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#34
12-17-2006, 09:00 PM
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Ok, well anyway, C kites are quickly becoming history no doubting that.
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#35
12-17-2006, 11:02 PM
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I'll quote you on that a year from now Tom...
 And Bob, I said that Best kites are great now. But if you have ever flown any of the older ones, they are definitely not made as soundly as some of the more expensive ones from a few years back. Do you really think that all things are equal and some kite companies are just greedy? Just feel the fabric of an older Best vs. an older Cabby or SS or Flexi. There is a definite difference. They were good for what they were, value buys. I agree with Bayflite, all kites rock. Some are just made differently than others. Different price ranges, durability, styles, etc are needed to cover all rider preferences. I personally think that the Waroo is a better all around kite than say my Slingshot Turbo Diesel. But if you told me I was being given a C kite and could have my choice of a used Slingshot Fuel or a Best Yarga...well you tell me what you would choose...
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#36
12-18-2006, 08:24 AM
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I agree with Bayflite's sentiment that it's better to have a kite (with lines that flies) than none at all and that kiting ROCKS.
But, not all kites truly rock, at least not in the same fashion for each rider. When choosing among several kites that are of the same price range, it can be a shame to have purchased the inferior kite or the one not suited well to your style. Lots of decisions can be based on what you read or hear as opposed to a demo. All riders have different riding styles, so it's seems reasonable that different riders would want different things from their gear. In terms of equipment, one kiter's heaven might be another's hell. Toby, you said one of your cars wasn't as good as some others you mentioned. Obviously some some people want different things from different cars/trucks. I don't care if mine looks glorious as long as it lasts a long time, for instance. Still, in the long run, some vehicles are lemons, right? I wish we had a consumer reports type of mag which was totally non bias (will never happen) or a totally non biased place to get information on kites. It still amazes me when I read these kiting mags (hardly ever) that every kite mentioned is the best jumper, most range...blah blah. It gets annoying reading it, so I don't. Wouldn't it be cool if in each state their was a test or demo facility to try a bunch of stuff before a purchase? I know I would pay (if windy all day) 150 bucks to try every kite and board I could to match what felt good to me. If at the end of the day I made an informed purchase, it would have been worth it. Really cool would be if you filled out a "report" and gave feedback on the gear. I know I am dreaming and this won't happen, but that'd be cool. The thing is, for beginners (a huge fraction of the market) this wouldn't be of much use. Another cool thing would be if more demoes occured. If each company had travelling reps covering territories and demoing out of a van on a regular basis, that'd be cool. I know of a couple "tours" going on right now and others that have occurred in the past. I have always been very impressed with these. Neil, Best, Cab. and others have done this. The difficulty here is the cooperation of the wind, but it's still cool to try. I don't think anything is more powerful than a demo for a consumer. Tampa bay has oodles of riders now. Hopefully that will warrant more demos and more reps coming to us in their vans  More brands being sold locally would also be cool. With so many kites and boards out there and so many riders in St. Pete, it still amazes me how homogenous (relatively) the area is when I look around at the launch spots. It's not that way on the road in terms of the car brands I see. I bet more access to demo more gear would make for more heterogeneity. Anyway, basically just wishing I could demo cool '07 gear here and make an informed decision as opposed to reading some write up in kitermagnificent before a purchase. I am glad we share equipment here, but who is gonna buy the first ___________________ and let us demo it? (BLeighty?) Toby, this topic might keep you busy for a little while. :wink:
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#37
12-18-2006, 09:10 AM
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good post Scott.
I think most everyone in the area will let people demo their gear for a bit so they can get a feel for the equipment. Considerations need to be kept in place depending on the riders ability.. but I know that I got a few sessions on Eric's Waroo before I bought mine. Maybe if Eric had been riding his IONs at the time I might be with a different quiver of kites.. hard to say. But the area is saturated with only a few kite brands and there are TONS more options out there. Just that for me, if the ones here are tried and true and provide the fun that people want, its difficult to dive into something that is untested and hope that its all the marketing hypes it to be. that being said.. i just put down 1000$ on something i have never rode before.. just read about.. so.. we will see. And you cant dismiss a kite product based on how much it hypes itself... thats called MARKETING 101.. get that name out any way possible. BEST just was the first company to saturate the name and hype products up to the point of unbelievability.. (HELLFISH!) and caused a huge stir. They were on the brink of extinction when they hit the jackpot w/ the waroo. Tho, BEST folks still say the Hellfish was the best C kite ever.. just that it was horrendous construction flaws.. who the f**k knows.. (that debate can go on forever)
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#38
12-18-2006, 09:19 AM
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Fly it before you buy it. Even a great kite might not feel good in your hands, depending on your tastes.
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#39
12-18-2006, 10:25 AM
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Quote:
I have never had a seam fail on my best kites. I have 6 of them and have had only ONE bladder leak from when I self landed on an oyster. Don't buy into that hype. It's B.S. My friend has a REAL EXPENSIVE brand new North kite which has blown LEADING EDGE AND ALL STRUTS 2-3 TIMES in the past 6 months. That kite was far more expensive than any of my best kites and we are planning to burn it as not to put anyone else through that grief.... I am not kidding. Meanwhile I have been flying all of my best kites, one of them from 2004, for the past year and a half... and when I started I rode those kites every single time it blew, even if it was twice a day, morning and afternoon. Now out of 6 kites I should expect some sort of failure due to that cheap fabric right? A blowout? A tear? No leaks, no tears, no nuthin. How many best kites do you own Toby? A toyota will run longer and more trouble free than many more expensive cars with nicer rims and better bodywork... there is a lot to be said for simplicity... Sounds you me like you are just sore about taking a big loss on the C kites. Arent we all!
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#40
12-18-2006, 10:35 AM
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ya..
im am going to have to completely side w/ Tom on this one .. I have all 2004 Best C kites and never had a single issue with them.. and god knows i have beat a couple of those kites to SH!T many times.. I am not saying they are better than other brands.. just that I have seen nothing that would imply they are worse in any way at all. they have many many many hours of use.. and all are in perfect shape. I have heard stories that some of the 06 Waroos suffered from some issues with their leading edge seams and some w/ some issues on the wear of their bridles / pulleys. I have 4 06 waroos and I inflate them with an insane amout of PSI and never had an issue... also i clean the pulleys before every lauch and all has been well with them. Tho my 12m does seem to find comfort by flying itself into trees (actually same tree, twice).. I guess we can probably blame that on pilot error .. ho hum.
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