It has been a while since I flew a LEI but here is my take on it
judging from what size kites other people are on when I ride. Meter
for meter the LEI guys are typically on smaller kites than me. Size
for size the LEIs seem to have more low end but the ARCs have much
higher top end. I'm talking B, G, and P here. I haven't seen or
flown a V and the S-ARCs are in a league of their. From what I
remember I was always on the smallest kite back in the S-ARC days. I
would say my B-17 equaled the power of a 14 M. Having spent a few
days riding along side of 14-16M LEI this was my impression. The
guys on North 16s had a lot more power. I don't think the inflated
size of a B-17 is 17M I think that is the uninflated flat area. My
B17 looked tiny next to a 17M LEI. I recall a light day in Hatteras
on my G1-15. I was the only kite out milking it on my 132X43 and
just staying upwind and doing small transitions. During my session a
guy came out on a 17M LEI and he was a bit more powered than me. We
were the only guys out with some 14M LEI on the beach waiting for the
wind. I have also ridden days with the G1-15 with guys on 20M kites
that were not that much more powered. Seem think at some point the
wind is just too light regardless of kite size. With the G2-13 I
would say guys are on 12M LEI. Now the difference. Many times I'll
stay on one kite while other guys are switching sizes. This happens
to me a lot in the summer. Our thermal normally starts at 2:00 and
fills in a round 4:00. During this time a guy might use 3 different
size kites. Me I just put up the P-18 and switch boards when the
wind fills in. One day a LEI guy came up to me and told me he could
not believe that I was still out while he switched to his third kite
that day and was still overpowered. Why do I use the PL kites. The
main reason is ease of use. I ride solo most of the time and in the
winter I have an hour after work to ride before it gets dark. The PL
kites make the most of that with the short setup time. They are also
maintenance free compared to LEIs. Maybe the kites are better now
but I spent a lot of time patching bladders during my LEI days. I
have also seen a lot of guys blow bladders while pumping up and
ruining their sessions. Next would be the safe and easy solo
landing. And finally stability. I can blow a jump so bad and the
kite is just there waiting for me. My Phantoms may be difficult to
relaunch but I have yet to drop one. Can't say that about the LEIs.
What else do I want. A faster turning, more powerful, easier
relaunching Phantom.

-Tom



--- In arcusers@yahoogroups.com, "mulemik" <6769mikkel@m...> wrote:
>
> at first, i was determined not to let myself be affected by the v-
hype
> (which, as you probably know, can be hard enough)
>
> but reading stuff like this obviously makes me worry:
>
> "I bought a Bomba last summer and I would say it's performance was
the
> equivalent of a 2000 Wipika Free Air on four lines." - kiteforum
>
> "I found the Bomba to be the worst kite I have ever owned ... and I
> have owned a few kites. With every kind of kite I have used you can
> easily tune it and find something good about it. There was nothing
> good about the Bomba. Wouldn't turn, no bottom end, no top end, poor
> relaunch, f**ckin deadly dangerous auto-zenith. It was easy to
launch
> and land." - kiteforum
>
> ofcourse, i find a couple of the points in the last quote to be
wrong,
> but as my level increases i do start worrying about the potential of
> the kites...
>
> my problem is, that i dont have anything to compare to...
>
> this weekend, i flew a 10 m liquid force spectrum in good winds, and
> it was the most fun i ever had surfing - i boosted higher than ever
> before, and the reaction on steering from the kite was amazing...
BUT
> thats compared to a B13.
>
> now, im wondering; how much of the different feel was due to the lf
> spectrum being a smaller kite, and how much of it was due to the lf
> being a tube?
>
> i still love pl arcs - and i've had some great times on my bombas,
but
> going out working hard on a 17 when guys weighing only 10 kg less
are
> on 14 or 12 makes you wonder...
>
> a thing you repeatedly hear on this forum is... "huge range! i was
on
> my 18 when others were on their 8 tubes... blabla bla" - this added
to
> the obvious poorish lowend of former arcs, makes me think; maybe
they
> dont have huge range - maybe they just perform shitty per size?
>
> as i said, i still love arcs - their handling, relaunch, the fact
that
> i can launch/land safely since were usely just two guys out, the way
> they handle gusts, and i would like my next smaller kite to also be
> arc...
>
> i wish i could test a 10,5 m bomba to compare to the 10 lf spectrum,
> cause i dont know if it was size issue or an arc/tube issue....
>
> IT JUST FEELS LIKE EVERYBODY ARE SAYING THAT ALL PETER LYNN KITES UP
> UNTIL THE VENOMS ALL OF A SUDDEN ARE A COMPLETE WASTE OF MONEY - NOT
> GOOD TO HEAR, 'CAUSE I WONT BE AFFORDING NEW KITES FOR 3 YEARS...
>
> any comments welcomed...
>
> happy flying ~ mikkel