Hi Peeps,

As a retailer, I take a very keen interest in kites and reviews of kites. Of course I ride and review all of the kites I sell but also take a close look at competitors kites and demo them where I can so I have an informed opinion. I listen closely and quiz people of their thoughts after they have demo'd other kites to try and develope a picture of what the average punter wants from kites and what they like and don't like.

It is of great interest and concern that you only really see raving reviews in the Reviews Section. This of course could be partially explained by the industry producing better and better kites each year so there is not as much rubbish out there.

Even more curiously however, I have seen and heard of several people who bag the kites they have purchased or demo'd on the beach after having less than average sessions, and yet offer glowing reviews on the forum to others. Yep, not a negetive word or even a hint of realism about their experience. Why is this?

Makes me wonder if people are on the payroll, biased through shop links, or are trying to justify their poor purchase choice to others to make them feel better about their kites. Are people in fear of the red thumbs from people who think they are attacking their fave brand, or being accused of a pimp?

Where is the realism in some reviews? Have you bought a kite on hype and been really disappointed?

DM

People who dislike the kite they've bought then give it a good review are as you said, just making themselves feel better about their poor decision.

As for when i'm demoing and reviewing... i'm only one person trying the kite in one or maybe two sessions (if lucky), with a strong predisposition towards some types of kites, a particular riding style, a preference to a specific turning speed and style, a predisposition to a particular bar setup and safety system. If you change any one of those preference variables the kite that i hate may be the kite that the next person loves.

Personally, when i borrow a kite from a shop or friend to demo and i don't like it i don't jump on the intawebz and publicly criticise it unless i can distinguish between my own personal preferences/predispositions and any faults/flaws of the actual kite. These days there aren't really any glaring faults/flaws making it through the R&D stage so there really isn't much to factually report on.

If it's name and shame time then the kite i was most disappointed in recently was the Naish Park, but i'm putting it down to conditions rather than a bad kite.

Most reviewers compare the reviewed kite to the kite they currently ride so all reviews are therefore subjective.

The only way to get a true picture is to read reviews from many sources and then consume a lot of salt. Then test a few kites, write a biased review and buy the one with the best graphics!!

More comfortable to ride while taking a poo and then park in a tree!

Yeh, that bothers me aswell. I am of the opinion that if someone gets any sort of benefit by writing the review it should be disclosed in the review. I haven't read the reviews on this site but there is a guy on another oz kiting site that writes glowing reviews (that at times sound like advertisements) of a particular brand of open cell foil kites and then upgrades those 'perfect' kites at the first opportunity. If the kite is so good why does he want to get rid of it so soon? Dude writes "definately the most exiting kite I've flown" and "you will never out grow it" in the review and then sold the same kite less then 6 months later saying he had used it 5 times only!

Since I ride those same foil kites I take that as a sign I needn't bother upgrading!

AKSonline said...

Hi Peeps,

As a retailer, I take a very keen interest in kites and reviews of kites. Of course I ride and review all of the kites I sell but also take a close look at competitors kites and demo them where I can so I have an informed opinion. I listen closely and quiz people of their thoughts after they have demo'd other kites to try and develope a picture of what the average punter wants from kites and what they like and don't like.

It is of great interest and concern that you only really see raving reviews in the Reviews Section. This of course could be partially explained by the industry producing better and better kites each year so there is not as much rubbish out there.

Even more curiously however, I have seen and heard of several people who bag the kites they have purchased or demo'd on the beach after having less than average sessions, and yet offer glowing reviews on the forum to others. Yep, not a negetive word or even a hint of realism about their experience. Why is this?

Makes me wonder if people are on the payroll, biased through shop links, or are trying to justify their poor purchase choice to others to make them feel better about their kites. Are people in fear of the red thumbs from people who think they are attacking their fave brand, or being accused of a pimp?

Where is the realism in some reviews? Have you bought a kite on hype and been really disappointed?

DM

As I have found out DM kiting is made up of a big percentage of knobs. (Especially MLC office types) That's one of the reasons I stopped working for you. It drove me banannas on the beach putting up with them day in day out. One funny thing I used to get at Pinna's was the ...."I'd like a demo of the new **whatever**.. I asked them what they had already.. Then I asked if they really liked it.. Majority of times the answer was 'yeah I really love it'... So I used to think 'why the hell do you want to change from something that you love and is working for you to something different which I know you will complain about anyways'? ????

At the end of the day Darren you're a professional, you've see it all!. Then there are the good sound kiters at the beach who don't make much fuss and do their thing, and then others which are mentioned above which frequent forums too much, talk pooh at the beach about brands and how good this or that is and hop from shop to shop asking the same brain dead questions which they already know the answer to.

I cant wait to come back to kiting for enjoyments sake and not have to listen to all the drama that goes with it.

Darren there are four possibilities.

1. The subjective review based on someone having a vested interest in selling the product.

2. They are riding a new kite, with improved technology hence it can only feel better.

3. A punter does will generally always justify their purchase. For instance a friend of mine talked for over an hour about his new great wall can purchase, but it is still a great wall!

