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2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

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aendorphin
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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby aendorphin » Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:52 pm

20211110_214927.jpg
This is my TrustBar 2021 with Freestyle Chicken Loop
I use this about 20 times in the past 8 months.
Most time on sweet water, no sand
I'm 90 kgs, I use a Dice 13m, I think ride "hard". I still use 13 when most people on 10m.
Do you think this is normal?
Will it break soon?
Can I get a guarantee on it?
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Leon van Bergen (Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:36 am)
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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby Havre » Wed Nov 10, 2021 10:50 pm

Never seen anything like that before so I would say it is not normal. I would have asked for a replacement. What happens if you go all the way through and you are basically just hooking the rope to your harness?

Anecdotal of course, but my first bar still looks fine and that I used for almost 5 years.

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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby Leon van Bergen » Thu Nov 11, 2021 8:35 am

Toby wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 5:01 pm
Kitemenn wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 1:13 pm
Toby wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 11:35 am


That’s normal after heavy use. Old, new, same same.
Define heavy use...I know this guy and bar is less then 1 year old no more than 30 sessions. Doesnt sound like heavy use to me...otherwise I will be in trouble soon as well

What’s his weight? Kite size and wind speeds?

Of course, it should not happen at all.
When the CL has bents and plastic opens up, be careful, sands gets inside.

Will the plastic get worn out on harness lines as well?
Toby, your comment that its normal with new gear is kind of weird and compared to others around me it is not heavily used. Sure you should be able to rely more on new material, safety is the main reason for me to buy new.
I weigh 75kg and when it happened I was op a 9m in 30kts but i also used it in 40kts. 50% sweet water without sand and I use just a hook, no rope and I didn't do megaloops or anything, I've only been looping for a year.
I literally fell down like a brick because I had zero lift and believe me, that scared the hell out of me!
I've seen many small issues before and for example with a broken line you often still have some lift, but with this completely zero. I can't call this normal or a minor issue.

@aendorphin of course that's not normal after 8 months use, you should get a new one from your dealer, they won't bother, Duotone service is excellent. I got a new one sent to me the next day

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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby wrogu » Thu Nov 11, 2021 6:00 pm

aendorphin wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:52 pm
20211110_214927.jpg
This is my TrustBar 2021 with Freestyle Chicken Loop
I use this about 20 times in the past 8 months.
Most time on sweet water, no sand
I'm 90 kgs, I use a Dice 13m, I think ride "hard". I still use 13 when most people on 10m.
Do you think this is normal?
Will it break soon?
Can I get a guarantee on it?
Warranty claim. Or be brave and take the beating :cool2:

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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby Blackened » Fri Nov 12, 2021 12:45 am

aendorphin wrote:
Wed Nov 10, 2021 9:52 pm
This is my TrustBar 2021 with Freestyle Chicken Loop
I use this about 20 times in the past 8 months.
Most time on sweet water, no sand
I'm 90 kgs, I use a Dice 13m, I think ride "hard". I still use 13 when most people on 10m.
Do you think this is normal?
Will it break soon?
Can I get a guarantee on it?
As Toby said, this is a frequent occurrence. Happened on two of my old trust bars from 2015/16. I rode them for over a year with two cracks in each one. I'm pretty sure the plastic/rubber only provides protection for the rope, which provides the strength. As long as the rope is in good shape, I doubt it'll fail.

But, if it's still under warranty, just get it replaced.

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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby downunder » Fri Nov 12, 2021 2:00 pm

hmmm,

guys, when the loop is broken like this, it is very very hard to clip in after release.

It is not about failing, but the normal and safe operation.

if this is a normal due to a heavy use, I have a loop with hundreds of hours, like 500, which did not crack. FS brand.

Poor material choice, that is.

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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby aitorlopezosua » Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:10 pm

Feeling better in a bad way as last year I am breaking literally everything, saying that kite is holding but trailing edge material is deteriorating now and I can see glue yellowing so I imagine that I need to keep an eye on the panels seams.

Before starting the list I want to say that so far I have been cover by DT warranty always (waiting on the board now) but it is a tedious process sometimes and getting replacements takes up to 4 weeks or more. On top of that your self confidence it is getting undermined what stops you doing things. Gear is performing great but like a lot of people say, durability and materials are suffering a lot and incidents are too often happening.

I’m a 100kg rider and a usual rider, Covid stopped me kiting a bit but now I’m putting more pressure on gear with hand drags, dark slides, helliloops and starting low loops. My gear is well used and well cared.

Kites: Before 2021 12m EVO SLS I have cracked two kites on the leading edge after 3 months and 6 month of use, 2020 model. I have seen similar fractures on 2019 models and heard about it in other 2020 models, all EVO 12m cracking next to last bridal attachment next to the tips.
DT covered only the repair, local supplier took the kite and replace with new one. Not happy here with DT ignoring possible faulty design.

Harness: Cracking a hook during dark slide (my fault as I didn’t replace it after the recall) and two buckles opening airborne. No injuries, interesting self rescues later.

NTT Bindings,4/5, I lost count, from 2020 and 2021. So far 2022 is holding. I have been on Apex bindings, solid an fit in DT boards, but it has a resume range of movement and they are a bit harder so my knees and meniscus complains a bit.

Click bar: While the new lines are good, the bar still have same old lines in the lower section and inside the bar. I’m deteriorating in 2/3 months the red line, internal leader lines are having friction inside of the floaties and is not an easy point to inspect. EVA Grip? Sorry, this one is shit. So many break and bad manufacturing exposing the internal structure of the bar. I have seen multiple cases of grip issues and leader lines breaking on different type of rides, some are not pushing the gear to break it in a period of 6 months so I can’t believe DT quotes of “isolated incidents”, “bad manufacturing batch”, “we haven’t seen it before”… and seen this chat helps me too see I am not alone.

CL: Everyone told me last week I was breaking the unbreakable. Seeing a few cases makes me think. Scares me the shit out of me if the incident up high happened in shallow water.

Board: 1 year old board, high of the range and fractured under the footpad. I have seen other 2021 boards with same fractures.

Again, great performance gear but it is breaking so quick: Manufacturing shortcuts, pushing too much? Funny fact, DT wants to be green, recycle and CO compensated. Good on you but if things breaks and need constant replacements we are increasing the waste.

Really, we need to provide feedback, help to develop the sport but companies need to respond, as it has happened with Ion and Mystic recently.

Few pics to have fun guys.
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aitorlopezosua
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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby aitorlopezosua » Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:16 pm

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Kitemenn
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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby Kitemenn » Sat Nov 13, 2021 10:22 am

aitorlopezosua wrote:
Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:16 pm
EB605A9F-E59E-4514-92F5-5D334C4583F3.jpeg1271D507-8A68-49D7-AFE5-85FF585AE16B.jpeg
Respect that you still stay with a brand after so many incidents! I completely agree with you that DT doesnt have the focus on the right points! They seem to skip steps where they are most essential…at a certain point people break legs/arms or worse! Their lines (apparently still used on some parts of the new bar) are just below par! Love the clickbar but upgrading the lines is such an easy upgrade and would mean a significant safety step up! Also additional costs should be limited in my view

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Re: 2021 Duotone Kites poor construction quality ?

Postby SolarSet » Sat Nov 13, 2021 3:45 pm

They must made thorough assessment what mąkę better business model, improving equipment quality and have thorough less warranty claims or make it cheaper, disposable and just live with these claims.
Core Sensor bar is about same price as DT yet their lines are far stronger, never heard someone snapping core bar lines.
Last edited by SolarSet on Sat Nov 13, 2021 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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