Recently upgraded all my gear (two kites and one tt board) with the new Griffin TRX and a nice Surfboard as I am looking to hit the waves more.
I just wanted to say a big thanks to Chris for his new gear, it's absolutely brilliant and what's even more amazing is the value Griffin gear holds if you want to resale at one point (I imagine many people would want to upgrade).

I have a friend that sold his North kite after 18 months of use (pretty much like myself) and his used/new balance was about 30%, whereas mine was somewhere around 60% (maybe I am just a better sales person :)

Thanks again Griffin team!
H.

Hope you have better luck with your Griffen than I had.

and better luck then I had.

Still waiting on a bladder...

I'm getting around on my 2010 argo. Still goes awesome, hasn't given me a reason to up grade. 5 seasons strong, probably 250 + sessions ,you can't argue with that!

and better luck than I had
gave up on replacement bar

Don't knock the Griff'

In 2012 I started into kitesurfing by purchasing 2 Griffin kites (9m & 11m Argonaut 2010) from a local guy who made them perform in the surf. He replaced them with 2013 7m & 10 m Griffins.

Having windsurfed for nearly 30 years in the surf I was looking to eventually transition to the surf.

I took these kites to Fiji for a KiteSurfari () and had a ball learning the ins and outs of Kitesurfing.

Came back home (Port Macquarie NSW) to be able to get in an out thru the surf riding a Cabrinha Chopstick 144 twintip.

The surf is a killer on kites and I exploded the 9m in a 1m surf. Was easy enough to repair the canopy and bladder (it took some time).

I still use these kites but am now looking for newer gear and a surfboard for more surf style.

All round these kites have done me very well (price and performance) and got me convinced to get further into the sport.

I loved the way the kites flew, had the Argos great all rounders, good up wind, surf drift, boost etc, but was continually repairing valves, lines stretch, had 3 sets of bar and lines replaced under warranty????

IMO griffin could easily address basic quality control issues, ie check the product before shipping especially If a product is returned with a defect, at least check that your not shipping a product with the same problem.

Hi all
disclosure: I have been a Griffin supporter for several years and now Kited for about 15 years so will try to be unbiased.
Kites now are all mostly excellent for their given purpose with brands now looking for marketing edge as improvements seem to be fine tuning or kites designed for specific purpose. But like all things growing in popularity the bulk of the market want a 1 thing that does it all with excellent back up service for lowest price - nothing new here just human nature.

So the gap may be with the much lower priced kites that provide lower changer over cost less but at times less back up but still excellent quality and performing kites -, but is this true there are plenty of unsatisfied customers for most brands.

I am more than happy with the overall service I received from Griffin and yes I have had to do a bit of follow up but which brand or local shop has not had Issues?

I update kites every year and have no problems selling my kites and at times to previous buyers. YES I Know we can all give the same or better comments but let's be realistic and fair to all.

Kites improve faster in most cases than the service and look at restaurants etc often service winds customers

Happy Christmas and a new year of excellent kiting

All Riding Styles, Wave ride and drift better than most wave kites, boost and float better than most high aspect kites, Unhook and kiteloop better than most freestyle kites.Schools, beginners, intermediate and advanced riders of all styles, free ride, freestyle, wave riding. Offers big boosts and float, kite loops, and unhooked performance. This grunty responsive kite has excellent depower and wind range.

Pretty much the best kite ever built if you ask the people at Griffin.

Short version
i have been riding GriffiN TRX for two years in surf and flat (7, 9, 10 and 12 - I share my kites). Service, performance and build quality have been great. They are fantastic kites, some people seem to have trouble with the fact that the are less expensive. Strangely, I prefer it

i have retired/sold and then replaced all of my kites with 7, 10.5, 12, 14, 17 TRX Griffins.... I have two bars. All up cost for the lot was somewhere around $5k.

a really brilliant, fast kite. Fantastic in the waves.

but, Mr Griffin can be a distracted genius when it comes to sales/service. But when you do track him down, he is very generous with his time and knowledge. And I am prepared to accept the odd foible for his creation.

