Now I know no one likes to read my reviews but hey, I have just come in from an excellent session at my secret spot (not really that much of a secret), about head high right handers, wind south-southeast ranging from 20 - 30 knots.

My experience - Advanced, 9 years kiteboarding, preference waveriding. lots of competition experience. Surfing for over 20 years.

Weight = 95 - 98 kgs. (before and after beers!)
Height = 6'2"
Stance = Goofy.

Time spent testing 2.5 hours in total.

KITES TESTED:
9m North REBEL 2008
9m Naish CULT
10m Naish ALLIANCE.

BOARDS TESTED:
2008 North Rocketfish 5'9"
2008 Naish CR wave 6'1"
2008 Naish 5'5" Fish

Firstly the wind was gusty, and powerful, great conditions for testing de-power kites. Extremely difficult launch, very tricky inside section, and excellent waves.

Kites, I found that out of the three, the Cult definatly had more power, I reckon I could have ridden a 7.5m and still been fine for bottom end. The Rebel has a real power band as it passes through the middle of the window, extremely punchy. And the Alliance felt very similar to the Torches full time power, it just pulled consistantly and probable a little more powerful than the REBEL.
I found the Rebel turned the fastest, but the Cult and Alliance were more powerful through the turns.
Bar pressure for both de-power and turning was the lightest and smoothest on the CULT, the Alliance and REBEL have similar weight on the bar. The Sigma kites were both smoother through the full de-power range, and achieved a more consistant bar feel all the way to full de-power, though the REBEL was very close. I would say the Rebel turned with less linial input than the other two.
Relaunch, didn't try the REBEL (didn't drop it), ALLIANCE and CULT were effortless!, Cult if by far the easiest, the ALLIANCE relauched like a normal shift kite, but was conciderably faster
Responsiveness. REBEL and ALLIANCE were pretty similar, both very direct, and the kites responded to every input immediately. I would say that the ALLIANCE had a bit more power and had a more consistant pull, the REBEL was a little more friendly on the sides, but fast and responsive in that power band I described above. The Cult is super light on the bar, and far more responsive than any bridled kite I have ever flown, very close to the REBEL and ALLIANCE but you can still tell that it's an SLE, only just though! All three kites had great responce when fully sheeted out, enabling fast kiteloops and under turns whilst going down the line in big gusts fully de-powered.
I was able to achieve more de-power on the CULT with out changing adjuster strap or vario cleat settings, it seemed to have the biggest wind range, followed very closely by the REBEL, the ALLIANCE still pulled quite hard at it's full range, but definately achieved significantly more de-power than 2007 Torch (i am using torch to describe the ALLIANCE's characteristics, because it is the closest to the way the ALLIANCE feels).
All up, all three kites were amazing.
My personal prefernce:
For waves would have to be the CULT, I have ridden Naish Kites for over 8 years now, and feel pretty at home on them, but I don't think it would take me long to feel at home on the REBEL.
If I was still doing freestyle, the ALLIANCE would be my kite of choice hands down, everything I love about the TORCH, and then so much more. The REBEL has come a long way though from the 2007 model, with that power band, high load freestyle moves are definately more achievable.
I didn't do any jumping!

BOARDS:
5'5" Fish, loved this board last year, and nothing has changed! I rode this board un-strapped. This board kills it, it's super loose, can handle more speed than it should for it's width, and is great in the pocket. Turns super tight!

The 5'9" RF, this boards looks the most impressive. I rode this board strapped. Super clean lines, very thin rail profile, looks like a pro surfers board. I found it held nice on a long line, carried speed well and had great speed control. I felt the fins may need some tweeking for high speed powerful turns. Board felt responcive but secure under your feet. But as a package, definately impressive!

The 6'1" CR, I rode this board strapped. Looks like it should ride more boaty than it does. I found I could ride this board harder and faster (considerably) than the other two. Carried more speed into harder and tighter turns. Felt very balanced and light under your feet.

Personally, I can't go past the 5'5" Fish for small snappy surf, great for strapless freestyle, excellent bottom end, very fats up wind. Between the RF and the CR, I felt more at home on the CR, but I still like the look of the RF, I will need more testing.

Sorry about the spelling, it's never been a strong point for me!

All the boards rocked, and kites just keep getting better, makes you wonder how they keep getting better every year!

Regards,

JB

Hi Meerkat,

Thanks for the props on the review.

Like anything in life, generally you get what you pay for in one way or another. This years kites are no exception, their are some real innovations and design feats that have significantly changed expectations for this years kites, and for the future.

I hope you get the chance to try some of the 2008 kites.

regards,

JB

quote:

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Originally posted by JB

Hi Meerkat,
Like anything in life, generally you get what you pay for in one way or another.

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Agree. Problem is i have an watersports addiction and need, NAY, have to purchase multiple bits of kit each year for each sport and fudging is required on the balance sheet. Naish(and other brands) cannot afford to produce sub-par kit, the industry has moved in leaps and bounds(even if the kit hasn't matched for pace :) and would be pretenders will be found out.

