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The new Spleene Q

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just do it
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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby just do it » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:56 am

klimber wrote:so what is the wind range of the kites?
Windranges are a bit of a personal thing and depend on many factors.
Obviously everyone who has ever tried or tested the "Q", incl. the Magazines agree that it has Mega Lowend and I fully support this view. The great lowend of the "Q" is also very ease to achieve and doesn't require any exceptional lightwind skills.
So the best indication I can give you is from my own personal experiences.
I weight around 75kg and ride the Spleene HT-RIP32 (132-40cm). With the 9m "Q" and this board I can ride and stay upwind from around 12-13knts upwards. The combo feels best between 15-25knts. If the wind is consistantly above 25knts and pushes into the 30knts I would personally start to think about using the 7m. We had the 9m out in up to 35knts but for me that is outside of my personal comfortzone.
I hope this helps a little.

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby Haze » Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:06 pm

Im weight 75 kg to. And i have been out in 32 knots. And i didn´t have any problem. I like the kite because you start super early with it and i can hold it almost so long like my Caution kites. And the size i talk about is 9:a of course. Oki i like to have a lot of power all ways so.

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby just do it » Fri Jun 12, 2009 3:19 pm

Haze wrote:Im weight 75 kg to. And i have been out in 32 knots. And i didn´t have any problem. I like the kite because you start super early with it and i can hold it almost so long like my Caution kites. And the size i talk about is 9:a of course. Oki i like to have a lot of power all ways so.
Just like I said, windrange is a bit of a personal thing.
For big air and old school you can ride the 9m pretty high-up. If you want to do more unhooked stuff then change down to the 7m a bit earlier.
I am probably the opposite of you and these days I like to be on the smallest kite I can get away with :thumb:

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby klimber » Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:37 pm

without an even general wind range chart it pretty much makes it an unreallistic purchase since the kites are not in the Wisconsin area to try.


ranting to follow-----
It is seriously a pisser to see all the shapes and sizes of kites out there that woudl be great to try but to be limited to only what is available by the only reputable dealer in the area. yes, he has good kite, cabrinha, eclipse, slingshot, and he is great about letting us try before you buy, but still.

what we are left to use is the information found on forums and websites....telling us it is relative does me NO GOOD

i'd love to see a broader rep program out there. more brand "reps" who are reputable riders, maybe not pros, just decent riders who are given a serious discount from a brand in exchange for getting the gear out ot the beach, pumped up and open for others to test drive.

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby just do it » Fri Jun 12, 2009 5:01 pm

klimber wrote:without an even general wind range chart it pretty much makes it an unreallistic purchase since the kites are not in the Wisconsin area to try.


ranting to follow-----
It is seriously a pisser to see all the shapes and sizes of kites out there that woudl be great to try but to be limited to only what is available by the only reputable dealer in the area. yes, he has good kite, cabrinha, eclipse, slingshot, and he is great about letting us try before you buy, but still.

what we are left to use is the information found on forums and websites....telling us it is relative does me NO GOOD

i'd love to see a broader rep program out there. more brand "reps" who are reputable riders, maybe not pros, just decent riders who are given a serious discount from a brand in exchange for getting the gear out ot the beach, pumped up and open for others to test drive.
Try before you buy is always the ideal. Get in touch with Ted from Spleene USA and see whether he can arrange something with your local dealer.
Here is a link to the Spleene Kiteselector Chart but like I always say there are many ifs and buts to windranges and I trust my own judgement the most. All I can promise you is that the "Q" has more lowend than most kites on the market without feeling like a big kite.
http://www.spleene.com/html_english/ima ... r_09_1.pdf

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby zfennell » Sat Jun 13, 2009 2:01 pm

This is a bit off-topic.

Now that Spleene and Flysurfer appear to be competitors instead of collaborators.
Do you have any thoughts on potential 'fallout' between the two companies or between the companies and their distributors?
FS has never had a large number of distributors. Now there appears to be a pattern of those distributors selling Spleene gear as well.
choices are generally a good thing for the consumer, but i sense that i will not understand all the implications for a while.
..just look at what you are doing to Fred's psyche.


