Nobile Kiteboarding 50Fifty 5m 2013
Reviews / Kites
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At A Glance
The 50Fifty is Nobile’s freestyle kite; we reviewed the 10m last year and really enjoyed flying it. The 5m was the smallest kite we took to South Africa and also the only dedicated freestyle kite. It is based around a hybrid C style shape, with a bridle on the leading edge rather than a 5th line set up. It features 5 struts and quite a deep arc to the profile. A medium aspect ratio is coupled with wide square wing tips.
The Bar
The Nobile KISS bar has always been a staff favourite, comfy to hold and well thought out it utilises some clever ideas that are both functional and easy to use. The chicken loop release is simple and releases easily under load, there is an above the bar trim system that uses a webbing pull-pull set-up and the lines can be attached to the outer, or inner attachment points on the bar to increase its effective size should you desire.
In The Air
The 50Fifty 5m pretty much defines the term pocket rocket! It’s a tiny kite and it goes like a bat out of hell! That said, you can rest assured it is in a very controllable manner, it’s a welcome return to fly a C-style kite once more and remember, after so much time on bow/SLE/delta shapes, just how responsive these style of kites are. It really moves around the window with a purpose and poise that is refreshing. You can put the kite exactly where you want it to go and the response is instant, there is no lag here. Jumping is fantastic fun, as I am sure you can imagine jumping on a 5m kite would be. When the wind is up this thing flies and will be sure to put a smile on your face. The top end is near limitless, but the range is notably smaller than a flatter styled kite. The gust handling can also be a little punchy compared to a bow/SLE/delta shape too, but that is to be expected. This is the perfect kite for the small freestyler wanting to handle bigger winds, the experienced rider looking to tame some huge wind mega loops or indeed any rider that values performance over ease of use. We’re not saying the 50Fifty 5m is hard to fly, far from it, just that when the conditions allow you to take it out then it really is an experts only day!
Overall
A fun kite that is very responsive, fantastic in the air and predictable through the loops. We really enjoyed riding it in strong winds and, in fact, never discovered it’s true top end. If you are out on this then you know it is windy!
Videos
This review was in Issue 36 of IKSURFMAG.
For more information visit Nobile KiteboardingRelated
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!