4. They genuinely believe the kite, based on sound experience to deliver a great ride. The more specific the description I find, the more targeted the kite's description to a certain type of rider, the more point 4 is true.

Generally it can be mixture of all the above.

As I have said about the Kahoonas i ride, powerful grunt, park and ride surfs well, but not good upwind, not good for fly and follow, the power spike is too great at times, bigger sizes turn a little slow, and they 'twitch' at their top end too much. this being said where I kite, bottom end is paramount because the wind will drop out a lot due to the effects of a large estuary on the seabreeze. Bottom end is paramount and they have amazing bottom end, they are smooth to fly and stable as a kite can be. They are also very inexpensive. There you go - the pros and the cons, I still love the kite!

All kites are good if you send them hard enough.
Huck and chuck baby, huck and chuck!

I am stunned at the diferent appreciation of various riders on the same gear.

I recently demoed 2 of the new airush product range and absolutely hated one while the other one brought my kiting sooo much forward in 2 sessions that I feel that although I am back on the old cab, I am kiting better.

I since spoke to at least 4 different riders all with good level and they all swear by the kite I couldn't stand????

Would it be unfair for me to go and bash the product in a review, I think so,it is obviously the right kite for many folks but definately not my cup of tea.

Also if the shop owner gives me the opportunity to try out for free the latest gear,it is common courtesy to not abuse the privilege by flaming down their product.

I still need to demo 2 kites, the catalyst and the rrd religion and it will be time to front the dollars.

If only i didn't break a rib trying to bodysurf that cyclone swell

tightlines said...

terryzarmzof said...

Saffer said...

Bigwavedave said...

and buy the one with the best graphics!!

Why do so many people buy cabrinha then?

old blokes and learners dont know that the kite has no performance or quality materials. geez the new material degrades fast on the cabrina's this year

Someone should tell Keahi that then.

Should also tell current world record holding speed sailor Rob Douglas.

Mind you I had a good laugh at the "Poo 'n' park in a tree" comment, anything for a laugh

Fossil

Instead of cutting & pasting the product description given by the manufacturers, I think Australian Kiteboarding Magazines should publish real gear tests in their magazines, tested by riders without any industry influence...that's probably where the issue could be, because Magazines get their money from advertisers, and if the mag says "this kite is ****"; well, maybe they will loose one advertiser... But journalism should in theory not be influenced by the industry... so I really think Australian magazines should develop this.

Although the professionalism of iKsurf Mag appears to be uncertain (recent Andy Yates article in iKsurf mag), they have some of the best gear reviews out there.


Publishing gear reviews could help having more professional and "neutral" opinions of the gear we would like to buy, but trying a kite yourself is always better than listening or reading other people opinion ;0)

8 Frothers and Tweakers

stoff said...

Reviews are bs anyway. If the truth is told, kites are no better today than the rhino1, x2 vintage. Anyone that thinks they are is a shop owner or pimp!!!

I know you want to keep your morals intact Darren , but every day around the world people are voting in politicians based on the bs that comes out of their mouths. Why would kiting be any different ?

Well your on the money in certain respects, the latest kites still cant do some things as well as the old R1 and X2.

AKSonline said...

As a retailer, I take a very keen interest in kites and reviews of kites.

If you were a smart kite-pimp, a cunning brand-whore ...
you wouldn't waste your time reading and writing essays in the review section.
You'd go straight to the main-board.
That's where the action is, that's where you'll find the main game being played out.
These guys are the sh1thouse rats of the forum, slippery rodents that scurry through the slimey drainpipes of Seabreeze.
A typical rat-dropping reads as follows:

"Man, have you joined the test-team yet?"

"Dude, I just got qualified."

"Wow, congrats man. It's pretty exclusive you know."

"Tell me about it, dude. I was lucky. Do you think the general public will be allowed to join?"

"Maybe. Man, the kites do fly smooth, hey?"

"Dude, they fly the smoothest of smooth."

"Man, there's no kite smoother."

"Dude, the 6m has the power of an 8."

"Yeah man, and it's not a big 6m, is it?"

"No dude, it might look like an 8 but it's still a 6m."

"Yeah man, I hear they are bringing out a 5m."

"Dude, they need to. I can't use my 6m in strong wind."

"And man, how cool are the graphics?"

"Dude, I just love how simple the graphics are. I just love how...errr, there are no graphics."

"Yeah man, that's what makes them awesome."

"And dude, there's no kite smoother."

seems pimping maybe against the law......

www.news.com.au/finance/allergy-pathway-has-bad-reaction-to-false-reviews-posted-on-website-and-fan-sites/news-story/ffb57e5f8942e9f3cf0af57729ef3b81

Most reviews i've read seem like a load of bulls**t ,everything seems to read as a 9/10 or a 10/10 after only one ride in obviously ideal conditions ,i mean what a load of crap,a review should be based on multiple tests in a variety of conditions,not a one off ride in ideal conditions.