@ swen,
we've never met, but your comments over the years have generally been rational and thoughtful.
As a result, i find myself accepting your opinions at face value.
I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this matter.
regards,
-bill

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby just do it » Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:18 pm

Hi Bill,
Sorry for the delayed reply but weekends are always a busy time for us.
Even though your question is a little off topic it gives me the opportunity to clarify the situation.
Spleene made kiteboards since about 2001/02. Rainer Kauper the designer/shaper and head of Spleene Germany is widely credited for his most famous creation, the DOOR.
In around 2005 Flysurfer got interested in forming a cooperation with Spleene. As Spleene was producing the best lightwind boards around and Flysurfer was also well known for their lightwind kites it seemed obvious for the two companies to work together for a common goal.
Another very important reason for the cooperation was that Rainer Kauper wanted to spend more time on the development of the products and less time in the office with the distribution and sales side. As Flysurfer already had a good office and warehouse set-up they could thus take over the sales and distribution side which worked well for both parties.
In the first year of their cooperation there were two separate board-ranges, Spleene Boards and Flyboards.
In the following years the two ranges were moulded into one and until the end of 2007 the boards had the name of Flyboards made by Spleene and were all shaped and designed by Rainer Kauper.
In 2008 both companies went their separate ways with their own offices, warehouses and sales-teams.
Now, in 2009 the boards of the two companies come from different manufacturing plants and are designed and shaped by different shapers (Spleene Shaper -Rainer Kauper, FS Shaper-Eddie L.)
There were many reasons for the parting of the two companies and amongst them was Rainer Kaupers desire to produce Spleenes own LEI-kite, the “Q”.
Over the last few years we could see that a lot of the traditional foil-advantages were being emulated by modern LEIs and especially in windranges above 12-13knts it was clear for us which way to go.
However, we could also see that in “superlightwinds” (below 10knts) and for heavier guys a big foil-kite can still offer an excellent performance potential but also felt that the prices were getting a little astronomical. So we are currently working hard on finishing our X-15 and X-19 foil-kites and hope to offer a product, which will be a real alternative to what is available right now.

So after all of that back to your original question of our cooperation with our distributors.
From my talks with most of them I could see that they all welcome the fact that they can now also offer a LEI kite to their shops and customers and that there is now a clearer differentiation between the two companies.
To grow the Spleene brand further it was important for all of us that Spleene isn’t just seen as a niche market foil or lightwind brand but as a brand that makes products for any rider, LEI or Foil, 6knots or 40knts. For this we introduced two new ranges in 2009, with different price-points, funkier graphics and better construction.
For our distributors it is a win-win situation as they can now offer products for any type of rider where they used to be slightly pigeon holed into one corner of the market.
This is especially important for them as the overall market-share of waterfoilkites is consistently declining and the majority of sales now come from the “Superlightwind Monsterfoils”.
The ones who grab this opportunity with both hands will have a great chance to expand their business further and thus they shouldn’t see it as a competition between the two brands.
Obviously we have to monitor each countries progress individually and if we feel that our brand doesn’t get the full attention and/or commitment of a certain distributor then changes will have to be made but for now I feel that as in most countries our sales are increasing rather than declining, it looks like we are taking market share away from other brands rather than eachother.

