Hi. I am reasonably new to kitesurfing. I have a couple of older kites I have been using, but with no de-power at all. My wife has just bought me a kite off eBay for Xmas but it has no name on it and no details at all. She said it's an 11m.
I'm thinking it's a Chinese copy, but not real sure what I have got.
Has anyone had experience with this?
Do they fly/relaunch/good de-power.
To me it looks like a c kite

cheers

kitch

It might be the same as a mate just bought, it still had single point inflation on the struts, turned very fast, had plenty of depower , not alot of bottom end. The quality was okey for the price , all it had on the kite was the size. He said he probably would'nt buy another one.

Hi Kitcho,

Just make sure the safety systems work well (test them) before you launch. A few years ago we had a guy who borrowed a mates kite while he was away. It was a chinese rip off of about a 2002 Cab black tip.

It wouldn't fly from new and the safety system was a death system. I rerigged the bar to make an acceptable safety, rerigged the lines so it would fly then launched it for him. Absolutely no depower at all and immensely powerful when fully sheeted out to slack rear lines, as soon as you sheeted it, it would stall and crash. It was a shocker

They've probably come along was since, but it's still worth being extra careful.

Cheers,

KH

Do you really think it is worth the risk of possible death or serious injury for the sake of saving a few hundred dollars buying cheaparse gear ?

I can't believe people are happy to attach themselves to something with no brand name, dubious quality and untried safety that has the ability to throw them into a tree or wall when things go wrong. Good luck. You get what you pay for.

^^ Thats what kiteboarding used to be all about

sounds like something you'd get off demtel.

At least you'll be able to use the steak knives you got with it to cut up the P.O.S

But they all break at the handle. So you'll have to use the leatherman copy you have in the drawer, but that breaks your thumb nail off trying to extract the blade.

Sh1t

So you'll have to get into your Skoda, tie one end to your house and the other to the tow bar. Whack it in gear and thump it!

But OH NO! You've pulled the wall out of the cheap arse softwood house you built on the cheap.

The car keeps going, but fark the brakes don't work and you hit a telstra pole. It falls over, as expected,... you keep going....

and run into kitedevil [}:)]. He puts out his hand and says "Hark, hear YE! Don't buy crap rip offs, your life will become a terrible PITA and you will end up spending more, buy brand X ra ra ra!" The accelerator sticks and you run him down...

He reaches up and grabs the 11m kite trailing behind your skoda and climbs up it like something out of a Bruce Willis movie then jumps off it into the cockpit of a hovering F16 fighter jet and then....

[}:)]

I'll give you a 9m SS Octane for it.

You'd be tearing on of them up a month in depreciation alone!

Probably is a 'cleanskin'

Came out of the same factory as a leading brand using their design but with no labels. Manufactured after the scheduled order. Same as rebranded kites.


Anything is possible in China!!

how about some pictures of the kite and bar, easy to identify copy's of good kites

what kite brand isn't made in china?
Have a look at wholesale kites in china, typically around $200.
I guess the extra $1800 is for paying sponser riders , marketing etc.
The same people feel the confidence in wearing a $50 ripcurl tshirt,
I hate to thing of the safety implications of a Target one.

^ May also be for paying for the r and d of the kites. The Chinese factories don't have to pay for testing, development or any where near as much for marketing. Just bung a couple of ads on ebay and sell kites to anybody.
Meanwhile, the companies who do do all the research lose buisness and can't afford to develop new kites, sponsor events or pay pro riders.
So buy your cheap no name kites if you like, but think what you could miss out on in the future.

In the world of cars it's called licensing.....due to the fact that they may have an impact on others' safety, they have a safety standard....
.....qood quality second hand kites go for near nothing...or for a few more hundreds you buy a brand new last year model.....what's the point to buy some questionable stuff...?
...who would like to kite near you when you try your great new junk? Selling it in Oz, Europe, or US would probably be illegal...

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KIT33R said...

I can't believe people are happy to attach themselves to something with no brand name, dubious quality and untried safety that has the ability to throw them into a tree or wall when things go wrong. Good luck. You get what you pay for.

