Xenon Infra 136 x 41cm 2014
Reviews / Twin Tips
4,724
At A Glance
Xenon have been around for a good few years now and producing some really high quality kiteboards. Taking the Infra out of the box it was easy to see the attention to detail, how many brands provide different coloured fins and fittings so they blend in with the board graphics on both the top and the bottom of the board?! The Infra is their high-end freestyle model aimed at the rider who wants an uncompromising performance machine that can handle the hardest of landings. It features a full Paulownia wood core and is made in Europe at Xenon’s state-of-the-art manufacturing plant. The board comes with a two year warranty so you can be reassured that it has been built to last. The board has a reasonable flex pattern with more flex in the tips and a stiffer section in the middle. There is a single concave running down the board that washes out towards the tips. The outline is very rectangular with wide square tips at either end. It comes shipped with their Ultralight foot pads and straps which are easy to fit to the board. 4.5cm G10 fins are provided as standard and as we mentioned earlier they are colour coded to match the graphics, a nice touch!
On The Water
Whilst the Infra is aimed as an uncompromising performance model we instantly felt at home on it and discovered a more forgiving side that actually makes this board relatively easy to ride. It’s certainly not for beginners, but the adventurous intermediate looking for immense pop and solid upwind abilities won’t be disheartened by the Infra. In the chop the clever flex pattern helps to smooth out the ride and the sharp rails really bite into the water and offer plenty of grip. The wide tips with their softer flex allow you to get immense pop and we were boosting huge airs and getting loads of height with ease during purely popped tricks. The Infra is also fairly light and the large outline combines with the flatter rocker to help you get going really early. All in all, we loved the Infra, it’s a performance machine at heart, but it does have a softer side too.
For
Fast and efficient with a well-thought-out flex pattern that gives plenty of pop and smoothes out choppy water too. Great construction and excellent attention to detail with a world class finish.
Against
One of our testers has pretty huge feet and found the straps to be uncomfortable, worth considering if you wear boats for shoes…
Overall
If you get the chance to jump on board the Infra you won’t be disappointed. It’s fast, packed with performance and has a great finish. Despite being billed as a high-end machine, if you are a confident intermediate you will still get lots out of the Infra. Hardcore freestylers will love it too.
Videos
This review was in Issue 43 of IKSURFMAG.
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By Rou Chater
Rou has been kiting since the sports inception and has been working as an editor and tester for magazines since 2004. He started IKSURFMAG with his brother in 2006 and has tested hundreds of different kites and travelled all over the world to kitesurf. He's a walking encyclopedia of all things kite and is just as passionate about the sport today as he was when he first started!
