Ocean Rodeo Flite: Dacron vs. Aluula Comparison

Is the Ocean Rodeo Aluula Kite Worth the Price?

We have been hard at work testing the new Ocean Rodeo Aluula Roam and Ocean Rodeo Aluula Flite kites. After extensive testing of the two models of kites, we can say that the Aluula material makes these kites work better.

What is Aluula?

Aluula is the name of a new material that Ocean Rodeo has developed that is 50% lighter and 2 times stronger than the traditional Dacron that they have been using.  The Aluula replaces the Dacron in the leading, struts and reinforcement ares of the kite.  They have implemented this material into their kite line by offering a Dacron and Aluula version of the Flite and Roam kites.  This is similar to how bike companies offer aluminum and carbon versions of their bikes.

How does Aluula ride differently?

The Aluula kites are significantly lighter and stiffer than their Dacron counterpart. The Aluula have noticeably more performance than the Dacron version of the same kite. 

The Aluula Flite 14.5m is 5.8 lbs

The Dacron Flite 14.5m is 7.3 lbs

As soon as you put the Aluula kite in the air, you notice that it is more stable and easier to control at the edge of the wind window.  There is very little surging forward or backwards of this kite even in gusty conditions.

We found in all riding categories, the Aluula version of the kite performed better than the Dacron version.  Aluula makes the kite turn faster, go upwind better, have significantly better low end performance and more control in over powered conditions.  

The overall riding feel of the Aluula kites is crisp, light and responsive.

What’s the downside?

Technology costs more.  The only real drawback with the Aluula kites is that they cost about 30% more than the Dacron version of the kites.  

We have only been testing these kites for a couple of months, so we can’t sign off on the durability just yet. Ocean Rodeo said that they have over 2000 hours of testing on the Aluula material and it holds up better than Dacron and is twice as strong.  Based on their testing, it sounds promising but the REAL Lesson Center will be the true test.

For more info on the Ocean Rodeo Aluula kites, please contact at REALpro at 252.987.6000 or REALpro@realwatersports.com.