Liquid Force Kites Influence LFX 138 x 42cm 2012
Reviews / Twin Tips
12,160
At A Glance
Unsurprisingly as a wake driven kiteboarding company Liquid Force have an extensive range of kiteboards. the Influence LFX is a dependable do it all machine packed with technology. Ridden by guys like Jason Slezak, Brandon Scheid and Julien Fillion it is a perfect freeride orientated wakestyle machine. It features a CNC’d wood core that has been shaped to give the top deck it’s contoured surface. On the underside is a triple V quarto concave base. The flex in the middle of the board is medium with a stiffer flex in the tips. The Influence has quite a wide outline, sharp rails and can be ridden with bindings or pads. 1.5inch fins give you a hint as to its true purpose in life. The other hint is the Grind Base that Liquid Force have put into the board, claimed to be the toughest bottom material in the industry, and these guys should know. We reckon they have hit a few obstacles in their time!
On The Water
We set up the Influence LFX with both the Cradle bindings (pictured) and the excellent Luxury pads. As ever the Luxury pads were just that, stunningly comfortable and a really solid connection to the board. The Cradle bindings though really won us over. They are an open toed design and fairly flexible, a great point of entry to the binding world, offering a superior connection to the board without the full lock down of a more enclosed binding. The board performed very well, a breeze to get going in lighter airs with a 12m kite the wide outline really lending itself to early planing. In flat water the medium stiffness allowed for plenty of speed and pop and the board was great fun to ride. Medium chop it faired well, the double concave helped to smooth out the ride and it certainly made the landings less harsh than a flat base. In heavy chop the outline worked well to cut through it but the flex was sometimes overwhelmed a little. Getting performance out of the Influence LFX is easy, it gets going quickly and has a decent top end speed, the stiffer flex then allows the board to generate huge amount of pop on the wide tips.
Overall
A great board for the intermediate rider looking for a solid platform on which will help them progress their riding. If you plan on hitting some rails and leaning towards the wakestyle arena then this board should be one you definitely consider.
Videos
This review was in Issue 34 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Liquid Force KitesRelated
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!