That, Mr Bigtone, is a very apt comment. Could not have said it better. It tries my patience though....

I reckon moderators should delete posts made by new accounts that sledge either people or products. It's pure gutless crap that brings the tone of the place down.

Bigtone, you have, as Dafish has said, nailed it.
Tried to buy some gear on line, just didn't work out .
Contacted Chris, worked out a time to pick it up, all good.
Best thing was , met Chris, had a good chat and thought although marketing might not be his greatest strength, we are dealing with a man that can actually design and ride and listen to feedback. I do agree with the distracted comment.
Ive ridden a few of the mates 500 to 1200 dollar more expensive kites , and as a noob/ intermediate, they have felt cheated.

Good product, great price. Patience required.
Cheers
Matt

I think it would be great for Griffin to get some demo,s out there for prospective buyers.......

Especially in the Sunshine Coast area, please Chris.

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Dl33ta said..
I reckon moderators should delete posts made by new accounts that sledge either people or products. It's pure gutless crap that brings the tone of the place down.

Do you want me to get into specifics?

I bought a brand new 2013 Griffin TRX and the bladder exploded when pumping it up (this was maybe the 3rd time using it). I pulled out the bladder and the bladder had been previously repaired. Since when is putting a bladder that's been repaired with patches in a brand new kite a good idea?!

Chris promised me a new bladder 4 months ago and never sent one. Now he doesn't even respond to my emails.

Did I like the performance of the kite? Absolutely. I was even willing to replace the bladder myself (when in reality should not have to). But you can bet your ass now I'll never buy another Griffin product again. Which is a bummer. Because from what I understand, Chris is a nice guy, and a talented kite designer. But he'd rather be cheap and save money in all the wrong places.

You can have the greatest kite in the world, but unless you honor what you sell and do what you say your are going to do then you will turn people away by the droves. Everything on this thread is something I have experienced. Nutty professor or not, a business needs to respond to those issues or eventually it will be doomed to fail. and yes, there is such a thing as bad press....

I think he'd do himself and his business a huge favour if he had someone controlling distribution,spare parts,customer inquiries etc which would free him up to do what he does best -design and test kites.Back up service is so important these days and even if you have all the best intentions to provide it,its costly if you don't.
Great kites at a great price

Sounds like they are going down the same path as when they were called monkey kites, changed the name but kept the service/quality. deja vu

I can't comment as a newbie if Griffin are good or bad but i'm having fun, it inflates and i am flying. I am not experienced enough to form any constructive comments about it's performance. I'm not sure what year it is but a secondhand kite to learn on that i picked up in the sales section of this forum. It's copped a few slams on the beach and a drag or two and no problems to report as yet. Previous owner said it has had a new bladder recently installed! But good to read positive comments from other owners so i am assuming i could have a reasonable all-round kite to learn on.

My kite is mostly fully red in colour with a smooth curving leading edge when inflated with some white on the inflated areas and has A B C D labeled locations on the inside of the leading edge for connections of harness strings. Is there anymore info around on what changing these do and or instructions on how to??

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Jaffasoft said..
I can't comment as a newbie if Griffin are good or bad but i'm having fun, it inflates and i am flying. I am not experienced enough to form any constructive comments about it's performance. I'm not sure what year it is but a secondhand kite to learn on that i picked up in the sales section of this forum. It's copped a few slams on the beach and a drag or two and no problems to report as yet. Previous owner said it has had a new bladder recently installed! But good to read positive comments from other owners so i am assuming i could have a reasonable all-round kite to learn on.

My kite is mostly fully red in colour with a smooth curving leading edge when inflated with some white on the inflated areas and has A B C D labeled locations on the inside of the leading edge for connections of harness strings. Is there anymore info around on what changing these do and or instructions on how to??

Unfortunately Jaffasoft says it all. I have a 7m griffin which I think is a great performing kite however I have spent more money repairing the bladder than the cost of a new kite. Design is about the whole package not just how good it flies.

