Forum for kitesurfers
-
Matty V
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 635
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2020 2:24 pm
- Kiting since: 1998
- Gear: Home made
- Brand Affiliation: None
-
Has thanked:
44 times
-
Been thanked:
119 times
Postby Matty V » Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:54 am
Ice101 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 11:52 pm
Love the fact they pay someone that specialises in new materials yet the orbit 2022 about to be released stil has basic d2 material every one else accept fone who always seem to be the last to move on, moved on from ages ago?
If you think the kite brands are building /developing new material on the tiny tiny scale the kite industry uses cloth you are very much mistaken
They choose from what their chosen supplier has developed and then market it to you. That’s it.
Having worked for a cloth manufacturer the boldness in kites is at off cut level, you want a sample roll to build a couple of test kites? That 500 linear meters please when you really want 50
Same issue when you want a new LE/strut material
-
dracop
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 885
- Joined: Thu Nov 21, 2013 4:37 am
- Local Beach: Naska Beach - Kanaha - Maui, HI USA
Waipuliani Park - Kihei - Maui, HI USA
South Point - Hawaii, HI USA
A-Bay - Hawaii, HI USA
- Favorite Beaches: _
Kanaha - Maui, HI
Kihei - Maui, HI
South Point - Hawaii Island
Kite Beach - Cabarete, Dominican Republic
Tableview - Cape Town, South Africa
- Style: Big Air :D
- Gear: 2022 Dice 10m/12m SLS, 2022 Rebel SLS 12m, 2022 15m Aluula Juice
2017 Core Choice 2 142, 2020 Duotone Jaime Textreme, 2014 Best Breeze 145,
- Brand Affiliation: The Maui Kitesurf Company
www.mauikitesurf.com
- Location: Maui, HI
-
Has thanked:
28 times
-
Been thanked:
77 times
-
Contact:
Postby dracop » Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:29 am
While mostly true, both. Cuben Fiber and Aluula offer major benefits over Dacron.
Granted Best went BK and Aluula is still up in the air. Its not 100% stagnation though.
-
Blackened
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 1245
- Joined: Fri May 04, 2018 4:47 am
- Kiting since: 2013
- Style: Big Air, Airstyle
- Gear: 2020 Rebels
23/24 Orbits
-
Has thanked:
107 times
-
Been thanked:
512 times
Postby Blackened » Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:32 am
Ice101 and Playero:
He's being replaced by 4 people. He designed/tested/built four kites in all the sizes mostly by himself. Then helped with foils and boards. Then designed their wings. All on top of updating the kites every year. The North release says there were a lot of long hours, so I suspect he's likely just burnt out doing.. well everything. From what I've read, he's a bit of a workaholic and takes on a lot/all responsibility, so this is likely the case. Also, with Cabrinha back under original ownership, it's probably a no-brainer for him to go back home. I haven't seen/heard any evidence of horrendous management or working conditions at North just yet, so I'll go with the simplest explanation rather than a nefarious narrative.
As for poor customer service at Mystic, it started long before North owned them. From reading these forums, slow/no response seems to be industry standard anyway.
- These users thanked the author Blackened for the post:
- Havre (Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:05 am)
-
Havre
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 2176
- Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:38 am
- Kiting since: 2015
- Local Beach: Oslo
- Favorite Beaches: Jericoacoara (area) & Cabarete
- Gear: Ozone Edge v11 13m, Ozone Edge v11 9m, Ozone Zephyr 17m, Ozone Enduro v1 12m, Ozone Enduro v1 9m, HQ Topaz 7m, Shinn Ronson Player, Mystic Majestic X Harness, Mystic Stealth Bar
- Brand Affiliation: None
-
Has thanked:
324 times
-
Been thanked:
411 times
Postby Havre » Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:58 am
Why would it explain anything? He has been working for them until recently right?
Neither do I understand the obsession with "new stuff". If you look at the Orbit how much has really happened with the closest competition? Edge? Incremental changes. XR7? Some new material, but so far nothing to suggest it is more than an incremental change in terms of performance vs. the XR6. Rebel? Will be released as "SLS", but based on other kites from Duotone that typically just means they will go from being heavier than others to more or less ending up on the same weight.
That is not an argument for "stagnation". And it might very well be that the XR7 is a better kite than the Orbit 2022, but you cannot tell just because there is some new material in the XR7 in my opinion.
As for North this could go either way for me. I would imagine that the core principles in the Orbit is Pat's, but that doesn't mean someone else might not be able to tweak it better than he would - fresh eyes etc. Or it might be that the new people won't understand the fundamental properties in the kite well enough to make it better. This is one of the reasons why I'm rarely "brand loyal". Orbit 2021 might be better than the XR6, but maybe the XR7 is better than the Orbit 2022 (or vice versa) etc.
