got emailed this from North this morning, so thought i'd share!

This year is B&M presents an amazing line up for all north, ion, fanatic riders. The new product range is amazing!
Boards and More are setting their own standards in Quality, innovation and design for Kite,Wind, SUP, Surf, Snowboard.
lot of people on this forum will get excited about North Kiteboarding's new 2012 Vegas and Rebel and boards.
This year North got an additional world cup bar/pre-streched kevlar lines in 20m,25m,32m.
9 TTs in the range plus 8 directionals (Race LTD is a wicked production race board)

Also check out the fanatic snowboard stuff, a few kiters in Oz hitting the slopes this year. Now you can get your snowboard at your local North dealer :)

Cant wait for the new toys :)

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INTHELOOP said...

This year is B&M presents an amazing line up for all north, ion, fanatic riders. The new product range is amazing!
Boards and More are setting their own standards in Quality, innovation and design for Kite,Wind, SUP, Surf, Snowboard.
lot of people on this forum will get excited about North Kiteboarding's new 2012 Vegas and Rebel and boards.
This year North got an additional world cup bar/pre-streched kevlar lines in 20m,25m,32m.
9 TTs in the range plus 8 directionals (Race LTD is a wicked production race board)

Also check out the fanatic snowboard stuff, a few kiters in Oz hitting the slopes this year. Now you can get your snowboard at your local North dealer :)

Cant wait for the new toys :)

Just ordered the new Rebel 2012 and new World Cup bar 2012.
This year there are 2 bars, the standard (same as last year with minor changes) and the World cup one that is the same bar with the new PBO (Polybenzobisoxazol) lines, which are supposed to be super resistent and they don't strech at all, giving more accurate response from the kite.
If you want the new set of lines you gotta cough up around $250 extra.
I hope it's worth it, or I'll use them to go fishing 500kg tunas.

Is the Gambler going to be released mid year or something? It's on the North US site, and for sale already on some UK sites but nothing else about it.

Thinks its due to arrive in second shipments with surfboards, mid-late september, but the team series looks the goods as well.
The gambler is a wake/kite crossover, so you can ride the same tough board at the park, over kickers and sliders, or just wake-style it in the flat water.

Fishing line with less stretch ie braid lets you feel every bump even with a 50m out. I'm wondering if you can go too far with non stretch kite lines to the point where you feel every gust........ or is it all absorbed in the canopy and bridle?

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pearl said...

Fishing line with less stretch ie braid lets you feel every bump even with a 50m out. I'm wondering if you can go too far with non stretch kite lines to the point where you feel every gust........ or is it all absorbed in the canopy and bridle?

That's waht I thought at the beginning, but the new kite seems to be dealing with gusty conditions better as well.
I guess the new lines are going to feel like the sports version of a car, that has harder suspension. You may feel the bumps a bit more in certain conditions, but it gives you better handling.
I'm sure you can't really compare with cars, but a BMW M3 has hard suspension and you feel nothing inside. Hopefully the new kite improvements give the same feeling.

... one of our local guys picked up a 13m Rebel while passing through Singapore and brought it to the beach on Sunday. We had just about no wind, light 6 to 8 knots maybe so we talked him into throwing it up in the air, just to have a look.

Looked good so I asked if I could have a feel, took the Sector 60 for a quick up down and too the astonishment of all, I took off and could just hold my ground. Not that it has mobs of power, but since it is quick, I could sine it to get me going. If feels like its smaller than a 12m and like the 2011, seemed to have what ever style of turning circle you wanted ie turn on the wing tip or nice C kite arc, which was proberly why I could just go with the nice constant pull in such sh!t winds.

The bar looks a little ordinary, with grey trim instead of black, maybe it will hide dirty marks better, dunno. I have a set of 'pre-stretched' lines coming in for me and I'm really excited about this one. I love the fact that you'll be able to feel the kite even more but more importantly for me, its the fact that (I hope) there will be no more stretched line problems, as in, the lines get stretched and put the kite out of trim. I have to check my lines every 5 sessions or so times only to find the damn things are out of alignment again (prob due to my heavy weight). I can soooo feel when the lines have stretched or get a springy feel. The kite feels springy and not right, check lines and sure enough, there out!!