You're obviously not very good at reading, Kitch said it was of decent quality and that he will be using a brand name safe bar. Loosen up a little.

I say don't sweat too much over it, chances are if the kite looks of dependable quality and "modern" profile, it will fly just fine. Make sure the 5th (if it has one) is not changing the contour of the LE as can sometimes happen when swapping lines, as this can sometimes lead to kites folding mid flight when the high pressure zone under the foil is not strong enough.

One day, everything will be made in China...
That is, if it isn't already...

hi. sorry for the delay here are some pics
it flies quite well and have had a couple of good 18-20kn sessions. i was impressed by the depower and control, but was a little lacking bottom end.
I cant get any lift with it, but more practice i guess.

does it get too hot to touch when it sits in the sun for a while?

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kitcho207 said...

hi. sorry for the delay here are some pics...

Did you pump that up when there was no wind just for us??

^^^ That looks like Towradgi or Fairy Meadow beach?

Keep an eye on the leading edge where the front lines attach to the kite.
Chances are that'll wear through in no time at all.

I wonder what else they've scrimped on in the construction.

they are nice and blank. like a blank canvas.

you could paste "St Kilda Sea Baths" across them in huge lettering.
then you could do whatever you d**n well wanted.
and the sponsor issue would be sorted, as someone else would pay the riders.
genius.
wonder why no one has thought of this.

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rloemker said...

^^^ That looks like Towradgi or Fairy Meadow beach?

Close. It's behind win stadium in wollongong.
Nice guess.

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kitcho207 said...

rloemker said...

^^^ That looks like Towradgi or Fairy Meadow beach?

Close. It's behind win stadium in wollongong.
Nice guess.

I recognised the islands...were sure I had the angle right...makes sense. Easty is my home town.

A fair few kites are made at A Lam Sails in Hong Kong. When you sign a contract with them to build you product there is a clause in the contact that allows A Lam Sails to sell a small percentage of your product out the front door. This gives you the opportunity to walk in there and go I will have that one please.

I know this because my friend did it a few day ago. He is living there for a year teaching English.

12m complete $330 USD for a brand everyone no's.

No Gay kite graphics - that is the best looking kite i've ever seen.

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dogbones said...

Do you really think it is worth the risk of possible death or serious injury for the sake of saving a few hundred dollars buying cheaparse gear ?

what about when it all goes 'wong'?

So what kite is it a copy of everyone

Does the bridle have just one pulley on each side?

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kiter77 said...

Does the bridle have just one pulley on each side?

it doesn't have any pulleys. just 2 tails at front and 2 at rear on each side.
it relaunches very fast and easy now im use to it a bit more. i want to give it a go in +20kn, as we have not been getting too much wind so far.

anyone know what it is a copy of?

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Beersy said...

^ May also be for paying for the r and d of the kites. The Chinese factories don't have to pay for testing, development or any where near as much for marketing. Just bung a couple of ads on ebay and sell kites to anybody.
Meanwhile, the companies who do do all the research lose buisness and can't afford to develop new kites, sponsor events or pay pro riders.
So buy your cheap no name kites if you like, but think what you could miss out on in the future.

I suppose the tooling/set up costs of the factory......the fact they get screwed on price, promised big orders etc etc costs them nothing? As opposed to a few guys designing on a Mac, getting same factory to punch out numerous proto types for them or their 'chosen' ones to test, which must run into millions. With so much invested in R and D by the kite companies why are these forums full of 'experts' bagging nearly every other brand they dont ride each time a that company puts out a new model. Some guys can tell from a photo what will wear out.

How does the retail margin add to R and D?
How does the buffing of riders and photo shoots add to R and D?
They dont. They add to the sell price and thats all. The average factory in China makes about 8% gross profit margin....your friendly kite retailer around 5 times that. The brands around the same.

I reckon the R and D is covered and then some.

Kitch says it flies well and he likes it. Look out for the brand police mate Give ya wife a big hug. She did alright.