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Do you know the feeling you get when you've bought a really nice bit of kit?? Like a Nikon camera or Leica Binoculars? Something you spent more than you should have, but it doesn't matter because every time you use/touch it you think "ahh, this is really nice....." This is the same feeling I get when I pick up my Vmax to move it or fiddle with it or in fact go buggying in it. It didn't take too long to put together, it's sort of obvious where stuff goes. All the bolts are stainless with nylock nuts. The 20mm axle bolts are pretty impressive. The four bolts that clamp the downtube in place all have plastic sleeves to protect the downtube. Just loosen the nuts, slide the downtube back or forwards to suit your leg length. I got some good advice on adjusting the wheel nuts - slide the bolt into the wheel, do the inside nut up against the bearing finger tight, screw the whole assembly into the axle until the inner nut comes up against the axle, then tighten both inner nut and bolt head together with a pair of 30 spanners nice and firm. There should be no play in the wheel but it should spin freely with no resistance. If there is resistance, undo the two nuts and tighten just the inside nut against the axle a little then do the two spanner trick again. The seat is very comfy and quite deep. I've been pulled sideways a few times and always felt very secure. All the welds seem really nicely done. The matt black finish is excellent. A splash guard is provided to keep the goo off. Footpegs hold the feet securely. Padding on the side rails is standard. The only thing I've added are some foot loops to support the heels of my shoes. Nothing rattles. nothing has threatened to come loose. Everything feels solid, stable and secure. I have been using it in my neighbor's paddock which is reasonably smooth and gives me about a 400m run but man, am I looking forward to getting this on a beach!! It's not a particularly light buggy - 25KG. But it's not really designed for freestyle - not that I'm experienced enough to try that. I've had several 1 - 1 1/2 hour sessions in the Vmax and been very comfy. I would be quite happy to contemplate a 20-30km run along a beach somewhere. (Dreaming again)!! If comfy cruising and stability is what you're after (and it turns pretty smartly too) and you want something that is beautifully built and will last a long time, then you won't go wrong with the Vmax II. By : Hoges / Holgate

About 18 months ago i got this board as my first flyboard. As a beginner i looked around for a sturdy board that would allow me to learn the "delicate art" of flyboarding. In these 18 months the board has been used on average 2 times a week, and always at the beach. Most of these days i do 12 kilometer runs, more or less downwind, and take the public transport back home. During its lifetime my board encountered tons of sand, ended up immersed in salt water numerous times, and has gone over a lot of rocks (usually quite smooth rocks though) as the beach here is full of those rocky constructions to temper the waves. This review is based on 18 months of fairly heavy use, so it's not a "whee i got a new board and it looks awesome" review. The main reason for choosing this board, as many beginners do, was the low price. At under 200 euro, this board is very affordable for beginners who are not entirely sure they'll turn out to like the sport, and as such do not want to spend piles of money (yet). There are even cheaper boards, but those are generally classified as kids boards, or boards for very lightweight people. At 80kg, my weight is well above the limit of those boards, so choosing a cheaper board would likely not be a good idea. A second reason for picking this board was the small size. At just 92 centimeters it is the shortest non-kids board from Libre, and in this price range one of the shortest of all common brands. I myself am not that big, and for example a AK102 by Ground Industries felt like i was standing with my legs wide open. It just didn't feel right. A third reason to pick this board are the relatively big tires. They are 23 centimeter diameter and 6.5 centimeter wide, making them more suitable for use on the beach then the standard ground industries or basic libre tires. Anyway, the board arrived in a big box. Much to my surprise, the board had already been assembled for about 80%. The only thing left to do was to put on the wheels. The tires even come inflated, and the trucks and footstraps were already installed onto the board. This means that the board is ready for use about 10 minutes after opening the box. If you compare this to some other brands, where it can easily takes two hours to assemble everything with the tools supplied, this is definitely a plus. Tools are of course included. The deck is made from wood, some kind of multiplex. The thing looked very sturdy, but somehow i was reluctant to go stand in the middle, which is the most stressful position on the deck. When i tried eventually, nothing happened of course, but it felt like i was tempting my luck. I had the feeling that sooner or later, i would probably split the deck in a bad landing. 