Anyway, they look good and I can't wait for mine to turn up!!

cheers,

Robbie

It is sex on a string ;)
I picked up my 13m rebel 2012 Sunday and took it out today,Man what a piece of gear !
Now i'm 100+kg's on a good day and today ranged from 10-25knts.
The 13 at 20knts on a 140 50-50 was well and truly lit up, in saying that it was rock solid with heaps of depower.
Relaunch was effortless as expected,I first took it out with the pig tails on the light bar setting and to be honest it turned like a mack truck, quick knot slide to the ATHLETIC SETTING man what a change it is not a gimmick it is 2 kites in one.
I had a 9m rebel in the car but wanted to test the new 13m as my arms are now 2inches longer i will pump up the 9m tomorrow if the wind sticks around.
The extra 6mth warranty is a bonus but to be honest i would buy the rebel without it.
My previous kite was a 12mB4 and the 13m rebel turns so much quicker and pulls like a 14y old with his first stick book.
Someone get a shovel out and try and knock the smile off my face

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RichardM said...

It is sex on a string ;)

and pulls like a 14y old with his first stick book.
Someone get a shovel out and try and knock the smile off my face

... best description yet!

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RichardM said...



I first took it out with the pig tails on the light bar setting and to be honest it turned like a mack truck, quick knot slide to the ATHLETIC SETTING man what a change it is not a gimmick it is 2 kites in one.

... hey, just a quick thought. When I got my Dyno and had my first session, I thought it had really heavy steering, even for an 18m and from reports it was ment to be light. I swapped the settings to 'heavier' steering and it got easier to steer????. A bit perplexed that it went opposite to what you would expect, I had to think about it. Oh no, buyers remorse set in!! Is this thing a 'big' kite (read Mack truck)!!

While staring at the steering pig tails, I deduced that they were the wrong way around so I swapped the orientation of the Y around so that the long bit that attaches to the kite was on the back and not the front as I had it. Bingo!! The steering was much lighter and when I put the setting to light, damn it was really light.

Anyway, I backed up my theory and looked at some pics of other Dyno's I found on the net and sure enough, my kite came with it arse-about from out of the bag. Proberly an off day at the factory, minor thing, no biggy.

From your description, maybe this is what you have, arse-about steering, just a thougt!

cheers,

Robbie

Looks like north may have to look into their QA ,Mate of mine had the centreline of his Dyno let go ,turns out it was spliced but not stiched ,must have been the one they were working on before lunch or knock off and they never got back to it.??

Had a quick go on the 13m rebel yesterday ,20 kts ,this thing is sweet ,light bar very quick turning , massive boost and hang time ,very smooth and controllable even when depowered .......


Bring on the FUSE..........

.... hmmmm, I better go check mine too, seem to remember mine isn't stitched too, thanks for the heads up!

The only issue I have found after a second day of 20knts

Having to let It down as soon as you land and put it in the car to stop my MATES
Taking it out to run it in for me

Watched 2012 12m Rebel this afternoon in 15knts Turns heaps quicker than 2011 looks solid in sky in same wind as a 2011 & 2010

Well done North, Thanks to the Briskites Crew for a great deal.

Did I mention I picked up a 153 North Spike as well

Stay tuned

Can't wait to get my 2012, rebel 11m...AKS are they in yet????

Hey Eppo,

The fun fairies dropped of 28 boxes of toys from North and 26 boxes of joy from Fanatic today. We were a little hectic so please forgive my not calling. We had to enter all the gear into the computer and MYOB.

Having said that, three kites went out today as customers came in just as the truck left and they walked out smiling with brand new shinies. :)

The shop is still a disaster area as it will take most of tomorrow to restore order, just in time to be bombarded with our huge ION order too. Yikes!

It was like Christmas day in the shop today, I'll call you tomoz!

DM

Yippy!

Made my day, grumpy as hell, missed last arvo's session, had to get the ALL important tyre for the trailor we never use, the milk i never drink and of all things a barbie doll for a present for my child's friend.... what the *****. They just don't get it man!

Hey I might actually drive up saturday and pick it up rather than you post it, will call ya today. Sunday is looking okayish.

Don't sell all the 11m rebels!! Ha HA HA. Can't beleive dudes were waiting at the truck, he he he...then again if I lived in perth i'd be he;ing them unpack,,,,until I found my 11m - !!

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RichardM said...
]It is sex on a string
Now i'm 100+kg's on a good day
Someone get a shovel out and try and knock the smile off my face

i have a shovel .100+kgs on a good day we hav'nt had one dreamer //more like 110+
BUT YOUR KITE WAS LOVERLY TO RIDE TILL THE 12MTR TURNED UP// me 80kgs on a bad day// by porky

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rober said...