I WANT MY CAKE AND I WANT TO EAT IT, is what i am saying :).

Have three more brands to demo before i decide on this year's purchase. Still undecided but getting closer. Will do a review once the kite has been chosen.

Meerkat,

I urge you to wait until the CODE arrives. It is the price point SIGMA kite from Naish. It will be cheaper than the CULT, but still flies amazingly. They have been able to make a kite that performs at the level of it bigger brothers, but with less bells and whistles. There is no Octopus inflation, and the canopy is only one colour. But I saw Robby Naish out-boost every single importer at the Maui meeting on a 9m CODE. This kite flies fast and responsive, and delivers performance your used to paying a lot more money for. ETA is November, pricing will be confirmed soon! It is not out of reach to have the latest kites!

BTW, CODE is not a school or beginner kite, it is a price point performance kite! And it does perform!!

Regards,

JB

Hi JB,

Nice review!

I have two questions that you might help:
- How do Alliance and Cult compare to Helix?
- What bar setting did you use? 2:1 or 1:1? If 1:1 how do you compare bar travel between the three?

Thanks.

I flew the SIGMA kites on 1:1, there is really no need to use the 2:1 option (which only comes with the HELIX). The CULT and CODE only come with 1:1 bars (no pulleys).

Although incredibably smooth, the REBEL had a more on and off power over roughly the same bar movement, the CULT was definately the smoothest at delivering the de-power, and the ALLIANCE was at a similar smoothness to the CULT, but didn't achieve the same amount of de-power for the same bar movement as both the other two.

Now I didn't ride the HELIX yesterday, but I have ridden all the SIGMA kites back to back before (in MAUI). All the SIGMA kites boast the same fantastic performance due to the SIGMA outline and the GEO-TECH. The main difference is...

HELIX - a slightly more open span = slightly bigger wind range. Greater stability in the top end due to the 7 struts (over the 5 strut models). an advantage to bigger riders, or those who like to ride over powered.

ALLIANCE - The next step down in the span (slightly more than CULT, but less than HELIX. we talking 1-2% here, not much).
Very direct feel, and constant power (very similar to the TORCH). Perfect Freestyle kite, or for those who love the SIGMA and GEO-TECH but don't like bridals. Slightly less de-power for the same bar movement of the other SIGMA kites. (the kite is able to achieve the same de-power, but you will need strap pulled on).

CULT - The Next step down in span (slightly less than the ALLIANCE but slightly more than the CODE, once again tiny difference).
Slightly lighter than both the HELIX and ALLIANCE due to the 5 struts, lighter bar feel as the kite is not as rigid as a 7 strut kite. Great kite for nearly every one, this kite I see being the biggest seller, both performance and price are unreal! I like it in the waves because it is a tiny bit lighter.

CODE - Basically a price point version of the CULT. NO octopus inflation, and only one canopy colour. This kite amazed me in MAUI, I honestly had to force my self to try it as I kind of automatically moved it into the begginner/school catagory. This is not so, it is price point, this kite kicks ass big time. Anyone will be able to rip as hard as anyone else on this kite, no holding back!

All the sigma kites are amazing to fly, and you could really fly any of them in any condition and find it hard to find a winner. The biggest difference in the range is between the HELIX,CULT,CODE and the ALLIANCE (obviously SLE vs. SHIFT).


Now Torch vs. ALLIANCE.
This is hard as the TORCH has been my favourite kite since it's unvailing in 2005, and I don't want to put it down.
The 2008 Torch is basically the same kite as 2007, slight modifiaction to the wind tip patches, and a graphic change (if it ain't broken, don't funk with it!). Were the ALLIANCE out flies it is in stability, GEO-TECH and SIGMA make the kite able to achieve amazing angles of attack without distorting the canopy or loosing laminar flow. The ALLIANCE has more bottom end (well definately a more efficient bottom end and turning) so therfore you can go a size smaller, it also achieve a much greater amount of de-power, so you don't need as many kites. The ALLIANCE, like all the SIGMA kites achieve more active back line pressure whilst the bar is sheeted out, this means you can still kiteloop and turn the kite extremely fast even when fully sheeted out.
All up both kite rock, but the ALLIANCE has a lot more to offer for your buck, this is why we chose not to stock the Torch this year, after riding all the kites the TORCH didn't seem to fit in.
Yes there available by special order only, delivery times depend on when orders are placed. I strongly suggest trying the ALLIANCE before making your mind up, we did think very carefully before making this decision as TORCH was our biggest selling kite last year.

Regards,

JB

quote:

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Originally posted by merman


BTW meerkat

I was lucky enough that my local Kite shop, gave me such a good deal on my Helix, that it was more than competitive price wise. Haggle with the right people and i,m sure you could get a good deal too.

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Are you saying you didn't pay full retail for a Naish product in Australia !!