18 months later it still hasn't happened so maybe i'm careful, or my initial feeling was simply wrong. According to the kite shop personnel, i can break this board with my weight, and they would recommend a more expensive board. That one was too long for my taste so i went with the Sirius anyway. The deck is painted with stars and planets, hence the name Sirius, which is in fact a stars name. The paint is just "on top" of the wood, there is no protective layer. If you want to do railslides, the paint will most likely be completely gone in just a few sessions. The weight of the board comes mainly from the deck as well. Since it's 100% wood, it needs to be quite thick to be sturdy enough. No advanced composites here, so the result is quite a heavy board, even despite its short length. In return you get a way better price then a composite deck would cost you. The weight isn't an issue until you go do serious jumps, and by that time you're likely ready for something better then a beginners board anyway. The skate trucks are quite standard. Someone had given me the advice to tighten them a lot before trying the board with a kite, so that i wouldn't have to worry too much about making unwanted turns. That way i would be able to concentrate on the kite. I had forgotten all about this advice, so my first 3 meters on the board were a 90 degree heelside turn, after which the kite pulled me over and i fell face-forward into the sand. Putting the trucks very tight solved the problem just as predicted. As you get better at controlling your board and the kite at once, you can always just loosen them up again. Meanwhile i have run into the next problem, which is if you want to make a really tight turn with loose trucks, the wheels will actually touch the side of the board. I have compared a number of boards at the kite shop, and unless you get a special model, all boards have the wheels kind of close to the board. I guess if i want even tighter turns, i need a special freestyle board. After 18 months of use at the beach, the bolt to adjust the truck has produced quite some rust around it, which happened on both sides equally. The bolt however still works fine, just looks a bit used. The wheels looked solid enough, and installing them was a breeze. Washer, wheel, washer, nut. Tighten, and ready. Every wheel has a bearing at each side, which i had been told was the part most sensitive to rust. The advice to rinse them off after use in sand and salt water was definitely a good one. Despite all the rinsing every time, after about a year these things were rusty. Very very rusty. The hey-these-things-are-not-moving-anymore-kind of rusty. A quick trip to the kite shop taught me i could get a full set of 8 new bearings for 18 euro. That's 18 euro to make your board behave pretty much brandnew! We're now 6 months later, and the latest bearings are again getting quite rusty. I plan to get new bearings once again, very soon, the difference is certainly worth it. The tires have a diamond pattern, quite nice for dirt terrain, like sand. I already mentioned their fairly large size, very helpful when riding on wet sand. I have so far never replaced a tire or an inner tube, but except for a few pointy rocks, there isn't really a lot on the beach to puncture them. I do not know how well the grip on grass or sand would be, but for sand these tires are excellent. The footstraps are Libre's latest ratchet system. This sounded very nice in the shop, being able to tighten your straps with a click of the mechanism, and release by pressing the other button. Who wouldn't want that! The reality proved quite different though. First of all you never actually adjust these things. You find a nice setting the first time you go on the board, try it, maybe tweak it a bit, and then leave it alone. I have never tightened them around my shoes so that i wouldn't get out of them, because when things go bad, i don't want to be stuck and break my ankles. So basically this whole ratchet system doesn't get used that often anyway. So far it's not good, but not bad either. The bad part about the ratchet system is this: the metal pins that hold the thing together ... they get rusty. The springs inside the system somehow don't. I guess they're made of a different material. Makes me wonder why the pins weren't made from the same rust-resistant material. Anyway, the ratchet still works, i just need to pull it harder to open and hit it hard to close again. The good part about the footstraps is they are wide. They are actually wider on the standard setting then the ones of some other boards that i tried, and they were on the largest setting. At least my shoe fits into this with ease. And just as fast gets out again in case of a crash. The foodpads are just rubber mats with quite large grooves in it. Even covered in wet sand they still give a nice grip. One corner came undone a while ago, but that was nothing a pinch of superglue didn't take care of. They also show zero sign of wear, as sand-paper pads tend to do after such long use. A grab handle is missing completely, there aren't any holes pre-drilled to install one either. Probably because Libre doesn't think a beginner board needs a grab