Alright heres some of the Royal Kiteboarding gear.

The boards are Undergrounds with different graphics. I've been riding the 132 for a month now and it rocks. The sizes offered are 128, 132, 138.

More to come!

Here's the kite. It's a 10m with a one-pump system. Looks similar to the Hyper but higher aspect.

y dont my pics look like that?

Heres the lightwind 148 Royal

Had a session yesterday on the Royal Era 10m. The kites like a Hyper on steroids. I was barely powered on the thing and was able to kite upwind and crank some decent 10-15 foot jumps. A few times the wind picked up and I was able to get about 20. Hangtime is better than most bow kites and I can't wait to be lit on it and really send it. I did try a few kite loops and couldn't believe how powerful they were for such a small kite. The kites just so fast it makes up for its size with its speed.

Turning style of the kite is a hybrid that leans a little towards a bow kite. Theres no lag however in the turns compared to the hyper. The Era carries through enough power then accelerates like a bat outta hell.

I liked my Hyper 12m while I had it but it was lacking in a few areas. I'll be spending more time on the Era but so far its proven to be a much improved evolution of the hybrid design.

I'll have a more in depth review of it as soon as I get some more riding time on it in different conditions.
-Toast

pic of the kite

Looks pretty nice - have always been a big fan of the RRD hypers. Noticed that the pulley looks like it is sewn onto the kite - wondering if that is a good design in case the pulley breaks. Bar looks a bit like the North 5th E. Does it have a stopper?

After riding a 9/12/15 hyper for almost a year, the weak points seem to be:

bridal lines wear out too quickly
No stopper on the bar
some leaky issues with the one pump
Not the most stable kite at 12:00 or if the bar is sheeted out.

Would be interested in hearing how Simone addressed these issues with the new brand?

Hyper Type on steroids? Sounds impressive. I have a 12M & !5M HT and still love them after trying pretty much every other 07' kite on the market. I hope the larger Royal's still have the low end of the 15HT. I weigh about 195lbs and still find myself the only guy riding when the wind is light. The 12M HT has insane low end too. I actually sold the 9M HT as it really doesn't hold up in winds over 35mph. It just tweaks out and i know i'm not the only one to discover this.

The Royal bar does look a lot like the 06' north bar with the micro loop. Not sure if that's a good thing. Can anyone comment further on the bar? I think a much better solution is the sliding stopper ball like on the best 07' bar. I've added that upgrade kit to my HT bar and bought another complete 07' Best bar. I much prefer that system to the micro loop on the North style bar as that system.The other adavantage of a stopper ball over a micro loop is that you can fine tune where you want to power.

Seems like the concenus on improving the HT's would be what Nukin and Toast mention plus a couple other things;
Bridal lines wear out too quickly.
No stopper on the bar.
Some leaky issues with the one pump.
Not the most stable kite at 12:00 or if the bar is sheeted out.
No clips on the strut one pump tubes.
Kites tend to loose power through the turn (although that is not as big an issue if you use a stopper ball)
Good jumping kites but still could be better (these kites seem to be higher aspect so maybe jumping will be improved)
Why not do a release valve on the leading edge too like on the Flexi kites? Makes it a lot quicker to break down especially with one pump kites.


Curious to hear about what sizes they'll be doing and the low end on all kites. I need an 8M or 9M. Would the 10M take care of those sizes? Curious.


One final comment. The graphics look really cool!Looking forward to getting demo kite up here soon!

PS Can you post a pic of the foot straps for the boards? Also Will they take the liquid force foot straps?

Thanks!

well, I could tell you about the bar, although i know nothing about it other than what i saw. its nice looking, white, its seems strong and well built. anyone can use it but its obviously not toast resistant.

hmmm

Dam! I hate it when that happens! As stable as the Cabrinha's with all the benefits of the Ht's? Gonna have to sell my 12M & 15M Ht now! Any takers?

Good to hear the bar isn't a final. That micro loop thing kinda bites. Hope they do a stopper.

Foot straps on the boards? Pappa D, can you post a pic?

The boards came with Underground pads and straps but I'm sure they have something in the works.
Mr. Bowers?

