Liquid Force Kites Carbon Drive 140 x 41cm 2017
Reviews / Twin Tips
12,160
At A Glance
Liquid Force has had a significant revamp to most of its range for the coming season, new footpads, redesigned bars, the new Elite foil kite and much more. We have been checking out the 2017 Carbon Drive twin tip recently, and it’s a cracker.
The Carbon Drive is billed as an affordable, lightweight all round twin tip; it’s essentially a higher performance version of the standard Drive. The carbon layers reduce weight, improve handling and response, while the classic shape and design allow for a broad range of riders to get an awful lot of fun out of the board.
The Carbon Drive features a single concave base with 50mm fins and brand new footpad and strap systems. With years of board manufacturing under their belts Liquid Force have done a cracking job constructing this board, it looks robust should stand the test of time!
Sizes: 137 X 40.5 / 140 X 41.5 / 143 X 42cm
On The Water
I had some brilliant sessions on the Carbon Drive; it's easy to use and oozes performance. When I say performance we’re talking boosting, carving, kite loops, blind moves, toe side, unhooked surface and air passes. If you're ready to head into the high-end freestyle market, check out the Element or Echo from Liquid Force. The ease of use though makes this suitable for everyone, even those buying their first board.
A simple shape with a high-tech construction that is loads of fun to ride!
The rounder outline gives this board a smooth, fluid ride, carving through waves and cranking fast turns is great fun. The single concave made this board a pleasure when heading upwind; there’s plenty of grip from the 50mm fins too. It’s fairly flat rocker mixes loads of pop and soft landings with fast speeds and early planning. The pop is very good, however, when pushing beyond those simple handle passes, you start to lose out on the last release kick and tip performance, if it is pure pop you want then look to the other models in the range, the Carbon Drive is better suited to all round freeride fun.
One thing that makes this such a fun board is the weight, so going for moves like board offs and inverts are that much easier! The Carbon Drive will soak up any chop you encounter too; it is an incredibly forgiving ride. Oh, another thing…Liquid Force have redesigned their footpads and now bring to us the Pro Pad / Strap system, these are ultra comfortable under foot, grippy, available in two colours, white or black and come with high, medium or low-density foam inserts below the heel. They also adjust to a small size, even the L / XL set, so the S / M will be perfect for those smaller riders.
Overall
This is a very affordable yet, high-quality board; it’s forgiving and easy to ride, chuck some input into it though and it will perform to a high standard too. A classic shape that is fun to ride, the Carbon reduces the weight and adds to the playfulness, we dare you not to have fun on this one!
Videos
This review was in Issue 60 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Liquid Force KitesRelated
By Robin and Sukie
With years of kite sport experience combined, you can be sure you’ll be receiving the highest quality of knowledge on the best equipment the industry has to offer.
