Sincere reviews of gear

[alfredo68]

Anyone knows about a sincere kite reviews ? Some just do copy/paste from the manufacturers catalogs etc etc.
i never saw a kite been criticize by it s review.

[plummet]

I personally find the best advice comes from a select number of experienced forum contributors who do not have a financial interest in the product.
So they are neither a brand rep, shop owner or sponsered rider. They shelled out hard earned cash to buy the gear. They will then offer advice based on the good and bad points of the gear.

Of course there is a lot of bias, unexperienced or downright wrong forum contributors. You have to weed those out that advice.

[LetsFlyaKite]

Anyone knows about a sincere kite reviews ? Some just do copy/paste from the manufacturers catalogs etc etc.
i never saw a kite been criticize by it s review.

The thing is you will never know what really is a sincere kite review and what isn't. And even then a lot of variables come into play. The wind speed, the rider's skill level, the riding conditions, the rider's style. Just about any newer kite you buy now is going to be good, it all depends on what kind of riding you want to use it for.

[Starsky]

There are plenty of people on here with long and proven track records. Sadly none of them give a shit anymore!

[Do-it]

Problem is......there are waaaaayyyyyy too many kites out there for the average rider to demo and compare. So, what does that leave, people who don't know shit about gear other than their own, or people that in some way profit from the kiting industry......

[juandesooka]

I know what you mean ... flipping through one of the mags the other day, I really do think the wording really was taken from their brochure or website. No one would use that kind of wording in an honest review written from scratch. Pretty lame, as I can read the manufacturer's marketing write up for free on their website.

There were the "Average Guy" reviews on here for a while ... I thought they were pretty good.

But if you want some no holds barred reviews, check out Seabreeze (Australian) http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/Review/
Gotta love the frankness of the Aussies, good sense of humour too.

[14ToeSide]

Check out the Aussie site. Sea breeze .com. They don't Bull wash. If they don't like something they will say they wasted money and not say: ohhhh, it turns faster, bar pressure?? What's that??? Moves through the sky like the speed of sound!!! Turns like. 1M!!! Flys in minus 1-4!!!!

[pmaggie]

In the past, I was one of the two administrators of a windsurfing site called "testwindsurf.com", quite popular here in Italy (over 100.000 contacts). We began reviewing stuff borrowed from friends, then, when the site became popular, most of the italian importers used to send us boards and sail to test. We went on many years, till we had time (and money) to spend for this project. What I learned from this experience is that it's impossible to write an unbiased review if you don't have the chance to test a lot of stuff. I ride Core kites (no affiliation!), I tested many other kites but in a totally random and unorganized way. Let me explain: e.g., someone asked a comparison about the XR4 and the Rebel. I gave my opinion but I underlined I tested only the 2014 Rebel.The XR4 is a 2015, so the comparison is not fair from the beginning. Second point: I tested the Rebel for 3/4 hours one day only. The other way, my XR is the every kiting day wing, so I'm very used to it, that leads for sure to give a better review since when you're very confident with your gear you appreciate it much more. 10 days ago I had the chance to test a FS Speed 5 15m. Not being used to foil kites, I would never write my impressions about this kite after one only hour on the water. Same story if you test two very different kites, how can you compare a Vegas and an Flite for example?
So if someone asks me which freeride kite I think is the best I frankly can't answer, not enough tests in my pockets.
About the boards in my case it's different, because it's far most common in my home spot to test someone's else board than someone's else kite, since it's easier to exchange the board. So I tested I'm not saying a lot but a quite large number of TT and I eventually bought the Shinn Bronq because it was for sure the one I liked more. About this board, the sensation I had was of a largely superior board compared with quite every other board I tested, including my old Nobile board.
To summarize, never mind the trolls, I think that the forum reviews are 99% sincere. The problem is not the sincerity, it's the lack of comparison.

[alfredo68]

In the past, I was one of the two administrators of a windsurfing site called "testwindsurf.com", quite popular here in Italy (over 100.000 contacts). We began reviewing stuff borrowed from friends, then, when the site became popular, most of the italian importers used to send us boards and sail to test. We went on many years, till we had time (and money) to spend for this project. What I learned from this experience is that it's impossible to write an unbiased review if you don't have the chance to test a lot of stuff. I ride Core kites (no affiliation!), I tested many other kites but in a totally random and unorganized way. Let me explain: e.g., someone asked a comparison about the XR4 and the Rebel. I gave my opinion but I underlined I tested only the 2014 Rebel.The XR4 is a 2015, so the comparison is not fair from the beginning. Second point: I tested the Rebel for 3/4 hours one day only. The other way, my XR is the every kiting day wing, so I'm very used to it, that leads for sure to give a better review since when you're very confident with your gear you appreciate it much more. 10 days ago I had the chance to test a FS Speed 5 15m. Not being used to foil kites, I would never write my impressions about this kite after one only hour on the water. Same story if you test two very different kites, how can you compare a Vegas and an Flite for example?
So if someone asks me which freeride kite I think is the best I frankly can't answer, not enough tests in my pockets.
About the boards in my case it's different, because it's far most common in my home spot to test someone's else board than someone's else kite, since it's easier to exchange the board. So I tested I'm not saying a lot but a quite large number of TT and I eventually bought the Shinn Bronq because it was for sure the one I liked more. About this board, the sensation I had was of a largely superior board compared with quite every other board I tested, including my old Nobile board.
To summarize, never mind the trolls, I think that the forum reviews are 99% sincere. The problem is not the sincerity, it's the lack of comparison.

[alfredo68]

Anyone knows about a sincere kite reviews ? Some just do copy/paste from the manufacturers catalogs etc etc.
i never saw a kite been criticize by it s review.

The thing is you will never know what really is a sincere kite review and what isn't. And even then a lot of variables come into play. The wind speed, the rider's skill level, the riding conditions, the rider's style. Just about any newer kite you buy now is going to be good, it all depends on what kind of riding you want to use it for.