, I don't have a lot of experience with any of them.
Gong are selling 2023 Neutra and Droid at a discount right now, I have had 4.5/5.5 UPE (dyneema airframe) Neutra for about a year and they are still going strong. Really happy with them, they go upwind great and flag nicely. Also stiff enough to get floaty jumps for my 210lbs even after a full season of use. Hot tip: if you order more than one, order separately so you don't exceed $800 customs value per shipment. Over that they'll ding you for import duty, under that they don't. Also, the prices you see on the website include EU VAT, ordering from the US is cheaper but you can't see the price until you define your shipment location.
Select to expand quoteVelocicraptor said..
The Mantis is going to be hard to beat at that price. You might look into the Dakine Cyclone too. I believe it's the same as the 2022 Mantis (double check that) and you might find it cheaper.
the v3 Takoon wing is only slightly above that price and I bet it's a better wing than the Mantis. The Takoon v2 wing was a really good wing for the price but I'd buy the 2022 Mantis over the v2. I think I'd buy the Takoon v3 over the 2022 Mantis though.
the Vision is more of a beginner wing and it doesn't have the performance of the Mantis. I found it unstable, sticky through upwind maneuvers and really didn't like it. Personally wouldn't consider any of the other options you mentioned over the Mantis, but other than seeing them on the beach/water, I don't have a lot of experience with any of them.
Yeah, I was browsing some vids and saw some promo footage of the slingshot stuff floggingin and it just looked tragic. I find myself fast forwarding through promo footage and going frame by frame on 3 seconds of footage of a wing flagging out to see what it luffs like!
Duotone v3 are going pretty cheap and has good canopy material. But probably a little bit above 500:- if not on sale
You can try this place: adventurekiteboarding.com/products/2023-cabrinha-mantis-v3-wing?variant=44512412008752
