Fractured Axel

Hi guys,

I've been flying my kite now on and off for a few years and recently I have received some money and I'm wanting to spend it on an another kite. I have around £70 and I'm thinking about going for the Jive II. Is this a reasonable choice for a beginner-ish kite? I say ish as I know how to rip around the sky and do a few basic tricks with my little Flexifoil Atom, but I haven't really gone at it properly.

My Atom isn't the parafoil Atom they currently sell, the one I have is similar to the one shown in the link below....except it's a yellowish colour..

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flexifoil-Ato ... 7675.l2557

Is there another option I could/should look at?

Thanks

Hi,

I've owned several HQ Jive's over the years both the original and the Jive 2. The original blue Jive was one of my favourite kites but is no longer available. The Jive 2 is a decent enough kite and will do the basic tricks though I didn't think it was as good as the original. You can make the Jive 2 a lot more tricky but you need to mess around with the bridle and add extra standoffs. If you just want to do baisc tricks the Jive 2 will be fine, however, if you want to do a bit more and can run to another £20 I would look at the HQ Maestro 2 which is IMHO a better, trickier kite. You can get them for £90 on Ebay. Ebay no 370855086554.

Thanks for the reply.

Would you rate any of these?

http://www.windswept.co.uk/kites/stunt- ... e-r2f.html

http://www.windswept.co.uk/kites/stunt- ... e-r2f.html

http://www.windswept.co.uk/kites/stunt- ... e-r2f.html

Thanks

The biggest positive I found with the salsa was that it collapsed down so small. Flying wise though I didn't get on with it so well. Much preferred the jive out of the 2

Cheers, I'm unsure whether I should just throw in another 20quid out of my own pocket and go for the Maestro II....what would the missus say?......I could just tell her it cost me 20 quid. I wouldn't be lying.

I haven't tried the Salsa, but I've flown the Atomic - it's made for med-high winds and while it flies OK it's a bit odd when it comes to tricks. It doesn't like going on it's back and when you put it in a backflip it pops straight back up again. I sold it in the end.

The Jive is a good starter kite, but I think the Maestro is worth the extra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2cqTGiNzrg

Ok, looks like I'm going with the Maestro 2. I'm buying it on the basis that is likely to jeep me going longer than the Jive. Even if I only learn the basics with it, the option to go further is there.

Thanks for your input ☺

Good Choice! I'm sure you won't be disappointed with it.

Remember to check the lines after a couple of flying sessions to see if they have stretched - HQ lines often stretch a little at first but when they settle down they are quite good.

I remember someone telling me that the lines that came with the kite were quite good. Is this true?
I hope mine will get a maiden flight on 15th May! Just to see how it flys. Still planning on sticking with the sin until I can do the basic tricks

Hope you love the kite though Mr G!!

Broady wrote:

I remember someone telling me that the lines that came with the kite were quite good. Is this true?

The HQ Dyneema lines are not bad at all, not as good as Climax/Spectra/Shanti etc, but not bad - I still have a couple of HQ linesets that I use fairly regularly. When new they do stretch a bit, but once you have evened them up a couple of times they settle down and stay pretty stable.

Is it standard lines you get with HQ kites from like the yukon up? Or do they get better with the more expensive range?

It comes with HQ's basic dyneema line set - 25m x 150lb I think? - the cheaper kites use to come with 'blendline' which was a mix of fibres identified by having a red tracer running through it but looking at their website everything from the Bebop up seems to come with Dyneema lines these days. I've had one of their 150lb sets for years and it's still OK. Most of their kites above the Maestro come without linesets.

Some epic Maestro II piloting here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NBK6CC ... ata_player

As I said, it's a very good kite for the money!

The kite in that video has been 'tweeked' but the standard kite is still pretty good. The modifications are actually quite easy to do so if you want to try them at a later date PM me and I can send you the details ( they were available on this site but PAW removed all the links when he left).

Cool, thanks for the info.

Why was the information removed if its useful? Forum politics? Go on, give us the goss