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ralu81
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- Posts: 122
- Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 4:08 pm
- Favorite Beaches: Sherman island, Roosevelt park- gorge, Moriah Harbor-Great Exuma Bahamas, Little Sable Point Lake Michigan, Oscoda Lake Huron, Long Beach IN Lake Michigan, Escanaba, HWY 2 U.P. Michigan, Lake St. Clair, Harsen's Island, Tawas.
- Gear: Slingshot RPM
Slingshot Rally
Duotone Evo
Liquid Force DLX
Slingshot Celeritas
- Brand Affiliation: None
- Location: Macomb, MI
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Postby ralu81 » Thu Dec 16, 2021 10:13 pm
I (like more than likely most on here) always follow the quality issues to try and get a gauge of the brands I'm interested in. Seems like for the most part each brand will have a minor thing here or there or someone does something dumb and wrecks their kite and tries to get the manufacturer to replace it. I started following North / Duotone more so right as the change was being made and ended up buying a Duotone Evo. I havent had any quality issues with the kite that I bought, but at this point after reading through this thread it'll be a while before I do. Since I started kiting in 2012 I don't ever recall this mass amount of issues with kites within their first 1-2 years of being made. Please feel free to point any others out. My first thought was that the quality issues are related to covid and either a new inexperienced staff putting the kites together or just a lack of a full staff. But I havent heard of any of the other kite companies having issues to this level and I thought a lot of the kites were made in the same facilities. So if this is true it seems like Duotone may of made some significant material and design (budget savings maybe) changes. Or they are all having these issues and we have only heard about Duotone.
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apollo4000
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 434
- Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:27 pm
- Kiting since: 2006
- Local Beach: Camber / Lancing / Whitstable
- Favorite Beaches: The next one
- Style: trying hard
- Gear: All sorts
- Brand Affiliation: Nope. Just a regular Joe.
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Postby apollo4000 » Thu Dec 16, 2021 10:57 pm
To provide some balance, I have 6x (2016,7,8) old-North kites and 3x Duotone kites (2019) and 2 x click bars (v1 and latest v). No quality issues. Not saying there aren’t quality issues with their kites, but my experience is no quality issues. I also have Ozone, Blade, Flysurfer, Gong and Kauper so not a Duotone fanboy. That said, to my eyes they appear very well made. Can’t comment about later years obvs. Change in factory in recent years? Maybe?
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andylc
- Very Frequent Poster
- Posts: 1187
- Joined: Fri Apr 07, 2017 3:26 pm
- Local Beach: Exmouth
- Favorite Beaches: Saunton Sands
- Gear: Reedin Supermodel V3 7,9,11m, Duotone Juice 13m
Saul Custom Wave Board 138cm
Nomad Superleggera LW 142cm
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Postby andylc » Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:16 pm
My personal feeling about the Juice that is currently being warrantied is that it is about too much focus on lightweight construction and performance, with less focus on durability and quality. I will be super careful with it in future!
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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
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Postby Havre » Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:37 pm
I think that is difficult to have much of an opinion on based on one “crash”. You would think testing impact damage on a bladder would be quite easy? I wouldn’t know, but I would have thought that wouldn’t be the most difficult test to do?
To me seams and glue falling apart is a much bigger issue - if that is found somewhat consistently (assuming most kites won’t just blow up of course).
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omg
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Postby omg » Fri Dec 17, 2021 8:08 am
I have a bunch of 2019, 2020 Neos and 2021 SLS Neos, and no issues whatsoever. Friends have Neos, Evos and a couple of Juices too, and have not heard anything, not saying that there's no problem at all, and it sucks when it happens :/
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Kitemenn
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 424
- Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2018 9:21 am
- Local Beach: Maasvlakte / Slufter
- Gear: North Evo 11-7m / Lieuwe Shotgun
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Postby Kitemenn » Fri Dec 17, 2021 9:26 am
andylc wrote: ↑Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:16 pm
My personal feeling about the Juice that is currently being warrantied is that it is about too much focus on lightweight construction and performance, with less focus on durability and quality. I will be super careful with it in future!
I agreethink recently too much focus on lightweight (where in most cases there is almost no use/need) going to this stronger material like alula and the new material from DT might have some downside that they connect harder by glue/seems
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thekitemonster
- Rare Poster
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 7:36 pm
- Kiting since: 2006
- Local Beach: Belmont Shore (Long Beach CA)
- Favorite Beaches: Waddel Creek
- Style: Foil, waves
- Gear: Surfboards and 2016 Moses 550/325
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Postby thekitemonster » Mon Dec 20, 2021 2:39 am
Matt V is funny. But consider how sour Alula Grapes must be to a guy flying 2014 Best kites he got from a pawn shop.
[/quote]
“A guy.. “
Or the son of the guy that owns ocean rodeo trying to convince you that the new material they just bet the farm on is better than normal material…
Seems totally impartial.
[/quote]
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thekitemonster
- Rare Poster
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 7:36 pm
- Kiting since: 2006
- Local Beach: Belmont Shore (Long Beach CA)
- Favorite Beaches: Waddel Creek
- Style: Foil, waves
- Gear: Surfboards and 2016 Moses 550/325
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Postby thekitemonster » Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:12 am
matth wrote: ↑Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:36 pm
This thread is really bumming me out. I just bought a new Rebel and like it so far, but the construction is concerning me. No signs yet but I will be watching.
Let us know how it holds up. Sometimes newer kite people let kites flap in the peak afternoon wind on the beach. But that wouldn't account for failures of the leading edge. Yes it's a worry. My 2019 Duotone Neo looks ok but I never leave it out flapping when not in use.
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Boston kiter
- Frequent Poster
- Posts: 259
- Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 3:29 am
- Kiting since: 2011
- Local Beach: Naaaaaahant
- Favorite Beaches: Chapin, Kalmus, Wing, Horseneck, Hardings, Hatch, Good Harbor.
- Style: freeride , boost, surf, foil
- Gear: Duotone 11 rebel sls, 9m Pivot sls 7m Pivot 9m UFO
Crazyfly Raptor pro, Slingshot Celero Cab secret agent/Lift 170 classic
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Postby Boston kiter » Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:06 am
thekitemonster wrote: ↑Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:12 am
matth wrote: ↑Sat Sep 18, 2021 2:36 pm
This thread is really bumming me out. I just bought a new Rebel and like it so far, but the construction is concerning me. No signs yet but I will be watching.
Let us know how it holds up. Sometimes newer kite people let kites flap in the peak afternoon wind on the beach. But that wouldn't account for failures of the leading edge. Yes it's a worry. My 2019 Duotone Neo looks ok but I never leave it out flapping when not in use.
So far so good. After about 15 sessions it looks like new.
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thekitemonster
- Rare Poster
- Posts: 32
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2018 7:36 pm
- Kiting since: 2006
- Local Beach: Belmont Shore (Long Beach CA)
- Favorite Beaches: Waddel Creek
- Style: Foil, waves
- Gear: Surfboards and 2016 Moses 550/325
- Brand Affiliation: None
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Postby thekitemonster » Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:02 am
Am I the only one here who thinks the Original Poster is trying to scam a new kite and is willing to drag Duotone thru the internet mud in order to do so? I checked all my well used kites and the seam tape only holds directly underneath the stitching. 70% of it comes loose, sand stuck to it eventually. This is normal. At least in my experience.
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