- These users thanked the author Havre for the post (total 2):
- Kerplow (Tue Sep 14, 2021 9:38 am) • Blackened (Tue Sep 14, 2021 8:59 pm)
-
Baptiste_FR
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 485
- Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:20 am
- Kiting since: 2015
- Local Beach: Normandy
- Style: Freeride
- Gear: Slingshot Rally (12-9-7m²)
- Location: France
-
Has thanked:
33 times
-
Been thanked:
151 times
Postby Baptiste_FR » Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:34 pm
One of the next question will be about the riders. Will some of them follow Pat to Cabrihna ? Because Cabrihna needs riders. The brand has not participatied in KOTA or GKA for the last 3 years. Not even a single rider in the amateur or Pro fleet in the BAKL.
-
Toby
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 50346
- Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2001 1:00 am
- Kiting since: 2000
- Weight: 95 kg
- Local Beach: Cumbuco, Brazil
Barra do Cauipe, Brazil
- Favorite Beaches: same
- Style: Airstyle
- Gear: Rebel 2015 18
- Brand Affiliation: None.
- Location: World (KF Admin)
-
Has thanked:
832 times
-
Been thanked:
2365 times
-
Contact:
Postby Toby » Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:36 pm
Baptiste_FR wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:34 pm
One of the next question will be about the riders. Will some of them follow Pat to Cabrihna ? Because Cabrihna needs riders. The brand has not participatied in KOTA or GKA for the last 3 years. Not even a single rider in the amateur or Pro fleet in the BAKL.
Did their sales drop because of this?
That’s always the big question…how much are pro riders adding to sales?
-
Baptiste_FR
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 485
- Joined: Thu Jan 09, 2020 10:20 am
- Kiting since: 2015
- Local Beach: Normandy
- Style: Freeride
- Gear: Slingshot Rally (12-9-7m²)
- Location: France
-
Has thanked:
33 times
-
Been thanked:
151 times
Postby Baptiste_FR » Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:42 pm
Toby wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:36 pm
Did their sales drop because of this?
That’s always the big question…how much are pro riders adding to sales?
That's a very good question. I don't know about the Cabrinha sales evolution. But I can say that I see a lot more Orbit and XR kite on the beach. It's been a while that I haven't seen a new Cabrinha kite in my area. I'd say that Slingshot is almost in the same position (except for their foiling kites).
-
pmaggie
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 861
- Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:54 am
- Kiting since: 2010
- Local Beach: Gera Lario, Como Lake, Italy
- Favorite Beaches: Lo Stagnone (Marsala, Sicily - Italy) - Soma Bay (Egipt) - Cabarete (Dom Rep.) - Kite beach (Maui)
- Style: Freeride
- Gear: Core XR4 11, Core Riot XR 7, Core Riot XR2 15, Flysurfer Speed 5 21, Flysurfer Sonic 3 13
Shinn Bronq 136x42, Shinn Bronq XL
- Brand Affiliation: None
- Location: Como Lake - Italy
-
Has thanked:
3 times
-
Been thanked:
31 times
Postby pmaggie » Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:01 pm
@Baptiste: I'm not sure about what I'm going to tell but sometimes I have the impression that on a certain spot in a certain period a brand "rules" not because it's better than others but due to the fact that if I see with my eyes or, better, if I have the chance to test a Brand X kite, it's far more likely that I will buy that kite in comparison to others I've never seen not tested. So it happens that Mario buys an X kite, Angelo is a friend of Mario and borrows the X kite from Mario. They both like the X kite, so they tell everyone on the spot that the X kite is so good. People see Mario and Angelo planing full speed and think "omg, this is a superb kite, I want one" and so on.
Another explanation can be the work of a local dealer, same story: you can test a kite, you like it, you buy it and after you your kite buddies.
Last edited by
pmaggie on Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
ARK
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 616
- Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 4:35 am
- Gear: North
-
Has thanked:
89 times
-
Been thanked:
71 times
-
Contact:
Postby ARK » Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:13 pm
Baptiste_FR wrote: ↑Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:34 pm
One of the next question will be about the riders. Will some of them follow Pat to Cabrihna ? Because Cabrihna needs riders. The brand has not participatied in KOTA or GKA for the last 3 years. Not even a single rider in the amateur or Pro fleet in the BAKL.
Cabrinha has some of the best ....Adueri Corniel and Therese Taabbel and in big air Camdyn Kellett is a name for the future and competed in BAKL.
I
- These users thanked the author ARK for the post:
- Mike101 (Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:04 pm)
-
Toby
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 50346
- Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2001 1:00 am
- Kiting since: 2000
- Weight: 95 kg
- Local Beach: Cumbuco, Brazil
Barra do Cauipe, Brazil
- Favorite Beaches: same
- Style: Airstyle
- Gear: Rebel 2015 18
- Brand Affiliation: None.
- Location: World (KF Admin)
-
Has thanked:
832 times
-
Been thanked:
2365 times
-
Contact:
Postby Toby » Tue Sep 14, 2021 3:55 pm
Here is the official press release about the new design/R&D team:
viewtopic.php?t=2411135
Return to “Kitesurfing”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: alford, Brent NKB, cglazier, Google [Bot], Indulang, purdyd, rnelias, Slappysan, suisd12, vladi elthve, zerogee_ca, zzzzzz and 360 guests