Ocean Rodeo Roam Aluula Review

The Roam has been a favorite in the Ocean Rodeo lineup for several years. This great surf/freeride kite comes in an all-new construction called Aluula. This new material takes this solid kite to the next level by making the kite lighter and stiffer. What this does for the kite's performance is to make it more reactive to bar input and to perform better in lighter winds.

Improved Performance

What this means for improved surf and foil performance is that the kite stays in the air; you can run downwind right at the kite and it is there when and where you need it. You get a really great feel for where the kite is in the sky from the bar. I found myself looking at that kite much less and just knew where the kite was in the wind window. The lighter weight construction also allows for better low-end performance when foiling.

Super light kites

Ocean Rodeo claims that the Aluula series is 50% lighter, and the kites do feel like they have been significantly lightened up. Now, lucky for us this drop in weight did not come at the cost of durability to the kite- the Allula material is 2x as strong as normal Dacron.

The Roam doubles as a good freeride kite; all of those things that help improve the surf and foil performance also lend it to be a good performing freeride kite. Now, it is not going to be the best jumping kite on the market, but I was surprised and impressed by how well it did jump for a kite that was not designed with that aspect of the sport in mind.

In summary

I hope this review helped clear up some of your questions about the new Aluula kites from Ocean Rodeo. These kites have quickly become a shop favorite and have become harder to actually get out and get a session on without fighting one of the other guys in the shop for it. Hopefully you can get out on the water soon with your own Roam Aluula!

Pat Taylor

An avid kitesurfer, foiler and trick ski expert, Pat has been with the shop since he was a 16 year old grom. If you pick something up online, there's a good chance he shipped it your way. When he's not helping people out on the phones or shipping gear, he can be found on the water doing something interesting.