From: Pedro
Place: Portugal

hi everyone.

I've been reading about the epic kites for about 2months.
I was quite curious in the beggining with so many positive
posts about them. So i decided i should talk to Dimitri.
after a few emails here and there, i made up my mind
and ordered a renegade 9m. I'm a pure freestyle rider.
The more wakeboard moves, the better. Dimitri advised
me to go for the Renegade, because if i wanted to go for
an all around kite that would fit my needs, the Renegade
would be it. Honestly, my first thought was "ok, nice...
but then when i want to boost some big airs, i'll be
stuck on the ground and sometimes i feel like doing them
for a change". This was my first mistake... clearly!

The wind wasn't strong enough when the kite arrived
but today it finally picked up and it is here to stay.
so i decided to write my REVIEW on it.

The one thing i could not understand when i came daily to
this post, was - everybody is so stoked with the Screamer,
but why the hell can't i find a good review on the renegade?
there's a few nice opinions here and there, but NOTHING on
freestyle about it. this is the main reason why i'm posting.

ok, now the real deal. the review.

Renegade 9m

My weight - 67kgs
Wind - 18/21knots, a bit gusty at times.
board - Balance 133*40
sea with 1m waves and some chop

I won't say a lot about the bar for obvious reasons... it's the same
as the screamer and people have talked enough about it so i'll leave
it at that. The one thing i have to say about it is that being a short
guy, i had no problems reaching for the depower like i've heard some
people say in here. my old 9m (Waroo), i had to struggle and bent forward
to reach it. in this one, i can reach it without a problem.

quality of the kite and overall construction details have been spoken
a lot already so no need to keep repeating it.

first impression - oh shit, the bar is feeling heavy i don't like this...
i'll be dead in 15mins... why? well, simple... both my older kites (waroo
and Switchblade) have very light feeling on the bar and i'm used to it.
Is the bar to heavy? no, not really... just not what i had imagined. it
is lighter then the LF Hi-Fi and i like the hi-fi feeling for Freestyle.
so basicly 5mins after thinking it was to heavy, i had completely forgotten it.

First time i jumped, i went like 15-18ft. the next ones where probably even
higher. Bare in mind that this wasn't the mega windy conditions
for huge jumps!
this made me smile... people have been saying so much about the
insane hang-time on the screamer, which i haven't tried,
but this kite jumps good! I was jumping higher then my
previous 9m... so don't let yourself be mistaken. This kite CAN jump high!

After a few jumps i went onto the freestyle. And here's why the kite is
good. it has the right feeling unhooked and it isn't SUPER fast. Some people
might not like this, i however, love it! I can feel where the kite is
and i have time to react. another huge plus, and this is what i was most
impressed with - it is the most stable kite i have EVER tried! is it the
fastest? no. Is it the most powerfull? no. but it sure is damn stable.
The power given to you is the same throughout the entire move, and you
never lose the feeling of where the kite is. do i want anything else for
freestyle? no! this is what makes me evolve as a rider. What makes me
have fun in the water! the predictability of the kite helps you in everyway for freestyle.

Kitelooping - it isn't the biggest kick i've felt, but it's a nice stable
one. And with the 9m, it just loops exactly what you want for a nice landing
while you can keep on riding. didn't feel any flaws midway through like with
some other kites.

Overall, i am as happy as i can be for the kite i got. I wanted a kite
for freestyle and that i what i got. How does it feel in the waves?
sorry, i'm not the right person for that review, i simply don't care.
By the way, the below the bar swivel worked perfectly everytime. quite nice!

Positive -
unhook performance
stability
feeling
details of construction
hang-time - maybe the screamer is better, but for a freestyle fan, this is
damn good enough and it is jumping more then my previous kite, so yes, it is positive for me.

Negative -
speed of the kite. it isn't super fast to fly around.
depower doesn't feel like it goes all the way to 100%

what i did not test yet :

kite in the waves
upwind ability - didn't force it very much so no idea.
safety system - just opened it without connection to the kite to know how it works
water relaunch - usually when i fall i loop it until it points to 12o'clock so haven't tested it yet