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My thoughts on the new Diamond rods


Jason Wheeler

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I recently received my new Diamond rods from Ben and here's what I found. First off, they are not lighter than my race rods. My black race rods weigh 58.4 grams and my Diamonds weigh 59.5 grams. The heaviest rod is the center rod, which has the weight of 2 rods, right at 20 grams. I don't see how I can fly in a lower wind range with them as opposed to using the rr 's. They are stiffer than RR's, but that's about the only difference I was able to discern. They look great, and fly well, but, for the money, in My instance, don't really see the value in them, regular RR's would suffice. Don't get me wrong here, I LOVE my Revs and EVERYTHING about them, I just wasn't impressed with these new rods. I'd love to hear other opinions on these. Again, this is just my opinion of them, as I'm definitely not an iQuad quality flyer. Thank you.

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I've got to say your experience is totally different than mine. My race rods weight 78 grams. My diamond frames come in at fifty grams. Significantly less. I have flown Precision competition at 2-3 mph wind and scored very well when others could barely get their kites in the air. We have four sets now. Like them a lot. They also perform very well in a mid vent kite if you want the added stability of a mid but the winds are light.

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Thank you for your experience Cass, I only tried them in my B standard sail, haven't tried them in my B full vent yet. I like the rods, just that I was expecting them to be lighter I guess. I hope my review doesn't come off as slamming them. I like them yes, but my rr 's would do the same job for me.

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I've got to say your experience is totally different than mine. My race rods weight 78 grams. My diamond frames come in at fifty grams. Significantly less. I have flown Precision competition at 2-3 mph wind and scored very well when others could barely get their kites in the air. We have four sets now. Like them a lot. They also perform very well in a mid vent kite if you want the added stability of a mid but the winds are light.

I just received mine but have not used them. Maybe Ben can shed some light on the weight. Ragin Cajun has the new Diamonds @59.5 grams and his Orig Race Rods at 58.4 grams. Whereas Cass said his original Race Rods weigh in @78 grams. I am sure Ben or Lolly could shed some light on the discrepancy in weight between the two different rods.

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Not sure if it was on here or Kitelife, but there was a discussion about how rods not only varied set to set, but rod to rod!! A few grams here or there and suddenly everything is different!

While I don't have a scale, I do like a certain feel in my rods!! That comes from the black race rods at this time for me! IMHO!

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I have weighed about 5 sets of Race Rods and they are all 13 grams according to my scale (give or take a gram). That is for the spars alone without ferrules and already puts the weight of a set at 65 grams before adding in the two ferrules which would put the total weight for the set right around what Cass has stated for her set.

I haven't got a set of Diamond spars (can't justify the cost vs reward with my exchange rate) but I've spoken with a number of people from Europe and the USA and their experience has been that they are indeed lighter than the Race Rods and do indeed weigh in the 55-60 gram range.

By the looks of it, you have the lightest Race Rod set that I've ever seen .... with the exception of my 2010 Indoor rev which has its spars labeled as "Race" even though Ben assures me the Indoor spars are made differently and they are not Race Rods in there (they don't fly like Race so I believe him).

:)

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Here Holland, immediately took my diamond frame and a scale and I have the same results as Cass, average rod weighs 8-9 gr (center 14 gr).

Average black race rod 12-13 gr, center about 23 gr.

RaginCajun your total weigh of 58 - 59 gr does not meet either the black race total or the diamond total.

Several options:

Battery low in the scale

Error in scale

Way the rods lay on the scale ( I always place them vertical on the center of the scale)

Rods are wrong labelled

....

Ben/Lolly your thoughts please

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I weigh them just like in the picture, balanced in the center and ends not touching the ground. Battery is good, a nickel weighs 5g, so I know it's calibrated. I dunno, might try to find another scale, but I'm pretty sure this one is accurate. Like I said, there is a difference between the two sets, the Diamonds are stiffer and that's about it. Not any real difference in the weight. The center rod in the diamond set weighs 19.9-20.0 grams, and the center rod in the race set is 14.9grams

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My experience with weighing was handing my bride a tube from each of the Zen kites and then waiting for her to tell me which was lighter. One has Zen tubes, the other Diamond. Her carefully calibrated senses claimed the new tubes significantly superior despite the addl. cost! She's no quad head but has purchased enough rev products to buy a new car with all that cash if I wasn't involved w/her life.

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There can be a few grams difference in the make up of the carbon fiber weights at times but never that bad because in everything manufacturing theres is a plus and minus and I have to say personally a gram or two does not effect me very much...... What does effect me is reflex which is the speed of that rod bent to a certain angles and how fast it

comes back to straight...... Also the amount of stiffness that the rod generates over the entire sail, if all your looking for is a weight thing these may not be the rods for you, now if you are looking for a fast snap, rugged, and still stiff rod then these "Diamond Rods" are great, also on a side note "Race Rods" are heavier here RIGHT now I just compared 10 of each and all the "Diamond Rods" were a bit heavier than all the "Race Rods"....... Do me a favor fly them for awhile and come back to me on a private PM or call me direct at 619-750-8770 and lets talk cause I think your missing the boat on these amazing rods and what they can do, as always I want you happy...... Benani_victory.gifani_victory.gifani_victory.gif

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Excellent advice Rich and Ben, thank you. I just need to fly them more. They do have more '' snap '' than RR's, and I haven't really put them '' through the paces'' only flew them twice in 0-4 winds and I definitely need more practice in those wind conditions . I will definitely keep them in my bag and fly them as often as possible. I'll edit my review in a few months after I've flown them a lot more. Thanks guys!!

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Hahahahahaha.....that didn't take long!

I just did a very simple 'test' of the Race and Diamond spars. Holding both spars firmly/partially on a table top I deflected both by the same amount and listened to the frequency of the vibrations. I could not verify the actual force of the deflection but the pitch of vibration suggests that the Diamond rod returns to neutral much more quickly than the standard race by virtue of pitch of vibration. <grins>

Felix

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  • 3 weeks later...
I just did a very simple 'test' of the Race and Diamond spars. Holding both spars firmly/partially on a table top I deflected both by the same amount and listened to the frequency of the vibrations. I could not verify the actual force of the deflection but the pitch of vibration suggests that the Diamond rod returns to neutral much more quickly than the standard race by virtue of pitch of vibration. <grins>

Felix

I love and appreciate the "audio" perspective of your comparison! Haahhah

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