2019 RPM – You’ll love it if: You want to soar!
The 2019 Slingshot RPM is a NEW kite that offers NEW results not found in previous RPM models. It is the freeride/freestyle multi-tool for conquering any and all conditions under the sun. If you’re into boosting, hangtime, slashing, handle passing, going big or going home, riding like you mean it or kicking butt and taking names, the RPM is the kite for you.
“The RPM has always been my go-to kite. I love the way it feels na dandles. I challenged the design team to take my favorite kite and unleash its true boosting and looping potential. They succeeded! It has an extra gear that makes it soar. It has more beans!” — Sam Light
2019 RPM Highlights:
Bigger boosting more hang time, dynamic steering and “MORE BEANS”
- Versatile freeride performance at its best
- World-champion freestyle kite (just ask Carlos Mario or Youri Zoon!)
- Direct control, smooth feel at the bar
- Stable, well-behaved in gnarly, gusty wind
- Easy relaunch and depower.
- Solid crossover surf and foiling performance
How we made one of the best kites ever have “more beans”.
The short answer: Never stop innovating.
For Slingshot, that means listening to our riders with an open mind, paying attention to how the sport is evolving and responding to the changing demands of customers around the world. We have always viewed the RPM as a work in progress- that’s one of the reasons it has remained so popular for so many people for more than a decade. The RPM is a kite that invented a kite category and continues evolves with the sport. For 2019, we felt it was high time for a new breed.
What the best kiteboarder in the world thinks…in “Bebe’s” words.
I have won 4 world titles on the RPM. It’s the greatest kite ever made. However, I’ve started competing on another world tour that includes big air. I found myself riding the RPM for freestyle tricks and then switching to the Rally for big air. The new RPM delivers all the performance in one kite. I don’t have to wonder anymore.” — Carlos Mario
Here’s what’s new:
- New canopy shape: We decreased the open-C arc of the kite in the air to favor a fuller, deeper C shape. This difference makes a big impact on performance- most notably in overall power, structural stability, hangtime and control in the air.
- New Flyline Bridle: This is a completely reworked bridle that combines both pulley and bungee, in a new configuration. We introduced pulleys on the RPM to give the kite more structural stability and dynamic steering, then we replaced the pulleys with our IRS bungee system to achieve a more direct feel and smoother power delivery as the kite flies through the window. The FlyLine Bridle combines both pulley and bungee, in a new configuration, that results in a faster, higher-flying, more powerful RPM.
- New Load Shift: Hard to explain but easy to see and better to feel. Scrub to 6:21 to see it in action. The new configuration of the FlyLine Bridle and the location of the pulley and bungee segments give the 2019 RPM a new level of dynamic steering. With Load Shift, the FlyLine Bridle transfers power and load actively from wingtip to wingtip as it flies. Where other kites would warp or twist under load, buckle at the wingtips, flutter or stall out in the air, the new RPM shifts and distributes load actively throughout the canopy, resulting in a smoother, cleaner, more powerful performance.
- From Slack to Soar: For years, the RPM was fine-tuned to load, pop and go slack in the air before re-engaging. We had the tuning down to a science, and it helped give multiple freestyle world champions their gold medals. Our mission with the 2019 RPM was to shift the kite’s tuning to where we see the sport shifting. For the RPM, that means bigger, loftier in-air performance
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What didn’t change:
Kite design is a tricky science. When you change something to gain in one category, you often take steps back in another. We are pleased to say, we have not found this to be the case with the 2019 RPM. It feels and flies like the RPM people know and love, but with a few big bonuses. The new FlyLine Bridle is a simplistic and effective solution for giving the kite higher performance standards without sacrificing the features riders of all styles love in the RPM.
More Info –
On the water – First Ride Test Impressions Video with Sam Light