The Advance Offroad is available with conventional handles or the latest Advance "depower" bar.

I've briefly tested the 5.4m with the bar. The term "depower" suggests a system like that used on the Ozone Frenzy or the Boom Vector which alters the kite's angle of attack and shape. These kites have a large depower range, meaning that a large kite held on the "depower" setting has a significantly reduced power (as if it is a much smaller kite) and a pull on the bar increases the power. So, is the Offroad similar ?

The Offroad's bridle is fairly conventional with the main bridle lines supporting the kite and the brake bridle lines attached to the trailing edge. Therefore strictly speaking is is NOT set up to depower in the same way as the Frenzy, Boom or a typical inflatable kite.

In reality, if the "depower" bar is pulled the trailing edge folds DOWN. The picture opposite shows this to great effect - take a look at the LEFT hand side of the kite. The design of the Offroad is such that the fold or crease in the kite is very pronounced and just as a flap on an aircraft's wing increases lift, so too does the Offroad. The bar allows just enough flap effect to increase the power. Of course when the bar is released to the standard "depower" position (AWAY from the flier) the crease disappears and the kite behaves like any other 5.4m kite. So is this really a depower system ?
Its an interesting question. Take the Frenzy for example. My 7.3m has a very manageable pull when "depowered". The power is similar to a 3 to 3.5m kite but the Offroad is STILL a 5.4m kite on "depower" with the ability to INCREASE the power to some extent. When used with conventional handles the same effect can be used - applying the brakes a touch increases the power and further application then stalls the kite, exactly the same as any other 4 line kite.

Therefore is the Offroad different ? Well, yes and no. In practice almost any 4 line kite will pull a little harder with slight application of the brakes although the effect is sometimes not that noticeable. The Offroad does power up more than others and the bar set up allows this to work efficiently.

If we take a step back, the Offroad is very nicely built with excellent stitching and reinforcement. Its VERY difficult to fault the quality. Similarly the line set is good - in this case grey coloured lines with sewn sleeving.

The bar included with the "depowerable" version is excellent with an effective safety release system and an adjusted strap for trimming as used on the Rhea. The safety release itself works very well - I've included a sequence of pictures below with some more explanation.

There is one criticism however - this kite had NO manual and only two double page writeups showing how to convert the control between a bar and handles. I had to browse through the Advance web site to find information about the bar set-up. Possibly an oversight ?

In flight the Offroad flew well although the turbulent conditions caused some overflying and collapse. Using the relatively short bar it turned fairly slowly and towards the edge of the wind it was difficult to pull the kite back into the middle. I've found this on the Advance Rheas and I experimented with a longer bar to increase the leverage. On the Rhea it worked but a longer bar is often more unmanageable.

Flying the Offroad with handles transforms the control. The brakes allow it to turn very quickly for its size and its possible to explore the real potential of the kite. Application of the brakes initially folds the trailing edge down and in a lightish (10mph) wind its possible to feel a small increase in pull. Stalling the kite needs a lot of brake and without any adjustment it reversed well. The improvement in overall reponsiveness was impressive. Incidently pulling the main lines quite a long way (i.e. 2 line style) makes the kite turn well so a longer bar would probably improve the steering.

Obviously using handles makes the set-up much easier than the bar. The BAR version of the kite actually comes with the kite set for use with handles (eh ??) and you have to convert the bridle with some additional pieces of rope and pulleys. It sounds complicated but it takes only a couple of minutes to complete. The BAR version is supplied with a small bag of the ropes etc - neat !

Full UK prices for the Offroad range are : 2.4m £284.99, 3.8m £349.95, 5.4m £429.99 and 7.1m £499.99. The BAR version is £50.00 extra. The price includes a 25m quad line set and the bag.
The safety release system in action...

The brake lines (to the trailing edge of the kite) are attached to leader lines from the ends of the bar. Halfway up the leader lines a rope links them together to the wrist leash line.

When the bar is released (pic 2) the wrist leash line pulls the brakes ON and the kite stalls.

The kite continues to flutter down (pic 3) and finally reverses towards the ground (pic 4).

The system is very effective. The leash line can be looped over a ground stake to keep the kite down. There is an additional safety releas strap between the bar depower (chicken loop) and the harness. Again its very effective.


For reference I've copied the Advance diagrams for the bar setup. They're on the advance web site but not easy to find.

Diagram 1 - the overall set up and components
Diagram 2 - close up of the harness safety release strap
Technical Details
OFFROAD - take chances! 3.8 5.4 7.1
Surface flat - m2 3.83 5.42 7.05
Surface projected - m2 3.54 4.99 6.42
Aspect ratio 3.12 3.1 3.3
Aspect ratio projected 2.73 2.65 2.76
Span - m 3.45 4.10 4.83
Span projected - m 3.11 3.64 4.21
Chord max. - m 1.34 1.60 1.77
Number of cells 14 15 18
Open cells 12 14 16
Number of lines 4 4 4

Materials
Cloth: Nylon Porcher Marine New Kytex 6.6, 44g/m2
Lines: Dyneema / PES, Aramid HMA/sheathed polyester
The Offroad at rest and a quick view of the neat rucksack !