When I started riding at about 6:45 pm, it was very light wind. So light, that Jonathan wasn't even interested in trying the kite. He has been wanting to try the 15m, so I was surprised. So light, that the kite wanted to just fall out of the sky if I walked toward it at a very casual speed. (please don't read in to that... there was ZIP for wind).

Also, if you look closely at the "conditions" photo I took just prior to riding, you will struggle to see nipples on the water or any real wind generated texture. The wind was dead on shore and had holes too. At least I had a Glide.

By comparison, the night I hopped on the RRD Hyper 15m it was solid 10 knots up to 13 according to Rob's wind meter.

I would say tonight was solid 8 to 11. So, pretty lame. I took a wind reading when I stopped riding. It seemed most breezy at the end, my meter read 9-11 mph. So about 10 knots.

The good news is that the kite felt good in 10 knots or when I got a backwash from the water running back off the beach returning to the sea. I was going upwind (barely) and the kite was turning and performing well (for this much wind). I was not sining the kite.

I know this is a pretty limited piece of information, but it is something.

I rode til sunset (waiting for it to "fill in" ) and took some pics when done.

Hopefully we will have a day of solid 13 to 18 to compare the 15m kites we have in the shop back to back and get a better feel. I can't wait for that day.

The Atom is definitely a very stable kite, in terms of hindenberghing or back-stalling, even in light winds. It did neither.

These 11 knot impressions are getting old. But, I want to put something out there and let you guys know I am excited to hop on these kites and am chomping at the bit. Sorry there hasn't been more wind lately.

2 more

dude use glowsticks so we can see it. I'd say I'm up for some nightkiting tomorrow but that depends on if I have any kites to test!
Toast

I like the conditions when the sun was out.

word

Toast,

You wanna ride a 15m Atom today?

So we tried to ride... The wind didn't quite cooperate so I'll just stick to our opinions and thoughts about potential of the kite.
I'll go by the good ol school grade system here and break it down from there.

Kite- B+ for the conditions
Good choice for beginner-intermediate
Good speed, Tough, Predictable/Stable.

We flew it against a 16m TorchII and well it didn't impress either Ty or I that much. Yes theres massive depower and range but what does that do for us when we're looking for a light wind kite. I would go into more detail but there really wasn't enough for me to make a judgement. I really can't say on upwind and jumping since we weren't able to really try. A comparison back to back with the Hyper would help too

+Simple external single point system.
+Light bar pressure.
+Not Overly fast. I'd expand but I need some time on similar bows. Had
+The kite is built extremely well
+Depower ability is there for sure- 12-20+ (varies for rider weight and board choice as well as experience level)
-Bit heavy felt like it had to build momentum before generating pull
-Needed another knot on the rear pigtails.
-Turning speed was directly dependant on how the kite was sheeted

Bar- C and on probation until reworked
Both Ty and I found this thing to be horrible. I think you could easily fix some of the issues and make it into a decent bar easily. Fixing the grip is set one. Some hockey tape over the cheese grator would make things much better. Followed by ditching the 5thline wannabe setup. I don't think ditching the lease setup is for everyone but with the depower setup on the kite I think suicide leashing it isn't such a bad idea. Aside from those issues its a good simple bar and I like simple. The line stays on the bar ends are awesome for keeping the lines wrapped up. The quality of the lines are very good as well as the fact that the bar that we were given had 20m lines with 5m extensions. An awesome combo that saves on buying 2 bars.

Overall Bar thoughts
+Good bar line stays
+Excellent line and hardware quality
-Crummy grip-ripped our hands apart after only a few mins and I've got some pretty worn and hard hands.
-leash attachment point- I could see it causing wear and possibly failing after moderate use. Suicide leashing may be a better idea with the bar.
-Hole too small for leash attachment line and chicken loop line to both slide through easily.


In conclusion, I doubt you'd be dissapointed with this kite. I would say its a great option for someone looking for their second kite or transitioning to the new bow kites. Had the feeling of a solid performance cruiser.

Toast

PS...Also an awesome kite to jump over (we do not condone beach jumping)

I almost forgot, yes this kite has a bridle but its very simple. Its nothing close to the spiderweb thats on the waroo or cabrinhas.

More pics

Nice pics and initial feelings. Every one has a different view and I value your guys and everyone's inputs. Having exchange on here is pretty cool. From great to average to new riders, all views are nice to hear.
Some guys love the bar and how it feels. Maybe you guys have soft hands? LOL....

The hole in the bar. Upgrade bar available. More in the future.
Sheeting line wearing out. Good point, upgrade to the PU covered line available. The green (depower/leash line). Wear on it is possible. Hooking to suicide sounds reasonable. Lets try it in some real wind and see how bad (if at all) we get worked.

