Ruben Lenten is back

Ruben Lenten, Slingshots pro rider is back after 8 months of rehabilitation. He was recently in Tarifa to make some shoots for Slingshot and Mystic with their 2012 products. In this session Lenten is going to jump over a pier that divides the mediterrean sea and the atlantic ocean, a pretty long jump in other words… Lenten is eager to get back into doing mega loops, but according to this video he´s a bit rusty from being out of the water for such long time.


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Why Slingshot?

Are you a freestyle kiter that is tired of your old dusty kites? Do you think that your kites are to slow and not powerful enough to make tricks and give you big air? Perhaps is it time to try something new? I asked the Slingshot Support which of their kites they though I should pick, here is the answer:

The kite that I think would fit your style best is out RPM. The RPM is our Open C style kite. It is a strong freestyle Kite which is currently leadering on the PKRA Pro tour. But the kite is still manageable in the surf and down in line kiting. It is a 3 strut kite with split strut in the 2011 Model. This gives the kite great lighter wind capabilety do to it lighter weight 3 strut canopy. I have attached a link to the RPM page on our website. This will give you more detail on the kite and the style on riding the kite was designed for. Let me know if you have any other questions about the kite or any of our other products.

Here is the link to the Slingshot RPM 2011 version


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Slingshot RPM 10m & 12m 2009 Review

By Slingshot kiter

rpm2009I had the opportunity to kite a Slingshot RPM for three days in Sun Juan, one 10m and one 12m. My first kite was a Slingshot Fuel, then I moved to Turbo 2 and 3 and now I’m riding with a REV2. I always liked Slingshots products, but I´ve also been kiting Flexifoil and Ozone.

Anyway, let me tell you what I think about the 2009 RPM.

The turning speed on the kite is fast and what is also interesting is the way the kite turns, which is very tight. Some kites rotate in kites and bow kites tend to slide through turns and SLE’s such as the REV usually turns in an arc. The Slingshot RPM instead tends to almost pivot around its wingtip. Moreover, the kite doesn’t lose much power when you turn it, in fact you can actually gain power without having to turn the kite right up towards the sky. My REV2 turns a little faster, but the RPM turns tighter and it responds immediately.

The RPM is also very stable. I was expecting to have more or less wind since it was quite gusty the three days I kited, but the kite absorbed the gust very nicely and it didn’t dold in when the wind died like many others of the kites did. The 3-strut design makes the kite light and it doesn’t take much space when you pack it.

The jumping was amazing! The kite pulled you up and then you float a long time in the air and there was lots of tension on the way down. I never dropped like a stone which I did with my old Turbos. This could of course be a reason of that I´m better at kiting now and I know what I do, but the thing is that the kite was much more predictable.

In lighter wind I could still play around and be able to ride upwind or carve down a small wave. The kite didn’t got slow when I depowered and the bar pressure was perfect, not to light and not to heavy. I kept the lines attached to the outermost wing tip knot.

Another thing I noticed is that when you dive the kite you get power immediately and are ready to go again. My REV2 is more dependent on wind.

On overall I don’t really have anything negative to say about the RPM 2009. I never tried to kite unhooked, but I heard that the kite should be good for that purpose.

Good wind!


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Slingshot 2011 RPM features

Here is a video about features and benefits of the new 2011 RPM Slingshot kite. People without soundcards, don’t worry, a text based version of the video can be read below the video.

We wanted to take a kite that was acting really up to our expectations and that slinghot rpm 2011everyone was giving a straight feedback. And we only wanted to make it better, we didn’t wanna so much that it would give you a different feel. So you’re gonna get the same RPM as the 2010 version, we’re just gonna add a couple of things that really is benefit the kite in the way it performs.
One of the key standard features is the split strut. You can see it on the top of the canopy. It’s attaching the canopy to the strut in two points rather than the canopy going over attaching at a single point. split strutIt’s gonna provide a significant amount of stability and rigidity and it’s gonna beef up the durability to the canopy when it crashes and especially when it’s flying in the air, cause as you unhook it really allows the kite to hold that pocket a lot better cause the canopy is gonna be a lot more stable and firm through out your whole kite. Split strut also benefits the relaunching of the kite. It’s the same procedure as for any bow kite, just pull in a side line and the kite is gonna walk itself to the edge of the wind window and flip right up. Or you can pull both back lines and it will fly up backwards just like the Fuel.

Also a feature with the kite this year. We have the same open c-canopy that is tried and true. It gives the kite a really stable and direct feel that we’ve liked for past two version of the RPM (this is the third version).

Other features are of course the proprietary one pump that we have on all our Slingshot kites, the single infaltion point, you’re gonna get the struts and leading edge all in one.

We have our full suspension bridle which allows the kite to perform at a very direct feel. It performs very much like a c-kite. You get all the benefits of a slinghot rpm 2011c-kite, but you’re not gonna lose the benefits of a bow or bridle kite. It gets a little more pocket. It gets a little more of a softer feel when you want it to and it’s not gonna be quite as abusive as a Fuel is when you’re crashing it, you miss some tricks etc. and it relaunches super easy.

A couple of other stand up features that has been the same for the last couple of years is the superior customization of the kite. It has two different settings that you can apply. We have a wake style setting and a free style setting. So you’re wake style setting is basically to allow the kite to sit back further in the wind window. What you gonna do is to take the pigtail and move it from the forward pigtail just a couple of inches back to the rear pigtail, you can see that the length is little bit different. And the real performance that that’s gonna change it’s gonna cause the kite to sit further back in the window. So as you gonna set up for your trick, you unhook, the kite is gonna sit back there and have a little more pocket and give you little more explosive pop.

A side from split strut we also have a 9 meter quiver this year, so we’re gonna offer a 4.5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14. Last year we found that when you jumped in a session from your 10 meters to your 8 meters, sometimes that 8 was quick enough but it did not have quite have that low end you’re looking for and the 10 meter had a lot of power, but it was maybe just to much if you were trying to make some free style or wake style, so that 9 is gonna be that money kite in a quiver this year, where it’s just gonna cover that middle ground and you’re really gonna be able to fill out your quiver with two or three kites.

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This is the 2011 RPM. Go in to your store and get one and I’m pretty sure you’ll like it!


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2011 Slingshot RPM

It’s finally here, the 2011 slingshot RPM!

The RPM was the first kite to win a PKRA Championship, in fact it was the first “Open C” kite to win. Perhaps had it something to do with the rider, but still, the Slingshot RPM is a great kite!

A new thing with RPM this year is that it only has 3 struts and it delivers enormous amount of high end power and is suitable for all kind of riders, freestylers, wakestylers, beginners, you name it, this is a kite that everyone will enjoy!


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