More a point of curiosity than anything:
Has any manufacturer in kites or boards dropped the ball in a specific year of manufacturing and design? Or are all design elements and tweaks always positive from year to year? Has a kite design been "dumbed down" (for lack of a better phrase) from a specific style of riding to a more all-terrain kite? (Instead of the other direction - become more specific).
Has kite design and quality always unrelentingly ground forwards, or have most companies encountered 'hiccups' every so often?
In some other sports I partake in, there is always a demand for a specific year of manufactured equipment in certain circumstances, because they were considered the "golden years" of that company and design. Or in other cases there were people on the company team that joined and influenced it for the best, or who departed and caused a drop in quality.
Don't know about dropping the ball but I've read here that the 2013 Cab Switchblades have less bottom end "grunt" than previous models.
Mark Shinn used to be with Nobile but now produces some of the most raved about boards on his own, can't verify whether this has had any adverse effect on the latest Nobile range or not.
These are just 2 points that came immediately to mind but I might stand corrected by some of our more knowledgable fellows.
Cheers
There we go: I stand corrected by one of our more knowledgeable fellows, Thanks Paul, good info!
I check my line lengths on the bar about twice a season but that would not help if the factory got the bridle lengths wrong now would it? Will definitely check it out when upgrading to the 2013 SB.
over all they are getting better each year but a few that come to mind are the link,hellfish and sigma kites although i am sure there are a few that liked these kites. Oh and that total depower system naish had in the early days was pretty bad.
quality id say is better, but the kites are built a lot less robust than a few years ago, i love my ozone edges but wish theyd beef them up here and there, but then they wouldnt be so damn efficient, its a tough one
I don't think there's been any major leaps forward in the last couple of years. Kites are getting more specialised to a specific task. I bought a 2013 c4 (after loving the 2010 and 2011 c4)and hated it completely. absolutely horrible for my freeriding style. Awesome for the wake stylers but they killed it for the average joe that use to like the c4.
yea, seems like the SS Rally went from a really good wave kite in '11 & '12 to a more all around kite in '13 but not the same wave kite at all. most do not seem to like it as much in the waves but it just might be because it is different and not what they expected so may take a bit of time to figure it out. might be as good, might not in the waves but a better all-rounder for sure. If that was what you were asking about?
'Some' big and small kite brands are starting to drop the ball after having acheived leaps n bounds... The current bull**** trend is to design kites that are lightweight - have great performance but fall apart not long after from 'standard' use.
I thought it was just me But after talking to a few kite repairers - its starting to happen with a lot of brands using the same top shelf material !
One of the problems starting to occur is struts tearing at the bomb proof points or splitting at the fold point when packed up, you can see the material change colour over time, where the fold creases are.
I would rather have my kite built rock solid with heavier material and more focus on strut/strength design as it has been left out compared to very strong triple stitched/double bladdered leading edges..
The industry has catered to bottom end design, which is nice for 1 kite quivers - but a lot of advanced riders dont want that as they know where there sweet spot is and will change sizes accordingly - and guess what, they ride their smallest kite for the best top end jump/trick control. So bring back specialist high performance Rock solid kites with short ranges... Its why we now have speciaist wave kites being made as the standard Humdinger isnt cuttin it anymore...
Personally I would say that North has dropped the ball with their 2013 Trust bar.
Seen and heard so many complaints with plastic inserts breaking, faulty lines breaking, plastic ends coming off, no micro loop facility, grip wear, all these issues and the bar is not a year old.
The 'never fail' quick release is the only redeeming feature.
I guess for a small example I have a 2010 Zephyr I notice a lot more padding on the leading edge which is quite useful as the later models had slightly less padding which resulted some stitching been worn and loosened, due to leading edge rubbing on the sand.
