Kiteboard - Twintip

Welcome to the Kitemana Twintip Q&A. The choice of a suitable twin tip depends on many different factors. There are twintips on the market with different designs for different preferences. It can sometimes be difficult to keep track of things. That's why we've answered frequently asked questions about twintips on this page. Feel free to read the questions and answers below, but please don't hesitate to contact us if you have further questions! Our english-speaking customer service is always available and will be happy to help you with their expert knowledge!

What is the right size twintip kiteboard for me?
Which twintip kiteboard is suitable for beginners?
Which effect do rocker, outline and flex have on a twin tip?
What are the differences between freeride, freestyle and light wind twin tips?
What materials are used for the twintip construction?
How does a single concave or a double concave affect the riding experience of a twintip?
Are there twintips especially made for light riders?
Are there twintips especially made for kids?
From which brands can I buy a twintip at Kitemana?

The right twintip size depends on several factors. Your height and weight play an important role. The bigger and/or heavier you are, the bigger your twintip kiteboard should be. Another factor that determines your choice of the right kiteboard size is your riding level. If you are confident going upwind, then a smaller twintip is more appropriate as it is more maneuverable. If you are still practicing going upwind or doing water starts, a larger twintip is more suitable, as larger kiteboards plan earlier and offer more stability.
The correct size of your twin tip also depends on how strong the wind is at your home spot. The rule is: the stronger the wind, the smaller your twintip kiteboard can be. If you often go kiting in light winds, a larger kiteboard gives you the opportunity to hit the water earlier. A smaller twintip in strong winds, on the other hand, makes edging easier and allows for more dynamic manoeuvres.

To get started with kitesurfing, you should choose a large board with a rather edgy outline and a straight rocker line (little bend). The advantage of such a twintip is, that it offers you the largest possible surface area on the water, which generates buoyancy and fast planning. This gives you more time to implement proper kite control when practicing maneuvers such as water starts and tacks. Riding upwind is also easier with large twintips, as they have a longer edge that allows you to build up pressure against the pull of your kite.

The rocker of a twin tip describes the degree of bending of the kiteboard from tip to tip. Kiteboards have either a flat, medium or high rocker. The flatter the rocker, the more water contact and buoyancy the kiteboard has.

Twintips with a flat rocker glide earlier, especially when there is only little wind. Since these kiteboards offer quite a lot of surface on the water, riding upwind becomes easier. Accordingly, you will find a flat rocker on light-wind-boards. However, these boards feel more restlessly when the water gets choppy. In addition, they are less easy to turn and it is more difficult to do dynamic maneuver.

In contrast to this there are twin tips with high rocker. Due to their smaller contact surface to the water, they are very easy to turn. With these boards tight turns are easy and unclean landings are well compensated. The disadvantage of these boards is that riding upwind can be harder when there is less wind, as only a small part of the edge is in contact with the water. Twintips with high rocker are therefore well suited for performance-oriented freestylers and wakestylers.

A twintip with medium rocker combines the advantages of a relatively large contact surface and edge length for buoyancy and upwind riding with a high level of riding comfort in choppy water and good maneuverability. Many freeride and freestyle twin tips have a medium rocker. This makes these twin tips versatile and popular for kitesurfers who don't just want to cover one riding style.

The outline is the outer shape of a kiteboard. A straight outline can be distinguished from a curved outline. A straight outline means, that a lot of the board´s edge has contact with the water, which gives a twin tip good upwind properties. In addition, a straight outline allows you to put a lot of pressure on the edge, so you can create a lot of pop. However, a twintip with a straight outline is less easy to turn, which is noticeable during fast and dynamic manoeuvres. The rounder the outline of a twin tip, the more easy the kiteboard turns. With a twin tip with a curved outline, you can correspondingly very tight turns. Dynamic tricks are a lot of fun with these twintips, especially in strong winds.

The flex of a twin tip can be soft, medium or hard. Twintips with a soft flex are slower, but offer a lot of comfort, especially in choppy water. At high speeds, however, soft kiteboards are less easy to control and it is difficult to generate a decent pop with them.
On the other hand, a twin tip with medium flex offers more control at higher speeds. In addition, it rides very comfortably through choppy water, you can generate a good pop with it and your landings feel soft.
With stiffer boards, riding comfort is reduced in choppy conditions. Hard kiteboards are good for freestyle and wakestyle as they generate maximum pop, but can be hard on the knees as landings can be tough.