INTHELOOP said...

This year is B&M presents an amazing line up for all north, ion, fanatic riders. The new product range is amazing!
Boards and More are setting their own standards in Quality, innovation and design for Kite,Wind, SUP, Surf, Snowboard.
lot of people on this forum will get excited about North Kiteboarding's new 2012 Vegas and Rebel and boards.
This year North got an additional world cup bar/pre-streched kevlar lines in 20m,25m,32m.
9 TTs in the range plus 8 directionals (Race LTD is a wicked production race board)

Also check out the fanatic snowboard stuff, a few kiters in Oz hitting the slopes this year. Now you can get your snowboard at your local North dealer :)

Cant wait for the new toys :)

Just ordered the new Rebel 2012 and new World Cup bar 2012.
This year there are 2 bars, the standard (same as last year with minor changes) and the World cup one that is the same bar with the new PBO (Polybenzobisoxazol) lines, which are supposed to be super resistent and they don't strech at all, giving more accurate response from the kite.
If you want the new set of lines you gotta cough up around $250 extra.
I hope it's worth it, or I'll use them to go fishing 500kg tunas.

so keen on these Kevlar strings :)
we gotta wait till jan 2012 for them to be available tho :(

Select to expand quote

INTHELOOP said...

rober said...

INTHELOOP said...

This year is B&M presents an amazing line up for all north, ion, fanatic riders. The new product range is amazing!
Boards and More are setting their own standards in Quality, innovation and design for Kite,Wind, SUP, Surf, Snowboard.
lot of people on this forum will get excited about North Kiteboarding's new 2012 Vegas and Rebel and boards.
This year North got an additional world cup bar/pre-streched kevlar lines in 20m,25m,32m.
9 TTs in the range plus 8 directionals (Race LTD is a wicked production race board)

Also check out the fanatic snowboard stuff, a few kiters in Oz hitting the slopes this year. Now you can get your snowboard at your local North dealer :)

Cant wait for the new toys :)

Just ordered the new Rebel 2012 and new World Cup bar 2012.
This year there are 2 bars, the standard (same as last year with minor changes) and the World cup one that is the same bar with the new PBO (Polybenzobisoxazol) lines, which are supposed to be super resistent and they don't strech at all, giving more accurate response from the kite.
If you want the new set of lines you gotta cough up around $250 extra.
I hope it's worth it, or I'll use them to go fishing 500kg tunas.

so keen on these Kevlar strings :)
we gotta wait till jan 2012 for them to be available tho :(

... are the kevlar lines gunna last as long as the normal ones ie durability??

Just picked up my 2012 rebel 11m, but no wind dammit! What's up with this above average rainfall!! nah we need it...

... got our little quiver and had a chance to give them a go last 2 days. We had light winds so I setup the 18m Dyno for the missus and thought I'd give our new 14m a fly anyway, just to see it in the air. Launched it and thought, bugga it, I might as well give it a go with my Sector, just for a laugh. Off I went and had a ball.

I set the steering to "Athletic", or the heavier settings, and loved the feel, feels super direct. I took off upwind, did a mini upwinder, 3km then a mini downwinder to test the speed off the wind. Seriously, it felt like a 12m zippiness and super silent, made the sector feel like a surfboard in the gybes, but also showed how slow my 18m Dyno is in its turning.

My initial impression comparing the 2011 to the 2012 is upwind is slightly better or should I say, easier upwind, but not neccassarily higher, and the steering slightly softer but very direct connection. The 2011 is great but the 2012 just does it with a little easier pressure, I'd have a guess and say since it steers easier, there is more pressure on the harness so it feels easier on arms, and yet you still go just as fast and high into the wind.

The next day I took the Dyno and the missus took the 14m, day two and we had more wind. She initially wanted to change the steering to the lighter setting and I talked her into leaving it for today, at least so she has an idea or base to guage it against. At the end of the session she loved it and doesn't want to mess with it at all, "it's perfect, don't mess with it". I think it was the directness that appealed to us so both of us prefer the heavier steering option.

The missus doesn't like heavy feeling kites and loved the 14m straight away, usually preferring her 12m (her usual kite). The first thing she thought was it feels like her 2011 12m (which she dearly loves), if the 14m is that good, how good is the 12m going to be???.

For me, I loved how you can do a carve turn and the kite shoots across the window pulling evenly and doesn't stop pulling when it gets to the edge. With a dive thrown in you can get it to power spike if you want but the eveness is really impressive.

