Slingshot RPM 2019

Slingshot RPM 2019 review

De Slingshot RPM 2019 zit al 10 jaar in de line-up bij Slingshot. Ooit ontwikkeld in samenwerking met inmiddels ex-wereldkampioen freestyle Jouri Zoon als pure freestyle-kite en in de loop der jaren uitgegroeid tot een freestyle-allrounder met goede boosting- en loop-eigenschappen. De eerste edities van de RPM hadden katrollen in de bridle, maar een paar jaar geleden werd overgestapt naar het katrolloze IRS-bridle-systeem met elastieken. Nu heeft de nieuwste RPM een Flyline-bridle: een combinatie is tussen die twee. Wat is daarvan het effect? 

Lees de hele review hier.

FROM SLACK TO SOAR

For years, the RPM was fine-tuned to load, pop and go slack in the air before re-engaging. We had the tuning down to a science, and it helped give multiple freestyle world champions their gold medals. Our mission with the 2019 RPM was to change that – not to eliminate anything – but to shift the kite’s tuning to where we see the sport shifting. At the level the RPM is designed for that means bigger, better, loftier in-air performance. From slack to soar, the 2019 RPM is the world’s go-to kite for versatile freeride performance.

• NEW Modified Open-C: We decreased the open-C arc of the RPM in favor of a fuller and deeper C. This is a significant change to the kite, on the beach it will look about the same, but in the air, anyone who knows the RPM will see and feel the difference right away. This difference in shape has a big impact on performance – most notably in overall power, structural stability, hangtime, and control in the air.

• NEW FLYLINE Bridle: A combination of the pulleyed bridle featured on previous RPM models and the bungee IRS bridle we engineered a few years ago. We introduced pulleys on the RPM to give the kite more structural stability and dynamic steering. Then we replaced the pulleys with our IRS bungee system to achieve a more direct feel and smoother power delivery as the kite flies through the window. The FLYLINE bridle combines both pulley and bungee in a new configurtion that results in a faster, higher-flying, more powerful RPM than ever before.

• NEW LoadShift: The new configuration of the FlyLine bridle and the location of the pulley and bungee segments give the 2019 RPM a dynamic steering behavior unlike any other kite we’ve made. In what is best described as ‘Load Shift’ the FlyLine bridle transfers power and load actively from wingtip-to-wingtip as it flies. Where other kites would warp or twist under load, buckle at the wingtips, flutter or stall out in the air, the new RPM shifts and distributes load actively throughout the canopy, resulting in smoother, cleaner, more powerful performance.

• World-class unhooked performance- the kite of choice for Carlos Mario, if that name rings a bell.

• Hybrid Open-C shape delivers big boosts and smooth, predictable loops.