A friend is looking to buy a delta and was looking at the HQ kites... there seems to be a large range to suit all pockets -- but having been out of the scene for quite a few years, they are a manufacturer I know nothing about.
Does anyone have an opinion on them for a newbie? (that they'd like to share...) Or what would people recommend for a decent beginners cross-over (tricks+precision) kite at about £60-£80...
Cheers!
-Craig
Fractured Axel
Sport, Trick and Freestyle Kite Flying Forum
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- SteveC
- Posts: 762
- Joined:
- Location: Lincolnshire
Re: HQ Kites
HQ make good solid mid range, mid price kites aimed primarily at beginners and intermediate pilots - though they also make a few nice higher end kites too. They are cheap enough not to make the wife shout but good enough to teach you a lot. Decent quality materials and ( mostly) plain carbon tubes which are cheap and easy to repair.....OK I admit to being a bit of a fan ( although someone will probably come along and tell me you can get treatment for it) but the 'serious' kite fliers do seem to look down on them a bit.
In the price range you are talking about you would be looking at the Salsa, Jive or Jive2. The Salsa is sold as a precision (ish)/ trick kite but I've never flown one so I can't really comment. The old (blue) Jive is still available if you look around. I learned to fly with one of these and they are a damn good kite for the money. Flies well right down to 4mph ish and will do pretty much all of the tricks in the right hands. Precision is no better or worse than anything else in the price range but it can be a bit twitchy in the fade. The new Jive 2 is a bit deeper and flies a little slower. Precision is a bit better than the original and it's more stable in the fade, Still pretty tricky too, overall probably a bit better the original. Both come with a decent dyneema line set.
Alternatively you could look at secondhand kites in the sales section which would get a better kite for the money and a whole lot more suggestions!!
In the price range you are talking about you would be looking at the Salsa, Jive or Jive2. The Salsa is sold as a precision (ish)/ trick kite but I've never flown one so I can't really comment. The old (blue) Jive is still available if you look around. I learned to fly with one of these and they are a damn good kite for the money. Flies well right down to 4mph ish and will do pretty much all of the tricks in the right hands. Precision is no better or worse than anything else in the price range but it can be a bit twitchy in the fade. The new Jive 2 is a bit deeper and flies a little slower. Precision is a bit better than the original and it's more stable in the fade, Still pretty tricky too, overall probably a bit better the original. Both come with a decent dyneema line set.
Alternatively you could look at secondhand kites in the sales section which would get a better kite for the money and a whole lot more suggestions!!
Current Bag:- HQ Shadow, Spiderkites Zodarion, Flying Wings Soul, Old blue HQ Jive , 'PAW' modded HQ Maestro II, Delta Hawk,
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- Aeri
- Posts: 559
- Joined:
- Location: Vlaams Brabant, Belgium
Re: HQ Kites
great kite to buy when you start out flying kites, know what toys feel like and you dont want that any more...
good quality, cheap spares, good kites...
good quality, cheap spares, good kites...
Old school was a great school