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby Ted B » Mon Jun 15, 2009 4:09 pm

Great explanation Sven!! And I agree as an Importer that It now allows to give our perspective markets a true choice and Ground Breaking new products that will cover a larger range of riders and there styles. I really like working with both companies!!!
I have just recieved the New "Q" Kites in the last weeks and have had a chance to compare them to other brands and I am very impressed with the Q Kite. The reports are 100% correct the Q kites have a incredible bottom end and a huge range a great Bar system and the kite does everything Great!! One of the best kites in the waves I have ever ridden! Very Fast But Not twitchy I am not sure how rainer and his design crew managed this But It has to be the smoothest LEI I have ever ridden. Quality is unsurpassed. Thruthfully In the begining I was not to enthusiastic about bringing another Lei to market because the lei's are so much alike But now after testing the Q kite and seeing that It is a Fantastic design with incredible performance I am so happy to be able to bring this new kite to the US market!!! We will be starting the East coast demo Tour in the next weeks.. later Guys Ted B

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby zfennell » Mon Jun 15, 2009 5:30 pm

thankyou both,
i appreciate the reply.
-bill

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Re: The new Spleene Q

Postby FredBGG » Mon Jun 15, 2009 6:01 pm

zfennell wrote:This is a bit off-topic.

Now that Spleene and Flysurfer appear to be competitors instead of collaborators.
Do you have any thoughts on potential 'fallout' between the two companies or between the companies and their distributors?
FS has never had a large number of distributors. Now there appears to be a pattern of those distributors selling Spleene gear as well.
choices are generally a good thing for the consumer, but i sense that i will not understand all the implications for a while.
..just look at what you are doing to Fred's psyche.

-bill
I think it's going to be a good thing for the distributers and I think that it will also help
as far a flysurfer distribution goes.

First of all I think that it will help distributers by increasing their volume of buisness.
LEIs are in a compative market, but they are also more mainstream... the massive marketing
collectively helps sell all LEI kites.

Second I think that it will help distributers sell flysurfes too. I think this will be becasue the distributer will have more contact with stores as a result of their LEI sales so there will be established communication with these stores. This way when the "odd ball" flysurfer kiter comes in it will be simpler for the store owner to get a flysurfer in.

I also think that if Spleene is successfull with the foil models it will also help bring foils in general into the main stream more. Having a LEI manufacturer making water foils will benefit all foil makers in general.

Regarding my psyche it's doing fine thanks to my Psycho 4s and a few doses of Speed 2 here and there... for my cardio vascular health.... well there's the Pulse 2. :wink:

The Speed 2 15m gave me a special session this weekend. Most of the kiting crowd was Down at Zuma beach waiting for wind. I was there two.. it was actually nice to hang around and chat for a while. I checked the wind from my cell phone and it was saying 12mph for a beach upwind called Leo Carrillo, but it's closed to kiters on weekends in the summer untill at least 6/7pm and even then it's not guaranteed. Anyway just downwind of Leo Carrillo there is a spot called Nicolas Cayon.
When it's 12mph at Leo Carrillo the wind at the beach at Nicolas is really really low and fluky, but is ridable 30 yards form the shore. Well I went and checked it out... yup wind on the beach was hit and miss, but the surf was comming in at a perfect angle for Nicolas Canyon. Well it was tricky keeping even the Speed 2 15m in the air but once I was out it was clean and steady. I could pick out each and every wave I wanted as I was the only one there. The waves were big... a bit to big to stay in them all the way to the shore, but they were so smooth thanks to the light wind and kelp beds upwind. It was cool to be riding in conditions that the surfers didn't consider "blown out".
Going out the speed, shape and smoothness of the wave faces made perfect ramps of big low wind airs.
Then it started to get a bit late so I was not too happy about riding into dusk by myself (no other kiters) and the wind picked up a tad so I did a fast packdown and headed back home. On the way I saw that Zuma had come up so I grabbed my 15m Psycho and went out.... If I'd had to pump up a 15m kite I would not have gone out again :thumb:

The day before was great too. About 10 kites out as the forcast was so so. We all rode for a good hour and a half... the the wind dropped. A guy showed up with a Speed 2 19m and I kept going with my Psycho 15.. ( it was a bit of a struggle for me, but the waves made it worth it. Everyone else packed up and left. For a good 40 minutes it was still very light, but I kept on going just for shits and giggles to see how light I could go.... then th wind came back for a good hour and was stronger than it had been all day... also the best waves showed up too.

All in all a great weekend with a bit of help from the right gear.

Looking forward to trying the Q


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