Re: Chinese KB Hydrofoil : 300 USD + shipment
Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 5:04 pm
What the Chinese are saying:gmb13 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:54 amWhat I am saying is: If I had never seen a Carafino, I would not have gotten into foiling back then. If the Carafino was actually a really well developed product, we would have never gotten into building one ourselves. However we saw a lot of things wrong with it and other Hydrofoils at the time (mainly the one piece T-Bar) and I wanted something better for myself.
If there was a cheaper version we wouldn’t even bother competing.
However in a world of Audis we saw a market segment for Skoda’s, second grade materials and less strict quality checks but still an acceptable product at a fraction of the price.
They innovate the way Ryanair innovated! (And now copied from premium airlines with baggage as an extra)
Bluntly copying a design is immoral, even if done with different materials and I wouldn’t buy one mainly on moral grounds.
But I’m looking forward to seeing a generic “Chinese” 3rd party/aftermarket big (early lift) front wing for popular foils (LF, Slingshot, Zeeko, Moses etc) Strighy style
I’m sure that’s possible for their level. Anyway these designs are easier to get right.
If I were in their (Chinese) shoes, I would make an average of the existing “wave wings” (Maybe Zeeko Carver as a basis) and adjust the holes & aoa to fit the target fuselages.
Offer it at or below cost level for riders willing to test it and iterate a few rounds of improvements validation. (Send improved version to those that gave valuable feedback for low or no cost)
After getting an acceptable product in durability and performance, there should be still enough margin for half the “branded” price.
(The above is my assumption, I’m sure many will disagree that such a business case would fly)