handle. Can't blame them there. This board is meant for learning to ride and learning to jump. If you want to learn to do grabs, you're not beginner-class anymore. To finish i'll say the board obviously has its limits. While the short length makes it very suitable for steep turns, it's on the heavy side for jumps, and because of its length and the skate trucks, anything over 35 kilometers an hour will get you massive speedwobble. I wouldn't recommend going over 30 without a depower kite to hang your weight on anyway. However, in return for this you get a fairly cheap board, and the opportunity to once in a while buy cheap bearings to make your board virtually brandnew again. The board gets rusty if you abuse it regularly with a mix of sand and salt water, but except for the bearings which need rinsing, the rust doesn't really influence the board a lot. For a decent price you get a very nice beginners board, which will take you from your first meters of flyboarding up to (and including) early jumps and some nice pretty fast streaks. This board is not suitable for true boardercross, high speed or insane jumping, but it can do the early steps of each category. Eventually you will probably want a better board, more focussed on whatever your style is. However, if you don't know what your style is yet, this board is the perfect tool to discover. By : Pulsar

Help !This will be my first review, not just of a kite, but of anything, ever ! I haven't a clue, so please forgive me for all the spelling mistakes and for wasting the next 5 miniutes of your life. Ok. The Libre Spirit 4.7m......Ummmm. Cost me £ 490.00 from Barry at UFO (Powerkites). Give raynes of Atmospherekites.com a call if you're interested. Raynes will be well known to most of you I guess, as a member here. If I had known, I'd rather had given the business to a fellow member. I've been flying race kites now for over 10 years. I own kites from Libre and Ozone. As good as the Ozone races kites are, ( and thats an understatment ) the Libre has always somehow felt different. Silky smooth, powerful for their size and quiet. I say quiet and you probably think I've lost it, but I tend to judge a kite on how quiet it is. If its noisy then in my mind, it's not working effeciently. Flapping around in the wind isn't effecient, if you get what i mean ! Looking for a kite to take the place of another, the choice was simple.....another Libre Bora. It was in my search for this, that I stumbled across the Spirit. Nobody knew anything much about this kite, as it was and still is, a fairly new player to the game. Ok. So I take the leap of faith an fork out the monies and it's a lot of monies in anyone's book... kite only. The Spirit comes in a cheap see through bag. An obvious off-cut from the kite material itself. I smiled, I know this is a good sign. Libre don't make fancy man-bags for fashion concience kiters, they make kites for serious kiters and some of the very best. The next evolution in Libre kites, may come in a used black bin liner. Thats when you know you got something special. I went for the orange and black colour. It's smart looking and the build quality is as you'd expect from Libra. So, I take it down to my favourte place, Croydon Aerodrome, a quarter mile of flat cut grass. I unpack it and set it up in about 10-12mph winds. Now it's time to fly. Race kites are always tricky to fly. They need to be on the move constantly. Their natural home is in the stuff bag, not in the sky and this one had me thinking I'd lost my touch. I re-checked everything and tried again. It was like amater night. I did that thing, where you make out the lines are tangled or something, you know what I'm talking about, right ! This time I give it plenty of pull and she managed to lift just a couple of feet off the ground and immediely turns on it's side and starts flying backwards and stalling. This is common with race kites, but it was even more pronouced with the Spirit. Again, I smile. I know this is a good sign. It's totally unstable, like some advanced fighter jet that needs countless computers to keep it in the air. I keep my eyes fixed on the kite while I climb ( fall ) into the buggy and dare get myself comfortable. The Spirit is up now at 45 and moving. She starts to bite into the wind. The momentum is gradual, no sudden pull. I'm flying without a harness or killers, just hands on handles for direct feed back. I try the downwind run first. I turn upwind without any effort thanks to the kite and circle 180 for the downwind carrying about 5-7mph. Jesus Christ !! It pulls like a freight train. There's no let up. The speed just keeps building. I'm thinking in all directions, quietly panicing, trying to second guess what it's going to do next, but nothing, no drama. I wait for it to reach that point at which physics takes over and says, thats it, thats you're lot, but the speed keeps building. My baseball cap is starting to lift off my head. I quickly pull it down tight. The cricketers on the field in front of me, look at me worryingly ( if there is such a word ). I go as fast as I dare before swinging the kite behind me like a parashute behind a dragster, but the ultra high profile makes for a