Liquid Force Kites Element 139 x 42cm 2015
Reviews / Twin Tips
12,160
At A Glance
Starting primarily as a wakeboard company, Liquid Force moved onto making kiteboards a number of years ago now. Bringing across their extensive knowledge from the boards of the past, they have been highly successful within the kite industry.
For 2015 Liquid Force has 11 boards in their stable. We were lucky enough to get our hands on a few and here we will be taking you through our thoughts on the 2015 Element, Christophe Tack’s pro model board.
Aimed at the freestyle and freeride market, the Element is stacked with construction features and comes with a footpad and start set-up, but is commonly used with full bindings. The Element has quad channeled tips, an ultra shallow concave center, medium rocker line and refined flex. These base features will deliver massive amounts of pop, while still giving the rider, upwind ability and a fast to react board under their feet. The composite word core gives the board bundles of strength, but is also incredibly lightweight. The Element is supplied with the 2015 Fusion pad and strap system, fins and a grab handle.
The Fusion dad system (small/medium or large/x-large) features a dual density EVA foam, quick adjustment straps with high visibility. These features will ensure you are not only comfy and well fitted to your board, but you should be able to find your board easily if you lose it!
On The Water
With a cracking few days forecast we knew that this was going to be the week to give the Element its best test. We got it all rigged up (with ease) then set off down the beach.
Within seconds of being on the Liquid Force Element it was apparent that the board was going to be a cracker. It was very fast to pick up speed, incredibly responsive underfoot and, my gosh, it popped well! Even rigged with the Fusion system it was insane how much pop you could get, working with both snappy pops and progressive edging into the more advanced moves. The Element had the perfect balance between grip and release, sliding between edges was a breeze, but when you needed to dig in hard it held and kept holding. Not to forget the fact that slamming down from your moves it just seemed to make all your worries go away, absorbing all the impact.
This board will most definitely be a brilliant addition to anyone’s quiver, especially those looking to ramp up their freestyle riding and progress onto unhooked tricks or even riding with bindings.
“It pops like Pringles and lands like a feather.”
Overall
With such a solid construction that delivers such an enjoyable yet high-end ride, you cannot go wrong with the Element. It pops like Pringles and lands like a feather. Works brilliantly with bindings and straps, something that’s quite hard to get with a kiteboard. The graphics of the board are well worth a mention too, with the wood core showing through blue and red graphics this is a stunner. Although advertised as lightweight we have seen lighter boards on the market, but when you’re getting a strong well-built board and moving into riding with bindings and more wakestyle/freestyle focused disciplines the strength is far more important than the weight. However, if you wanted to go super light weight, then try the Carbon Element from Liquid Force.
Videos
This review was in Issue 51 of IKSURFMAG.
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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.
