CORE NEXUS 2 REVIEW

It is hard to imagine that a few years ago the three-strut all-rounder wasn’t
really a thing, whereas now it is the biggest sector in the market. As kiters, we
have realized that versatility does not have to mean compromise, and also that
these kites really work, and work to a high level. With this market in mind,
the Nexus arrived with considerable fanfare from CORE a couple of years ago.
Part of their Universal+ Series of kites (which generally have a ‘speciality’ but
are also usable in other disciplines), the Nexus sat itself clearly in the middle
– a kite for waves and freestyle with no clear preference in either department.
As with all their kites, the Nexus is on a two (ish) year design cycle so V2 of the
Nexus has been refined over a solid period of time and is definitely not just a
graphics refresh. The first thing that you’ll spot with the new Nexus is wider
tips with a distinctive knuckle. CORE is calling these their Radical Reaction
Tips and they have been one of the main focuses for this incarnation, designed
to improve turning speed and responsiveness without compromising the all-round appeal of the Nexus. The other significant tweak is the inclusion of ExoTex Light in the struts – developed for the X-Lite, this lighter weight Dacron
has proved its worth and has now been rolled out to the Nexus 2 resulting in a
weight reduction of around 10%.
On the water it immediately feels like a predictable and dependable partner.
It sits exactly where you want it to be in the window when you are cruising
around, and – even in super gusty conditions – it will move slightly in the window but delivers rock-solid stability at the bar end. You have no doubts in the
kite and even when overpowered with full depower on, the Nexus 2 was still
comfortable to ride, or at least to get you back to the beach to downsize!
For riding in the waves, the Nexus 2 shares the same profile as CORE’s
wave-specific kite, the Section. Wider tips provide a quicker and more pivotal
turn, which we really enjoyed. In cross or cross-on conditions the kite snaps
around beautifully and the power delivery enables you to bottom turn and

then switch it off as you ride back up the wave. It has to be said that after a few
sessions I genuinely felt like a better waverider! If the wind switches offshore
then the drift is great – there is plenty of depower and the Nexus 2 will do the
easy bit while you focus on finding your top-to-bottom rhythm.
When you are done in the waves you can switch to the freestyle CIT mode.
With this switch made, the Nexus 2 immediately has a noticeable bump in
power. The kite remains stable, but when you sheet in you can feel that the
kite has an extra chunk of power to be utilized, and if you send the kite and
sheet in then it is an entirely different beast – like when someone you have
known for years does something you would never expect… It loves to boost
and is happy to loop, with the pivotal turning in the wave setting replaced by
a wider, more GTS-esque arc. You can tell this is not just a token gesture: the
Nexus has had the freestyle treatment and really works here.
The Nexus 2 continues the popular format established in its predecessor and
provides an extremely versatile tool. The risk of an ambitious all-rounder is
always that it feels like a compromise in some areas, but the Nexus smooths
this over with grace, particularly with the aid of the CIT settings to quickly
tune your ride for the discipline. You can order your Core Nexus 2 kite from Surface2air sports today or Check out any of the new Core kites even the new Core XR Pro Kite