lousy brake. That was truly insane. I soon realise that I'm going to need miles of unbroken beach for this thing to really show me what it's made of. Traveling downwind has it's limits. The faster you go, the more the kite tends to arc towards the wind-heading, until you're taken so far that you have no choice but to do the walk of shame back to base camp. The Spirit has almost eliminated that effect, travelling in an almost stright line up and down. It's strange to see it and feel it, after years of flying with the other kites. It behave's unlike anything I've flown before. I really need to get to grips with this thing. With the Spirit, you will have to teach yourself how to fly all over again. I put the skill level of this kite at Advanced, not to make out ,I'm some sort of hero, just on the basis that it's hard to launch, even compared to other race kites. It's quite possible that I'm doing something wrong or the lines need to be checked, but once it's flying it's easy, easy in the turns and almost as fast upwind as it is down, without having to zig zag all the way home. I would recommend the Libre Spirit to anyone who is into raw speed. This is not a kite for jumps, ticks or sunday driving. It's a dragstar and it never stops building the speed. It's like a 200mph bentley. By : RedSkyHorizon

A few weeks ago Libre sent me a Pantera 9.0 to try (I also fly Libre Radicals besides my beloved Frenzy 07 10 and my Access XC 6.0). The kite came in a blue bag. The bag is big enough to fit in two kites (or drink, fleece, sandwiches, helmet etc.), which is convenient. Pity is that there is no separate pouch to put your keys and wallet in. Also the bag had no handle so you have to carry it on your back. Oh well, those are just minor gripes. Overall quality seems decent enough. The kite itself is blue. Very blue. I actually hoped for the Very Orange one, but this is very beautiful too. In fact: the blue makes the kite seem very light, whereas the orange colour would have made it heavier on the eyes. The kite is very well made, as to be expected from Libre. It doesn't have the edges of the inlets reinforced with mylar, but I find that it keeps its shape well without. The material used is the usual ripstop nylon. The stitches, bridles, the pulleys, everything seems of decent quality and well thought out. Also the bar seems all right, allthough I would have preferred it not to be 100% black. I like one side to be another colour. So: out of the bag, into the sky! First flight was on a beach with decreasing wind. Since I am used to a somewhat larger kite I was amazed at how well it pulled me on my ATB. After a while though the wind almost died and I tried my Frenzy instead. I had problems even getting that up in the air, so I back again to the Pantera, only to find that that still flew very well. It didn't manage to pull me along in this faint wind (4 knots), but it flew and kept its shape pretty well! It almost didn't luff and when it did it was easily recoverable too. No bowties of any kind! Next flight was in winds around 15 knots. Again: I love the smooth handling of the kite! You can feel the power coming and going as you fly it, very predictable and also gusts don't seem to bother it much. Due to the high grass we rode on the road. We went fast, as you can imagine, but then I never ever felt out of control! Many friends that day flew the Pantera and everyone simply loved it. Third session was in winds between 8 and 13 knots on a large field. Again it pulled me along quite well and I could keep up with the larger fixed bridles easily. This is a kite that immediately feels safe! I would give this to any depower newbie. It is simply a stable, predictable kite. But don't underestimate it though! It does give back what you put in it! Work it through the window and it will deliver even more power! And little lift does not mean no lift at all! It does have lift and nice floaty landings too, although it is no freestyle kite (it is not meant to be). Resort to the Libre Radical if you are into that stuff. Neverthless I made pretty high pendulum jumps with it, flying statically. But what I really like is its low end, a known flaw with depower kites. Last session with the kite we started again with lowish wind and although my Frenzy flew, it resisted to really pull me along. The Pantera however, although a little smaller, did! This in my opinion is a true competitor to the Ozone Access! It is a kite that I trust and recommend to anyone looking for a powerful sail that just does the job (and does it well). It is easy, but still performant! Exellent value for money! Well done Libre! By : jesse

I'm kinda new to the Boras but i have to say that they are the smoothest ,most manuverable kites I have flown. If you compare them to Razors...The power comes on a little slower but it comes on just the same and the top end seems to be close to the same.The Upwind capabilities is awsome. They seem to go straight up wind with speed. Downwind they just rock...pure adrinaline. If you want ,you can go a size up and just blaze without worrying about getting yanked out. Tuning these things seem to be different for everyone that flies them...I like to lay mine back for lift and they haul ass.The lift is awsome too. A friend of mine flies his flat and moves along just fine too. If you want to freestyle ,the things are always right there waiting on you for a little guidance,not hung up in limbo like other high performance race kites. High speed, great performance and fantastic handling.I cant see it getting much better than this. By : Rick McGaffer