Not alot of wind is true. I found that the Link 12m literally seemed to come alive at 12, 13 14 or so. It is pretty cool.
Maybe the Atom will light up in 11 knots? It hinted at that the night I stayed on it. It's hard for any kite to shine in crap wind, as you stated in your impressions.

I can't wait til we get a little wind around here. Maybe tomorrow?

I just talked to Billy Parker this morning about the 15m Atom while driving to St. Pete and he loves it. He got his at Surf Expo and has been on on it ever since. He had a day on it at Pass a Grille and also rode it on the East coast. The day at PaG started at 15 and went to 25. He held it no problem (depowered the kite).
He loves the kite. I hope to get his views in writing somewhere, the conversation was so good I wished it was taped or transcribed for a magazine. It was about the benefits of a hypbrid over a C the and the possible drawbacks, (very few), from a great riders perspective.
It was good stuff. It sounded like he was sold on the Atom for comps. and free riding and definitely for BX races. Not positive (98 percent sure) so I will wait for him to ride one in competition.

It's great to get perspective from him, Pat and other riders that are above and beyond most rider's level. You can learn lots.

You reading this Jonathan? Hop on that Atom when you get a chance with Toast and Ty. I want to hear what you think

Scott, I should have borrowed the kite for the weekend. Wind came on Sunday night. I figured it would with the system thats moving in. Had my 13 HIR riding fairly powered but just needed that lil bit more the whole time riding. Hopefully you guys up there caught it right before the sun went down. I'm gonna start carrying glowsticks with me so I can stretch another hour out of the session and get the FBI to come to the beach for the UFO show. If they ask its my atomic spaceship and thats why it glows green.

Catch ya guys later, Toast

I get out soon. It is blowing 14 or so

I hope you get some good wind tonight Scott! I wanna know more about the 15.
I have a 9m Atom arriving tomorrow and some decent wind forecasted for later in the week. I will start a new thread once I get out on it.

Jonathan and I rode it in 13-16 tonight with some lame a$$ current.
I am going to wait til I ride it back to back with a couple of other 15m hybrids and then compare notes with a few of the crew after they ride it before giving a review of the kite.

Right now I can say it has good low end and so far so good.
No worries. Also very stable, that's an easy one.

I just want to have more time, especially "back to back" time comparing it to other 15m hybrids, before making statements about turning speed and other performance characteristics. The current was so bad tonight that just coming back was an accomplishment
The bar seemed fine to me. I thought about it. Were you unhooked the whole time you guys were messin' with the kite, Toast?

If so, do you think that's why it was hard on you hands, maybe?
Any way, I didn't notice anything odd about the grip.

yea while we were flying it on the beach was mainly unhooked when I tried to ride I was hooked in. I just think the grips too aggressive. Felt like holding shards of glass but I think part of that was it was brand new too. My real concern was with the hole through the bar. I like my bar to travel easy and not wear the line so quickly.

13-16? geez tonight it was average'n close to 20 with some strong gusts around dusk at Granada. This is the second night in a row its come up at 4-430 and cranked right before dark. I was barely able to hold down my 13mHIR. I'm ready though to just get a 12m Hyper. After riding the rebel and realizing how much more fun it is to ride a hybrid I'm gettin frusterated. Plus after jumping like crazy on Maui I feel like I'm stuck to the water on my C kites. I'm sure I can't sky as high on the 12 but I know a 9m can take me close to 40feet if the winds right. I let my buddy Rob try out my FLX 128 and I think he'll be up to the shop shortly to pick one up. I'll hit you guys up tomorrow...hopefully you still have that white 12m Hyper

Toast

oh yeah and a shameless ad,

8m 10m 13m RRD HIRs all good condition, no leaks 2 bars...one heavily used and one brand new all for 900 obo

Has anyone tried moving the bridle attachment points to the other setting closer to the wingtips? It helps add a little low end to the Ion and faster turning. Maybe that will help some?

I did that with Toast the second I got my hands on it.
In hindsight, I wish I rode it last night rigged that way for awhile and then moved it back to it's original "setting" to get a feel for how it changed the kite's performance.

But, I wanted alot of people to ride it last night and I was silly and shared the kite!
Daryl rode it for awhile as well as Jonathan (who basically hogged it).
I rode it for about ten minutes right after hopping off of my 12m Contra Xbow.

We are definitely getting a better feel for the kite. The next step is to grab another 15m Hyper and put them back to back (waiting on one, we sold out of them quickly) with a Link and some others for a thorough compare/contrast review.