Freeride twintips are perfect for relaxed cruising, offer a lot of comfort and are fun in all conditions. They are well suited for beginners as well as for advanced kitesurfers who prefer a solid all-rounder. Freeride twin tips usually have a medium flex and not too much rocker. Upwind riding is easy with them and they lead you relaxed and knee-friendly through choppy water. In addition, a freeride board enables solid jumps and, above all, a soft landing.

Pure freestyle boards are probably more suitable for advanced riders. These kiteboards usually have a medium to high rocker and allow a lot of pop for hooked and unhooked tricks due to their hardness and the straight outline. But they lose in terms of driving comfort and soft landings. However, if performance is more important to you than comfort, then a freestyle twintip definitely offers more performance and sportiness. Freestyle twintips are often ridden with boots instead of straps. Here you have to make sure when buying, that the inserts of the kiteboard are reinforced and therefore suitable for boots, otherwise they can also break out.

If you often go kiting in low winds, buying a light wind kiteboard definitely makes sense. These twintips are larger and wider than other kiteboards and have a more edgy outline. As a result, the twintip has a surface area that generates a lot of buoyancy and early planning. Therefore you need less power from your kite and you can already go upwind even in less wind. Since light wind kiteboards are also perfect for getting started with kitesurfing, you can buy this kind of board perfectly as your first kiteboard and then continue to use it for light wind sessions with more riding skills.

The construction of a twin tip usually consists of a wooden core, which is then given its final appearance with several layers of fiberglass and epoxy. The wood core has the advantage that wood is naturally a very flexible and robust material. A twintip with a wood core therefore has the most medium flex and offers a lot of comfort. A fiberglass construction is the cheaper option, compared to your carbon construction.
Twintips, which are made entirely or partially of carbon fibers, are of a higher quality but also more expensive. Carbon has a very low weight, which is why carbon kiteboards are surprisingly light. They are also much harder, which means that you can generate a lot of pop with a carbon twin tip. However, a hard twintip is not particularly easy on the joints. If you are looking for a performance-oriented twintip where the price is not an issue, you will be delighted with a carbon twin tip.

A single concave or mono concave ensures that the water is guided under the kiteboard. This effect gives a twintip better directional stability and better control at high speeds than a kiteboard without a concave. In addition, riding upwind is easier with a twin tip with a single concave. You will usually find a mono concave on high-quality freeride twin tips.
If a twintip has a double concave, these taper towards the middle. This gives the kiteboard even more guidance and directional stability. The material feels much harder, which makes the kiteboard stiffer from the middle. This provides better pop and easier edging. This allows you to generate more pop with a double concave twintip than with a mono concave twintip. Also, your landings will be softer as the water surface gets broken. You often find a double concave in freestyle twintips.

Many kite brands design special twintips for light riders. These are shorter, narrower and lighter than standard twintips. Since women are often lighter and smaller than men, these twintips are often offered by the manufacturers specifically as „girls' kiteboards“, such as the Soleil from Duotone, the Riptide from Brunotti, the XO from Cabrinha or the Karolina Pro from Slingshot.

There are special kiteboards for kids that are narrower, smaller and lighter than adult twintips, such as the Brunotti Blast Junior kiteboard or the Airush Livewire Junior kiteboard. These twintips are perfectly tailored to the size and weight of children, which makes them easier to handle for little kitesurfers.

At Kitemana you will find twintips from the following brands. Click on the link to learn more about them.

Airush: BY INNOVATORS FOR INNOVATORS
Brunotti: RIDER DEVELOPED PRODUCTS
Cabrinha: LIVE FREE. RIDE FREE.
Core Kiteboarding: PREMIUM KITES & BOARDS FROM FEHMARN, GERMANY.
Duotone Kiteboarding: TRUE KITEBOARDING
F-One: ENJOY ALL CONDITIONS, TRY OUT NEW THINGS, OPEN UP YOUR PLAYGROUND
Lieuwe: WE CRAFT STORIES
Naish: POWERED BY NATURE
North: FOR THE SEEKERS
Slingshot: THE ART OF POWER