Anyway, its a really nice kite, impressive silent power that can drive you upwind and is so much fun, I didn't think it could be done, and make an improvement to the 2011, but they made it just that little bit better. Time will tell but I'm in love already!!

cheers,

Robbie

Thanks to RPS, I had the opportunity to test out the new 11m Rebel today. Although the wind wasn't ideal (15-18knots average, with lots of lulls), it was enough of a test to see that the kite had light bar pressure on the lightest setting (in the low end of the wind range at least), good upwind ability and good stability; all desirable traits in my eyes. However, I'm not too sure about the quality of the lines and depower rope...

I was happy with the flying characteristics of the Rebel, and I reckon the kite would come alive in 20-24 knots.

Thanks to James Carew (tribe Carew) by chance I found myself riding 2012 11m and 2012 9m rebels I usually ride 2011 10m the boys were good enough to let me ride James kites as he switched down sizes as wind picked up first up 11 is slightly slower than 10 but has smoother power very comfy and has less bar pressure than 2011 next was 9m the wind was a little light to begin with to be on a 9 as many guys were out on 12s and I am 90kg but with a bit of cranking I was scooting up wind no probs as the wind picked up still only low 20s it came alive it feels like a smaller kite boosts well and does whatever you want it to. north
Have managed to refine an already outstanding kite
I am 90kg james is about 50kg and 11 and we were riding together with size difference of 2m
That's how broad the range is on Rebs
And I didn't have to pump a kite all day
Thanks boys

has anybody read the Kiteworld review of 2012 North Rebel?

this is what they concluded:

"The most Complete All-round Fun Freeride kite we've ridden"

Spot on!


btw havent heard anybody complaining about colors and themes this year.
I reckon kites look fresh in the sky. like the colors this year.

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INTHELOOP said...

has anybody read the Kiteworld review of 2012 North Rebel?

this is what they concluded:

"The most Complete All-round Fun Freeride kite we've ridden"

Spot on!


btw havent heard anybody complaining about colors and themes this year.
I reckon kites look fresh in the sky. like the colors this year.

Cool i got me an 8 and 11m that's the "The most Complete All-round Fun Freeride kite we've ridden".

hey seriously though intheloop, do they ever say anything bad about a kite? i mean it's the best kite I've ever used by a country mile (finnaly purchased correctly only took me 12 years!) but i don't know if we should take anything seriously they say...or should we - a rhetorical question really i wouldn't know?

Select to expand quote

INTHELOOP said...

has anybody read the Kiteworld review of 2012 North Rebel?

this is what they concluded:

"The most Complete All-round Fun Freeride kite we've ridden"

Spot on!


btw havent heard anybody complaining about colors and themes this year.
I reckon kites look fresh in the sky. like the colors this year.

... not completely sold on the colours personally, but what the hey, its how it performs thats the point!

Talking performance, I had another chance to fly the 14m and its speed combined with the turning will make it a great kite in the waves. A few of us are coming to the conclusion that the 2012 doesn't have the same static pull of the 2011 but that could be because the 2012's turn nicer.

I was mucking around and trying to ride a few waves and swinging the kite back and forth and found occasionally the kite was across the wind window before I was ready, but the cool thing was when there it didn't drop too much power so it was all good. When really pushed the kite was so agile and silent that it feels like it doesn't have the same pull as the 2011 and yet I was jumping the same height and hang was the same. The missus loves the 14m when her favorite was the 12m (which she hasn't used yet so don't know), but haveing a bigger kite can ride in lower winds. We haven't had enough winds yet to find the top end, but what I had the other day was around 22 knots and it didn't feel anywhere near over powered. I had the trim set for full power and the kite remained totally composed and not one flutter, dead silence.

Loving it so far, I agree with Marv, "The most Complete All-round Fun Freeride kite we've ridden"...........so far!

cheers,

Robbie

ps amazes me how North do it every year, just when I don't think you can improve a kite, they do. Nice work guys!

Ok so I picked up an 8 & 11, I rode 6, 8, 12 during the previous season.

The kite hasn't changed significantly in terms of performance or feel, it loops slightly faster.

There won't really be any marked change in performance as the kite is so similar to the 2011. The wingtip change does however mean it can offer quite a change in the feel and turning arc of the kite so remember to try out both settings to see which suits you best.

Did manage to steal a 13m for a session in about 20-25knt and I will say I have never found a big kite that jumps so easily when so powered up Old school hangliding to the max.