Best kites/ China kites

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lurch

312 posts

lurch

WA, 312 posts

26 Sep 2004 11:13am

I'm looking at buying new/ near new kites and I see this deal from Best which looks surprisingly good for some one who has limited knowledge of manufacturing. The feedback sounds good and the kites look like they will stand up to a good hammering. Just want some info on why I should buy a known brand and spend twice the money instead of going for these China kites. Is it true all kites are manufactured in China at a small number of factories and would this make all kite brands China kites?

pedro

44 posts

pedro

WA, 44 posts

27 Sep 2004 9:18am

lurch - I was in your position earlier in the year - looking at secondhand gear, trying to work out what was good value, and doing it all with little knowledge of what a really good kite actually looked like compared to a crap one

In the end I went with Best on their 3 for 2. I've been really happy - great value for money and people with a good deal more experience than me say they're the genuine article. You can either order them online or through Brownee here in Perth. He'll probably let you play with some gear first if you wanna try 'em out.

The big brands are definately getting cheaper too so worth looking around but probably not as good a value as Best yet, IMO.

Hurrah

NSW

382 posts

Hurrah

NSW, 382 posts

27 Sep 2004 11:31am

Lurch,

Go the 3 for 2 deal through Kitepower in Sydney as this is way better than importing it yourself. As I understand it Brownee is only a test centre and you will still need to pay Duty, GST and import costs.

(I'm not affiliated with Kitepower in anyway!)

Just much easier to go through KP and it's free postage to you from either their Geelong or Sydney Store. Also you get to choose the colour as they have them in stock there. Through BEST, it's whatever they currently have.

In respect to your China kite comparison, there are manufacturers in China and Sri Lanka (ezzy factory)

These factories make them under licence to the various brands. No doubt some of them share the manufacturers. Your reference to China Kites though is flawed as China Kites also refered to the brand China Kite that was a flop.

you don't call a Mercedes made in Mexico, Mexican do you ? or a BMW made in South Africa.... you know what I mean.

Andrew

148 posts

Andrew

WA, 148 posts

27 Sep 2004 4:25pm

hey Lurch

no need to import kites... the best value kites on the Australian market are Sandgroper Kites (8 metre RRP $799 to 16 metre $999RRP brand new) SOS in Perth have all sizes in stock now, as does Long Reef in Sydney (for a complete list of retailers please go to the website). Also happy to organise a demo for you if interested. These kites are designed for the beginer to intermediate kiter with moderate Aspect Ratio & tough construction.

Andrew
www.sandgroperkites.com
(Seabreeze sponsor)

poor relative

9106 posts

poor relative

WA, 9106 posts

27 Sep 2004 4:54pm

check out liquid force, based in rockingham.
The guys name is Jason. he does some great deals on Liquid force gear, plus other brands.
Call him at Full tilt kiteboarding
Mobile: 0411 510 514
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.fulltilt.com.au

Well worth it in my hmble opinion. I just got two new (04) kites, and board for a great deal.
Mike

lurch

312 posts

lurch

WA, 312 posts

27 Sep 2004 5:59pm

Hey all
Thanks for the feed back, it looks like theres a hell of a lot of kites coming onto the market, well worth shopping around for a good deal. Only prob with testing the kites is that I'm in Shark Bay and its a long drive to go for a test spin. Unless of course you want to come up here and bring your gear up. At the moment it is 25kts ssw and flat water as far as the eye can see, unreal conditions but i busted 2 kites last week that are now in Perth for repairs. The wind pattern is settling in and this is what it will be like until the end of summer, hence the reason for new kites very soon!! Last week there were a few crew up but this week theres no one around so if your coming up I'll see you on the beach.

Andrew

148 posts

Andrew

WA, 148 posts

28 Sep 2004 10:33am

Hi Lurch,

You may wish to give Mark Longhurst ph 0418 951 362 a call.

Mark retails Sandgroper Kites out of Broome, but I have a feeling he gets down your way a bit... so hopefully he can help you out. Also, no problems organising a demo through Mark.

Also, Rik from Sailwest in Geraldton sells Sandgroper kites, in case you travel that far south... once again no probs organising a demo through Rik.

kind regards
Andrew
www.sandgroperkites.com

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