Do they exist? Vast majority (perhaps 85% or more) of gear available is in fact not available to demo. Where are these so called "team riders" and their offer to demo their gear?

Anyone else find this?

Think out of 14 kites and 5 boards i've purchased over the years 1 board was available to demo and 1 kite was available to demo (although i was pretty much told i would need to buy it if i wanted to demo it).

QLD and WA have got it good in regards to this...

Kss Altona have always been very obliging with demo's

Smook brds always has S/B BOARDS to demo , at brigton beach See JEff Blue/red Reo s kites also welcome to try 2014 REO (Melbourne Designed brd Co from Mornington peninsula with 35 yrs in surf brd shaping )

RPS also offer demos last time I checked.

I find it almost amusing that everyone seems to know of a place that does demo's yet it has not been my experience at all when purchasing gear!

Big eeeZeee said..

I find it almost amusing that everyone seems to know of a place that does demo's yet it has not been my experience at all when purchasing gear!

I tend to agree, moving from WA a couple for years ago i always found that the local shops in WA were always very happy to hand over their demos and was always promoting to come and demo their gear.

My experience in VIC has been the complete opposite so far.

Could not get a demo Ozone c4 2013 last year, the response was that they where "almost identical to 2012, so no demos" as most ozone riders will know this is far from reality. Needless to say i didn't change my quiver.

This year, I called a shop to arrange the pickup of a demo, was told to come in...far enough i guess. Drop into the shop, left my name as the kite wasn't available, never heard anything back. Left my details with more than one shop for pricing on Catalyst quivers when they were first released, never received a call back. Needless to say i purchased my 2014 quiver from an interstate shop and was very happy with the customer service experience.

And retailers scratch their heads and wonder why more and more people shop online.

Demo kites are generally kites the boys in the shop ride so sometimes they are reluctant to hand them over.

I have found that you do get better service from online retailers and quick response as they have a lot of competition online so service is good.


Its funny I travelled in WA and every time I asked to demo a kite not a problem. They were keen to talk to you about your experience and offer advice on what would suit. I demoed 3 - 6 kites and 4 boards when I was there no hassle.

I must Admit the service from Victorian stores is not the same. I don't know if it arrogance or bad service but its a big purchase so you want to pick right. I have been on SUP demo days at Point Danger and that was great easy to try and good to talk to the guys and no hassle.

It might be a case of national titles and a demo day connected to it. Get the distributors to make it an annual event and you can see them in one place.

RPS, Zu, SHQ, Kite Republic? all demo but depending on the kite and as long as one of the team rider and his mate is not using it? I am sorry but in this day and age reputation is everything in retail and you can lose it quite easily.

I can usually get a demo from SHQ without a hassle subject to availability. Got a 12m cab right now. sitting in my car of course (wind please.) but buggered if I am going to spend $2500 on a new one!!

No Steve has a good vibe at KSS and is a good operator. Problem for Steve he has a limited range of kites. If he had North and Ozone, BWS or Best I would be demoing and buying of him no probs.

I have worked retail and you can't please everyone. I was just mentioning the difference between WA shops and Vic shops. I guess in some respects WA kiteboarding tourist market is bigger than Vic, so they can sell more kites. Don't know just feels like you are pulling teeth to ask to demo in a Vic store.

I know, working in Surfing and Skateboarding retail especially surfing you let guys try many different boards and create a shape that suits their style. But they leave a credit card deposit and if they hurt it they buy it. Skateboards sell on graphics and team riders alone.

Usually with the demo surfboards they are shapers boards and we flog them at the end of the season usually at cost and most of the time the guys in the store pick up a bargain. I know at one store we had at least 10 - 20 ex demo boards anyone could ride. I never had a surfboard of my own for 3 years.

I understand there is a massive difference between a $700.00 dollar 6ft stick and a $1800.00 kite and the kite is usually easier to wreck. But where are the good old demo days connected to a comp or race or fun day. I know its hard to drum up support for these events but it just takes effort from one of the groms in the store to talk to all of the other retailers and get something going, thats how we got skating comps going.

Hi Guys,

We stock North, Naish and Best Kites. We will never charge you for demo our kites or boards.

We strongly believe that you should demo when buying new gear (Not beginners or newbies on the sport), all the kites have different feels and features, also not everyone has the same preferences or riding style. Currently we have more than 10 Demo kites in our shop of different sizes and styles. Also we have demo boards as well.

Do not hesitate to pop up at our shop at the St Kilda Seabaths and grab some of our toys for demo.

Cheers,

Cesar

hookworm said..

Hey mate I work at the Zu in st kilda and always try encourage people to have a demo , unfortunately tourists from over seas try and use this as a free way to get kits and have no intension of returning them or they make out they know what there doing and have never tried the sport thus resulting in broken gear and worse case people getting hurt, back in the day it was super easy to get a demo but now we have to be a bit more carful on who we give them out to,

Ha. I was in France a couple of years ago and they wanted a kings ransom to hire a kite for day. Four days hire would buy you the kite!

Its a bit sad that some people are trying to scam free gear here. Maybe take a $100 deposit (forfeit on any damage) to sort out who the real buyers are?

Eaglelad said..

My biggest problem has been having good conditions for demo's.. I'm more unsure after testing the stuff! and if they're great conditions I want to be progressing on gear I know.
Demo days for Air rush, Cabrinha & liquid Force have all been offered this season without wind..

Well that's simply because $$ and winds do not mix

juggler said..

Big eeeZeee said..

I find it almost amusing that everyone seems to know of a place that does demo's yet it has not been my experience at all when purchasing gear!

Maybe if you get rid of the dodgey looking mo they might lend you some

What do want to demo now? Are those crappy ozones broken already?

You know you can always borrow a fuel

i'm not even riding ozone anymore you clown and you know this.

anyway, anyone can ride a fuel and do some raleys and sbends mate. Waiting for you to turn it up a notch with your c-kites

nothing. Just wan

juggler said..

Big eeeZeee said..

juggler said..

Big eeeZeee said..

I find it almost amusing that everyone seems to know of a place that does demo's yet it has not been my experience at all when purchasing gear!

Maybe if you get rid of the dodgey looking mo they might lend you some

What do want to demo now? Are those crappy ozones broken already?

You know you can always borrow a fuel

i'm not even riding ozone anymore you clown and you know this.


anyway, anyone can ride a fuel and do some raleys and sbends mate. Waiting for you to turn it up a notch with your c-kites

took me a while to remember what you even rode... Whats wrong with the torches?

You dont call anymore

Nothing. Just wanted to express my frustration with victorian shops.

do you still kite bro?

Mostly at altona, given up on brighton