Rode this kite today in super gusty offshore winds. Nothing jumps like this kite, it's insane. Not a good day to test the stability but it felt good.

Nick or Toast or Codpiece

1.) What is the relationship between Royals and RRD's?

2.) I have an HT 12 and 15 and was thinking about getting a HT 9 at one point. How are they sizing the Royal? What would be the equivalent of a 9.


Good photos, whoever took those.

-Tubbs

Tubbs, Simone used to design kites for RRD but now works for Royal.
I'm not sure if its "his" brand or not but I know that he has more
freedom to design kites now that hes on his own.

The 10m Era is pretty damn powerful for its size but it doesn't have quite
the power of the 12m hyper. A 10m and 14m would be about all you
would need unless there was a Hurricane ripping through.

Had the 10m out yesterday in some of the gustiest conditions I've ever
ridden in. It took quite a bit of effort to ride since it was blowing 10-30
but the kite performed flawlessly. I did get thrown around a bunch but
still managed to have a good time. The kite is just sick at jumping. If I
managed to time it right with a gust I would shoot up 30 feet then just
hover for a good few seconds before the gust ended and dropped me.



-Toast

What about light wind, do ya think the 14 will have the low end of a Hyper 15??? Is the 14 going to be the biggest Royal? I need a light wind kite. I just sold my Atoms and am thinking about what to go for next? Right now my quiver consists of a 9m Atom and some old Strikes
hhhmmmmm what to do...what to do

If the 14m is anything like the 10m you won't need anything bigger than
that. -Toast

OK so here are some things I really like about the Hypers - how does the Royal Compare -

Nice, light bar pressure. You can use the hyper for 3-4 hours with no tennis elbow pain in the forearms. The bar pressure is light enough to keep the bar pulled in all the way but you can still maintain a feel for where the kite is at all times.

Great low end. Throughout the range, the hyper's allow you to use a kite 1-2 sizes smaller than everyone else on the water. I have been on my 9m when other riders were on 13M waroo's and 14-16 Cabs. The hyper's also give you great range before you have to pull the depower strap. I have a 15, but I think most people could use a 12 as their biggest kite as long as they have a good size twin tip.

Super fast turning. The 12 & 15 can be looped real fast on their axis or you can also slow things way down and do a slow loop or backroll kiteloop and still make it around. The 9 and 12 are fast enough to get the kite out of a bad posiiton with just a flick of the bar.

One bar fits all. Same size bar for all kites in the range. The RRD bar has the ability to change sizes. This eliminates the need for multiple bars.

Float - have yet to have too many hard landings on the hyper. The kite seems to give you that extra second of hangtime when you redirect the kite for the landing. Smooth is the only way I can describe it.

Awesome graphics (black), great bag.

Sounds like 6/10/14 would be the bomb quiver. In regards to Tubby's post - I have heard that RRD will come out with a hyper 2, wondering what are the major changes?

Bar pressure is about the same. I didn't really notice it while I was riding but I could still feel where the kite was.

The lowend on this kite is insane even compared to the hyper 12m. It takes a bit of finesse to get all it has to offer but anyone used to the hyper will quickly figure it out.

Turning speed is good, haven't really had it in nice consistent wind though to get a good feel for it. I've been on the type8's lately and this didn't feel too far off.

We don't have the final bar yet... should be here pretty soon though.

The Kite def has excellent hangtime. Even in the gusty winds yesterday I was able to get lofted but still come down softly even after it lulled while I was 10-20 foot up.

The Hyper 2 looks much like the Era 10m. I know though that the Royal stuff will be cheaper than the RRD.
Here are some of the 08 pics of the RRD stuff-








-Toast

...more comments from the peanut gallery here...

my guess is that the Hyper Type II's where done after Simone left RRD. They already look a lot less cool, as though someone changed the design (i.e graphics)just to change them but made it look worse. Is it just me or does the Era look a ton cooler?

When is the shop getting the 14M and other sizes? It'd be sweet to have just a 10M & 14M.

I love my HT's and don't really wanna sell them but i'd still rather sell them while they have relatively good value in them.

Re: footstraps. The new Underground straps look nice. Anyone tried them yet?