Hi All, Nice to see positive comments and on the forum along with a troll or 2.

I have been quietly working on new designs and bridle upgrades and going through a separation from a business partner who was meant to help but it did not work out so have been bussy over the past few months getting things sorted and getting processes back in place for online enquiries and orders etc so there have been a few hurdles which happens in life.

I don't know of any brand that has 0 issues, I have seen 3 x brand new $2700 kites in a 3 week period have there bladders go pop on first inflate at my local Narrabeen beach because the bladders where bad. I know of people who purchased a $2600 brand kite for a kite trip only to have it go pop on arrival at his destination.

Our kites are made in the same factory as many of the high priced well advertised brands, its the same machines, same hands same materials going into the kites with different designers. The griffins are tough and over the past 7 years we have had very few bladder issues.

I will go out of my way to help with any genuine issues in or out or warrantee, contact or call me and I will get it sorted.
My Skype details are on the contact us page, you can talk to the designer and get any tips and support.

Jaffasoft has a 2011 Griffin which came out late 2010 so that kite is about 6 years old and still going.
If you want info on the settings look up the forum http://griffinkites.com.au/forum/4-argo-2007-to-2012

If your after bladders for older kites there is a bladder measurements area on the forum for bladders from airtime or fix my kite of local kite shops.

All the best...

I owned an Argo 13.5m once. Was an absolute beast. Only thing that played up was the bar falling apart after 5 years! My mate has a 10.5 trx and is still going stronger then ever!

My 2012 17m argo was well underpowered. I bought it for 17-20kn and my 12m core (20-28kn) still had slightly more power and got pumped up instead

In the 12-15 times i used it, i never had one, even mediocre, session unfortunately. A steering line snapped the very first time out and it went south from there. Lines tangled every time i set up, dropping it meant a self rescue etc.

Maybe they just aren't suited to us super heavy weights but i certainly will never buy another kite or board without a demo first.

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GriffinKites said..


Hi All, Nice to see positive comments and on the forum along with a troll or 2.

Why do you assume that any negative comment is a just a troll? I would think that for the good of customer support and product development it would be good to listen to both the good and bad....

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MDSXR6T said...
My 2012 17m argo was well underpowered. I bought it for 17-20kn and my 12m core (20-28kn) still had slightly more power and got pumped up instead

In the 12-15 times i used it, i never had one, even mediocre, session unfortunately. A steering line snapped the very first time out and it went south from there. Lines tangled every time i set up, dropping it meant a self rescue etc.

Maybe they just aren't suited to us super heavy weights but i certainly will never buy another kite or board without a demo first.

Faaark. How big are you. you use a 12m when I'm on a 7m and I weigh 80kg

I'm about 125/127kgs.

One thing i must admit about the argo is that it was pumped up much harder than the manufacture recommends and i had no bladder issues. That said my cores have been the same and never an issue but you'd expect that from the Germans

Hey GriffinKites, hope you are not referring to me as a troll given my comment on my griffin kite bladder issues. My other kites (Cores) are 2009 (ref your comment on Jaffasoft) and are still going without bladder issues. Take it as buyers liking your design but wanting more so they return to the brand.
So many good kites out there. We do want to buy Australian. FYI Just bought a 9m pivot as my main kite so I am happy to brand hop (so far Cabrinah/ Best / Core / Griffin / BWS / Naish plus trialed Ozone / BWS / Cabrinah / North). Just some feed back as I hope you continue to prosper.

From a newbie point of view.
I started kiting with a second hand Eclipse Nano 11m kite with a caution bar and lines. Last year i purchased a 2014 Griffin Argo 10m from my local distributor and the difference was awesome. i am progressing each time i go out and it is because of the way the kite handles. i have found it very forgiving and it handles gusts very well. I had an issue with the bar and lines falling apart. the foam wrap came off and the bar end came off and went up the lines while in use. I did get a replacement bar which is the new model which is great, however i did have to chase it up a bit. but as the othe comments state, who else can you deal with that you dont need to follow up.
In all im very happy with mine.