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1 1 4 / T E S T S / K I T E S
GIN / EGOIST / 9M TEST TEAM NOTES: The Gin bar probably has the
comfiest feel in your hands that we’ve tested all
year. Surprised? Gin have been steadily chipping
away at their product offerings for several seasons and for the last
two seasons have been operated by a bigger business outfit who are
clearly allowing for more design budget. They’re going to be serious
players and the Egoist points to a bright future.
The ‘Gin and Tonic’ bar has just enough softness under your
fingers for freeriders, allowing your hands to mould into the bar. The
bar itself is small and very tidy and we really liked the neat chicken-
loop which is a good size for freestyle and has a clean safety system
running up tidily through the middle of the bar. The above-the-bar
trimming cleat is excellent and overall the bar feels and looks really
up-to-date in a sporty bright white. You’ll notice there are some
back line knot adjustment options on the outside lines just above
the floats – these are often found hidden under the floats, and we’d
like to see the same done by Gin. They have such a clean system, it
seems a little unnecessary to have these exposed. Plus it will be less
confusing to inexperienced riders.
The Egoist itself is bright and stands out without the colours being
garish. Implemented with the popular mid-sized nozzle inflation
system, the Egoist is spec’d out as you’d expect for 2015 and features
good attention to detail throughout, including a large webbing handle
on the kite to help you carry it along the beach.
The Egoist fits very well alongside the mass of three-
strut, mid-aspect-ratio freeride kites that we have reviewed
this year. We tested the Egoist over two sessions; firstly a little
underpowered when most other riders on the water were on tens
or 11s and also ideally juiced when everyone was on eights and
nines. We always go out for our first runs on the factory setting as
you’d get it yourselves. Initially, on first launch in the first lightly
powered session, the Egoist didn’t feel like the most torquey of
kites. On some kites you can sheet in on the bar on the beach and
immediately feel it lifting your harness. We tried other nine metres
that day that had more power. A couple of strokes though and we
were up and going nicely, perhaps not with as much torque as
we’d like, but nevertheless the kite flew very nicely into the wind,
we were riding upwind and felt comfortable. The steering does
require quite a bit of input and force to go round in the light winds.
There was a bit of a lag after initiation and looping the kite at this
bottom end of its wind range, the kite takes quite a wide radius to
begin with and took a while to come back up through the window.
So we went back to the beach and moved the back lines up one
knot on the rear pigtail for more steering input and pressure. Sure
enough there was more low end and the steering became quicker
and easier, however also became easier to back stall. Moving
the setting produced what we wanted in terms of more low end,
better steering initiation and feeling at the bar in light wind, but we
didn’t get that nice bite and really positive drive through a turn and
occasionally had to sheet the bar out when completing a loop to
reduce some of the load on the back lines.
Next session (now back in the standard middle setting) was
very different. The Egoist comes alive in genuine nine metre /
18 – 20mph+ winds, feels lighter and more positive at the bar
and has lots more lift at the top of the window, without feeling
unruly or intimidating. Straight off the beach it feels stable and
trustworthy, but also energetic and lively. Quickly up to speed the
Egoist parks itself nicely forward in the window and really makes
for effortless upwind tracking. The power band still isn’t grunty.
There’s adequate power, but it’s delivered to you in a soft way.
There are no big surges and, for freeriding, you feel very light and
quick on the water. There’s a large sweet spot overhead in which
you can send the kite to get plenty of lift. Getting a healthy climb on
your jumps is easy and then the hangtime feels decent and offers
lengthy float. Although light, the Gin isn’t completely neutral though
and is easy to sense where it is in the sky. It can still stumble a
little round the bottom of the window on a kite loop if you’re really
pushing it but, as with many kites with thin leading edges, the
more you can pump it up the better. Although the Egoist is happy
to sit forward to provide a very easy tow upwind, there’s a lack of
aggression round the corners for very skilled pilots. Although the
Egoist can be trimmed a little to be able to provide clean unhooked
performance for freestyle improvers, advanced riders would miss
that eagerness through the window to keep it moving forward
sweetly when unhooked. The Egoist suits an improving freerider
who is starting to really get to grips with their jumps and has all
the unhooked performance needed to make life easy in terms of
progression over the next few seasons.
SUMMARY: Overall the Egoist is a really fun, reactive but friendly
kite. We reckon the top end would go on for ages, too. The harder
you pump it the better to get a really solid air frame. Freeriders
already riding with high-performance levels will want more bite
and grunt. Lighter intermediate riders will definitely find the
Egoist more fun and very rewarding.
KW LIKED: A very fun and approachable mid and top-end range
will inspire lots of long, un-fatiguing sessions. We had hours on
this and barely felt it in our legs and arms when, in reality, we’d
rinsed all corners of our home spot.
KW WOULD CHANGE: Bigger riders or higher-performance
freeriders will want more bite, oomph and drive round the bottom
of the window.
SIZES: 14.5, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6m
www.ginkites.com
BALANCE POINTS: Build quality: 7.5 / Full package: 7.5 / Low end:
7.5 / Top end: 8 / Steering speed: 5.5 / Turning circle: 4 / Power
through the turn: 4 / Bar pressure: 5.5 / Water relaunch: 7.5 / Drift:
DT / Boost: 7.5 / Hang-time: 8 / Unhooked: 6 / Cross-over: 7 /
Ease-of-use: 7.5