That's illegal

quote:

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Originally posted by WOK

quote:

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Originally posted by merman

BTW meerkat I was lucky enough that my local Kite shop, gave me such a good deal on my Helix, that it was more than competitive price wise. Haggle with the right people and i,m sure you could get a good deal too.

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Are you saying you didn't pay full retail for a Naish product in Australia !! That's illegal

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LOL... This is so funny...
Shall we start a dob-on-line section?
Kidding!!! (gee, got a sudden vision of my head chopped off with this one... )

Well, it's not "illegal" WOK, just not really fair to competitors...
(that's why there is a RRP: so customers can chose their retailer based on customer service. The RRP is there so each shop can start off having exactly the same chances to survive than his next door competitor and stand out for its good work in servicing and looking after its customers...).

Not to diss naish, because other manufacturers are guilty of the same thing, but what gives with all these guys releasing half finished kites. The rebel come with last years bar, the helix comes with a half complete bar, you'd think these guys would try jack things up a bit.

quote:

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Originally posted by Saffer

Not to diss naish, because other manufacturers are guilty of the same thing, but what gives with all these guys releasing half finished kites. The rebel come with last years bar, the helix comes with a half complete bar, you'd think these guys would try jack things up a bit.

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I'm in shock.... I don't understand where people hear (read ) those things... Sorry you got misinformed Saffer...
As JB explained, the Rebel 08 DOES come with an 08 bar.
I personally was stoked when I found out the kite was being released a month earlier than last year's (true, there was a delay at the factory for the bar, but the Rebel 07 got released mid-September last year... So it's really a matter of how you look at it: may be it's the bar that's late, may be it'sthe kite that's early...). Some customers were happy to wait for the bar to arrive to get their kite complete, others couldn't resist flying their kite right away with an 07 bar. But people had the choice. I think it would have been unfair to hold the kites back until the bars arrive without giving people the possibility to fly the Rebel 08 right away if they wanted to (and as you may have read in the review, the kite obviously flies very well with 07 bar...).

Logistics Saffer!!! sometimes its just not logisticaly possible to get all the products out at the same time.... and as consumers the kiting manufactures just wanna give us the kites as soon as they can....

personaly i would rather get a new kite sooner rather than later(plus or minus extra bits).

not meaning to crap on ya saffer but i,d rather get my kite now and get used to it rather than recive it mid spring...

dude youve gotta fly one of these kies, they freeken crazy!!!! this year is gonna be epic!!!

Just to let you all in on how many manufacturers are involved in building a kite.

From one factory/supplier you have the Nylon, Dacron and dyneema used in the canopy.

From another factory/supplier you ahve the latex used in the bladders.

From another factory you have the actual construction of the bladders (the welding etc)

From another factory/supp you have the materials for the bar.

From another the grip on the bar,

From another the lines

From another the mechanics in the Iron heart/Smart loop

From another ...... and so on.

Then what happens is these suppliers have to promise to the manufacturing company that they will have all the componants ready and delivered to the factory to match up with pre- designated production sceduels (you have to remember there are over 5 different kite brands made in the same factory these days, and you only get certain allocated times for your goods to be made). Now when it becomes time for your goods to be made, if any of the above factories or suppliers can't deliver, that can knock your production back conciderably. Even though the materials may get there one day late, if you have missed your production run, you have to wait until your next sceduelled factory time. Imagine how hard it must be to co-ordinate 15 different suppliers, most of which have only just received the designs only 1 month ago for the componants they are making, all to match up with un realistic delivery dates! This is all nessecary these days because of the internet, forums leak images of proto type kites and the consumer demands it right away! I think all the companies do extremely well to get product on the market to match consumer demand and keep delays between the first unvailing of the product on forums and actual delivery to a minimum. And as Merman said, there is a majority of consumers that would rather ride the kites now then wait 2-3 months for the factory's to catch up with production.

You also must remember that every kite needs to be designed, you don't just make a 12m kites then scale it. I know that North and Naish design each size from the ground up. and a lot of the time these designs are only just finalized one month before production. It's not as easy as some of you all may think. Once again, props out to the companies!

I hope that helps you understand how hard it is to co-ordinate a mass release.

Regards,

JB

Oi JB!

How's it going? Trust all is well in Oz.

Rob

JB can you tell me how close the Cult is to that C kite feel on the 1to1 setting.

When testing the Helix out of all the SLE I have tried it was the closest kite that felt like a C kite.You cant beat that C kite feeling.

What kites are you leaning towards in the Sigma range as I am quiet confused as to what quiver of kites I am going to get.

Riding in the Surf is what I enjoy the most, and can you self launch the Cult like a C kite.

Thanks JB sounds like the Cult is the go , great all round kite and a great performer in the surf.

FOR INFO, DEMO CULT JUST ARRIVED ON OUR SHELF!!!!
BOTH THE HELIX AND THE CULT ARE AVAILABLE FOR TEST RIDE, AS WELL AS THE REBEL 08, SWITCHBLADE III AND CROSSBOW III....
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM
WINDY REGARDS
WINDSURF N SNOW