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Page 1 of 2 The following review article was posted by "oldflyer" on the FA forum. He kindly let EWF to present this article for you now. Let's see and big thanks fly to Nigel/oldflyer - the man.
This is my first ever attempt at a kite review. I hope some people find it helpful. Kite availabilityAfter watching a video of the 2.3 Std model flying on Fractured Axel I decided to buy one to try out. None of the kite stores in the UK were offering them for sale so I ended up buying one from www.midwestkites.com . They were great to deal with and I would recommend them to anyone. Of course, I ended up paying postage charges and customs duty but the kite was still very good value in my opinion even after these costs. Bilboquet in France have now started stocking the larger 2.5 silver Fox models but they don’t seem to be doing the 2.3 model yet. Martin Baker at The Bristol Kite Store (www.kitestore.co.uk ) is also stocking the 2.5 Model and the 2.3 model now. He is selling the 2.3 Std for only £75 - an incredible price for such a great kite! How does it fly?I think the 2.3 Silver Fox flies beautifully. This video inspired me to buy one: http://flyingwingstudio.com/videos/sf/230std.wmv The Silver Fox does all the axel based tricks very well, but the real attractuion for me is that I can do all the pitch related tricks (yo-yos / fades etc) far easier with this kite than any other that I own. Build QualityThe kite is very nicely put together. The stitching on mine was excellent and it seems very robustly assembled. There are mylar reinforcements along the length of the spine together with mylar and dacron reinforcements in the trailing edge. The kite has covered upper and lower spreader connectors, covered stand-off connectors, yo-yo stoppers pre-installed, an adjustable leech line system and it is already weighted appropriately to help you do all the pitch based tricks. The innovative bridleThe Silver Fox incorporates something called a "Turbo Beads System". In essence, it means that the bridle has a series of coloured beads attached for you to easily undo larkshead knots and move from a 3-point bridle to a dynamic bridle without needing to strip the kite down and pull all the farming apart. I have only flown on the dynamic setting so far. He beads system seems clever but it doesn’t look very nice aesthetically (my opinion). Overall impressionI love this kite. It looks good in the sky, it’s well made and it tricks beautifully. At only $124 (£62 before postage and customs) it’s great value. Even with postage and customs charges the kite was still less than £100.
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