The Libre Vampir 5.2m lives up to its gothic name, by being a powerful wing which is not for beginners!! The package contains basic handles, which have a tendancy cut into your fingers in higher wind speeds. Out of personal preference I fly mine on both Flexifoil and Ozone handles which work well, though I would recommend the longer handle type from Ozone. The flying lines are a basic white dyneema at 25m, ok for static flying but 20m lines improve turn rate when buggying. The kite itself, is fairly well constructed with reinforced vents and internal bracing. But lose thread ends can be seen on the stitched bridles, spoiling the overall finish. However these have remained strong and have have not come undone even after a reasonable amount of punishment. The graphic style is basic with white underside and coloured upper with black stripes at each wingtip. The whole lot is contained in a large white stuff sack, which is fine as how many kite rucksacks can you carry or fit in a 80 litre back pack. I have have flown the kite in wind conditions from 5mph to 12+mph in clean onshore winds. Lower winds require some careful flying to prevent stalling the inner wingtip (closest to ground) on turning, resulting in total collapse of the kite but persevere and you will gain traction even at wind speeds between 6-8mph with a fairly consistant pull. 8mph or above and this kite, power is certainly increased and high speed bugging is easily achieveable, though a harness is recommended, as it does tire you out pretty quickly static flying. In a buggy it'll drag you around regardless, I've had the whole buggy sliding side ways, up on two wheel and is great fun, but it'll catch out a beginner so be warned. The kite requires a lot of more input than a Samurai or something with a similar shape. The acceleration in a buggy means you'll cover ground very quickly, so lots of space is required to get used to it. Overall this is an intermediate kite with plenty of power and good build quality,which give anyone ready to progress or wants high speed fun plenty for their money. Also a good trainer kite for those wishing to take on the more demanding handling of a full racekite, later on. It's still entertaining me, but try it before you buy it you might want something with a little more stability and slighty less bite. Fangs for the memory ho, ho,ho. By : Sturmovik

Ok Some of you may have read my review on the Vampir range - all of that stands - it IS a seriously NICE kite. HOWEVER Libre have surpassed themselves with the Vampir Race. Its the same but better. Still wont fly out of the window and catch you out but the Extra Power and better upwind ability is amazing. We put the 4m Vampir (Mine) up against a 4.4 Race version. (I was flying the Race) and I beat an equally experienced pilot hands down - AND got back to the mark when he couldnt - Even in the dirty gusty wind we had - I pointed much further upwind. This is a full on Race Kite with out all of the instability issues. Libre claim 90% of the power of the Bora - which isnt suprising when you directly compare the two - they do Look very Similar. Different materials and I suspect a differing Bridle set up make the Vampir Race a Race kite on a budget. Find me on a beach - you are welcome to try 😄 By : Sparhawk

This kite is a beauty now everyone knows that the Bora wins buggy races etc but here's the diffence to normal bora reviews... i dont buggy. Now, i use my bora for mtbing, and, im not a very extrememountain board at the mo, but the speeds atainable with this and a board. wow! speed wobbles a plenty. OK more about the kite... its a very very fast kite, lots of drag however also got lots of lift due to this speed. its strangely unstable though and i wouldnt recommmend using it as a sole jumping kite, or you will hurt yourself. it flies anywhere in the window, be it up, down, left or right. and it will stay at the top for a lil while... but if forced it will luff/overfly. The power delivery is very, well, restrained in comparison with blades. you dont notice just how fast its dragging you untill you hit someone. over all its a very nice kite, but its not worth the money. 450 for a 5.0!!! get a blade By : alsdair mcdonald

