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This kite is unbelievable, I was just down the river with my 54kg wife and son. Im 65kg and been kiting since 2000, we pumped up the 9mtr, as we only had this kite in the car. It was 14-16knts when the wife decided she'd be able to go out. To my suprise she was killing it, lit up and mowing up wind. So I gave it a shot, I haven't kited all winter and missed a lot of the summer so the best I had was big boosts, gayleys and S-bends. But even so, I had a blast.. The kite is so stable and had a direct bar feel. I was also lit and was well and truly up wind, what surprised me was the boost I was getting from the 9mtr in such light winds. Im so stoked I found a kite thats suited to my riding, I hope it goes well in the surf. Will keep you updated.

Really? In what was barely even a waft of wind tonight? Hard to believe to be honest

Haaha yeah you're right Maz there was nothing today, this was on Monday at Pelican point. We were the first one there and by the time crew came we were done. A fella named John did see me today at my shop and told me it picked up that arvo and he was overpowered on his 13 edge.

Lit in 14-16 on a 9m? Bit suss

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Drury said..
Lit in 14-16 on a 9m? Bit suss

Poor Form.

Give the guy a break, I am sure "bonster" was to busy enjoying his session to get out the wind metre..... please.

I think the kites are actually designed in Perth, people should be supporting small brands like IKON.

James

i ride my 9 on a surfboard in 15 pretty regularly (not ikon), and i'm 90 pies. at 50-65 kg, good luck to them i reckon - enjoy!



to clarify my earlier post, i had just driven by the river that night, so i was curious if i had missed something - no worries bonster, happy for you that you got wet earlier this week - i have been desk bound til today.

pretty sure the ikon guys are a french company originally, but yeah, heard one them does a heap of R&D out of WA. also met a french lass in brazil this year that mentioned the same... but that's another story.

damn i wish i was kiting right now...

Ikon is has airush and ozone inks, the first kite is very similar IMO to the lithium , looked a very well put together product, the bar needed a bit of attention to detail but safe and simple, very stable kite in its upper limits, the brand has been doing well os at comps , as for longevity still looking new since it's introduction

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James01 said..

Drury said..
Lit in 14-16 on a 9m? Bit suss

Poor Form.

Give the guy a break, I am sure "bonster" was to busy enjoying his session to get out the wind metre..... please.

I think the kites are actually designed in Perth, people should be supporting small brands like IKON.

James

I think small brands are super important and good on them for doing R&D in Perth. Not asking the guy to get out a wind meter... I have not used a wind meter once in my life I just don't like claiming. No 9m is going too far in under 15 doesn't matter what brand it is.

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Drury said..

James01 said..

Drury said..
Lit in 14-16 on a 9m? Bit suss

Poor Form.

Give the guy a break, I am sure "bonster" was to busy enjoying his session to get out the wind metre..... please.

I think the kites are actually designed in Perth, people should be supporting small brands like IKON.

James

I think small brands are super important and good on them for doing R&D in Perth. Not asking the guy to get out a wind meter... I have not used a wind meter once in my life I just don't like claiming. No 9m is going too far in under 15 doesn't matter what brand it is.

You completely missed my point. The guy was just stoked to have a good session and was surprised by the power he got out of his new sail.

People should be encouraged to review products not shot down!

And you're missing my point completely. Again, completely supportive of all fair and honest reviews, big brands and small brands. "Lit and well and truly upwind" in 14 knots sounds a bit off to me and I think that's a fair thing to point out. I'm just saying ... maybe say the wind was pretty light? Bit more reasonable sounding.

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Drury said..
And you're missing my point completely. Again, completely supportive of all fair and honest reviews, big brands and small brands. "Lit and well and truly upwind" in 14 knots sounds a bit off to me and I think that's a fair thing to point out. I'm just saying ... maybe say the wind was pretty light? Bit more reasonable sounding.

My issue with your comment 'Lit in 14-16 on a 9m? Bit suss" was that it was a non constructive unhelpful comment deliberately made to discredit the brand and the poster.

Haha it has NOTHING to do with the brand at all it's just suss.

he said in the river! could have had a sweet runout. im having a ball on my 9m razor with a solid runout!

in 15knots, I forgot to say!

That's true! Runout and type of board definitely play a part :)

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Drury said..
That's true! Runout and type of board definitely play a part :)

I can get upwind at 12-13 knots on my 10m RPM when the Pioneer's running
Just don't crash

He did say his wife at 54 kg was lit up and mowing it upwind on a 9m in 14-16 knots.
I recon that's about right
If he's been kiting for 14 years and can run a kite efficiently at 65kgs I recon he does not need a tide to have fun

Drury you have grounds for doubt and sorry my review lead you to think that way.
I like to use the word "lit" when Im going and going quite fast, I use the lingo term "smoking along" when Im "fully Lit up like a Christmas tree". Sorry for the confusion ay? The truth is I was powered enough to create good board speed, jump and pop. It did picked up by a couple of knts from when she went out, however it was still on the light side.

I own a kiteshop and I have a few kites that would not have been able to achieved that. This kite suits me and it's perfect for my riding style so Im choosing this kite over a big name kite for the season.

Have a ride and you'll know what I mean, it's a winner for me.

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bonster said..
Drury you have grounds for doubt and sorry my review lead you to think that way.
I like to use the word "lit" when Im going and going quite fast, I use the lingo term "smoking along" when Im "fully Lit up like a Christmas tree". Sorry for the confusion ay? The truth is I was powered enough to create good board speed, jump and pop. It did picked up by a couple of knts from when she went out, however it was still on the light side.

I own a kiteshop and I have a few kites that would not have been able to achieved that. This kite suits me and it's perfect for my riding style so Im choosing this kite over a big name kite for the season.

Have a ride and you'll know what I mean, it's a winner for me.

Awesome bro! I'm a tough critic sometimes but I'm really glad that you're enjoying your kite and it would be interesting to test one some time! Cheers

I tried the peak 2 7m in 20-25 knots last week.
I like that kite A LOT! Better than the peak 1 and my old 2011 airush lithium...
Less bar pressure (which I like!) but still you can load it and then... it's a bomb!

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mazdon said..

pretty sure the ikon guys are a french company originally, but yeah, heard one them does a heap of R&D out of WA. also met a french lass in brazil this year that mentioned the same... but that's another story.

Ikon Kiteboarding is not a french based company. It's owned by 3 friends, half French, half Australian. All the R&D is based in WA during summer and NZ during winter, I moved here almost 10 years ago and happy to be part and share the Australian Value...

All the best.

what a blast from the past that was! haha
sounds like you've got a good deal going.


can you clarify for me - do you have a good sales presence in france? the chick i met was telling me you did that's all. and i'm just curious, not stirring. hope your business is booming over there.

oh, and half of three friends is 1.5 persons, so which of you is bi-lingual/bi-national? (stirring that time)

Hey Mazdon,

The european market is a hard one ... nothing compare to Australia.

The fact that the population is heaps more dense in Europe and also there is more cities make is harder.
They are small shops everywhere trying to survive, lot of online shops trying to do a bit of business, and you have the big names ... here in Australia, there are less than 10 big cities. Put 2 North/Naish/Slingshot dealer per city and you cover the whole country (talking about % of people here not % of land).

The competition is huge in Europe now that the borders are open for trading. There is also more brands represented.

We are doing ok in France as my 2 business partners live there. We have actually a good market in east europe with our snowkite range.

We are trying to be present in other countries but as we are selling direct to our shop network, we just need to find people that are willing to sell somethign different than big names.


For the maths regarding half of us, my 2 business partners are french and I'm australo-french ... this country is so nice and easy to live! Loving it.