KiteJan

This was my first kite - bought in France from the Decathlon sport chain store and originally it came with a fibre glass frame, handles, and cheap polyester line. It has been very much designed as a 'fun' beach kite, rather than a 'serious' kite - but has kick started my whole interest in kites. On advice from my local kite shop I replaced the normal braided cheap lines with proper dynema lines - this really did improve the kite's performance. Suddenly the whole thing became much more responsive and fast. The replacement of the original glass fibre frame with carbon was a bit of an experiment to see how it all works - basically it has made the kite much lighter & will fly in lower winds. However the kite now has a greater tendency to stall - it needs a lighter touch. 

Purchased: May 2000

Details

Width	Height	Depth	Weight	Spars	Sail	Windrange
165 cm	78 cm	22 cm	234 g	Carbon	Ripstop Nylon	2 - 6 beaufort
Cost
£15.00 (approx.) with a further £12.00 for the lines & £15.00 for the replacement carbon fibre frame

Good Things

• Cheap to buy!
• Large and forgiving.
• Easy and controllable to fly.
• Generate a bit of pull, but not enough to be a problem.
• Quite hard to trash (& I tried!).
• Lots of fun.

Bad Things

• Stitching & construction on the sail a bit poor.
• After a bit of use the joints became worn & had a tendency to 'pop out' in higher winds.
• A heavy kite - needs a fair amount of wind to be happy.
• Not one for doing radical (or not so radical) tricks.
• Sometimes a bit noisy in flight (that poor sail again & lack of tension on the trailing edge).
• Possibly by the time the lines, handles, and frame have been upgraded the total cost is close to a better kite anyway.

Final Thoughts

A good first kite & even now does get flown (& enjoyed) and won't be replaced for quite a long time. It was good to start with this then add on the various upgrades as it gave me an understanding of the construction & just how much improvement proper lines do make to a cheap kite.