OK, my first reasonable kite, so what useful information can I give? Well, I have had it for a couple of months now and have recently aquired a Kinnell Fusion, so at least I have something to compare it to. First thing to say is that you get the kite and lines and handles in a bag with a drawstring at the top. No fancy rucksacks, the bag is only one step away from a Tesco bag, but then you can always stick it in a rucksack you have already or buy one you like the look of. The lines provided have stitched loops at each end, so you can't easily adjust length, although the design of the kite allows for this with long leaders from the brakes so you can adjust the length of brake until you have it right. At least the lines were equal. The kite itself seems well made and I have had no problems at all with it. Although Libre get a reputation for quality, I think my Kinnell is better. I had a brief look at a PKD Buster which seemed cheap in comparison with either. Kite inflates easily even in light winds and flies straight to zenith. I have rarely overflown even when deliberately trying to. Likewise, very stable at the edge of the wind window, hardly ever luffs. Seems to fly with a slight fold in trailing edge, but I don't think this takes anything away from performance. Very fast through the air and sharp turning. For a small kite in sub 20mph winds still provides reasonable pull and even some lift if you are deliberately trying for it. Several friends and family (including my 6 year old son in very light winds) have given the kite a go and have all got the hang of it quickly. Seems to combine speed when you want it with forgiving stability. In summary I really enjoy this small kite, have flown it in loads of different conditions and it performs really well. I suppose in retrospect it is expensive at approx £150 when you could buy competitors more cheaply, but I am hoping that the brand reliability will mean I will have this for many years to come. By : castle

Having recently purchased the Set of Libre Vampirs (From the 2.3m up to the 5.2 so far) And having finally flown all of them in the buggy and static I think I am qualified to say a few words 🙂 All the kites come in a stuff sack - not the fancy Ruck Sack that some manufacturers seem to think is necessary 😉 Neatly wrapped along with standard Lines and handles bundled from the distributer. The build quality on the stitching is excellent (as we would expect from Libre) the Bridling is well finished and stitched where necessary. I have a funny feeling that the 4m (being one of the first in the country) was passed around a few dealers / reviewers before it got to me as the bridles were in a right state - but this hasnt transpired onto the other sizes. The Kite Essentials Handles are a personal favourite of mine being strong and well constructed from Aluminium with both a pigtail for attaching a Strop to and decent size parking loops on the brakes (Ozone take note 😉 ) In Static fliying,the kite is quick through the air and the turning is very sharp and responsive I have never seen a kite turn so fast - pretty much spinning on the spot! and then shooting to the other side of the window. The power that it generates as it shoots across the window is quite something resulting in a big scud for the length of time in the power zone 🙂 (Grins all round by this time) Lift is there if you want it - but its not a kite to Static Lift you like the Blade you will have to work the kite from one side to the other In the Buggy - the speed and responsive turning makes for a fast and furious ride on all sizes, the three metre has to be a personal favourite of mine in >25mph winds. Having flown Race kites and the Luffable Firebees in the past - one problem I always had was buggying back to camp Directly down wind - the Race kites need lots of brake to do it (and lots of movement making you look like a demented signal man) and the firebees just collapsed, the Vampir just sits there and brings you back to base calmly) Once the lines have been flown in for a few sessions, a reduction in the brake line length (to re create the crease along the trailing edge) adds a turbo boost to the Buggy experience, and I didnt have too much trouble keeping up with a mate with a full on Race PKD Century 4.5 when I had 0,5 less sail in the air ! The one suggestion I would have for Kite Retailers / Distributers is that the 5.2 (And I assume the bigger sizes) would benefit from a larger than standard handle. The 5,2 on set up required a BIG reduction in brake line length. Other than that - alll the sizes have flown straight out of the bag. An easy kite to set up and fly - an absolute Dream for Buggiers and to start the long learning road to buggy nirvana 🙂 By : Sparhawk

First Impresions Well what can I say this buggy is a bit of a looker, its low, its wide and has a tasty black frame and purple seat. Build This buggy shouts quality, it has a steel powder coated frame, the welds are nice, the wheel bolts are butcher than Fatima Whitbread and the seat has loads of fasteners, a back support and comes complete with foam frame padding. The Ride First things first, the Libra has loads of down- tube length adjustment and as im a rather lanky 6ft4 the libra was recommended to me. This is heavy buggy with a wider axle than other entry level buggies, this means that allthough the Libra is useless for tricks you can hold loads more power and it feels much more stable at high speeds. That seat is comfy and after a few hours in the seat a visit to the chiropractor is not required. Suitability This buggy is great for beginers and intermediate buggiers who want speed and comfort rather than trick riding. Another factor is the ease in which it can be upgraded with Libra parts as your need for speed grows. By : Paul Reed