Rider: Weight 85

Level-intermediate

Style: Freeriding, Surf, Wake, Freestyle

Build Quality: 9.5/10

Satisfaction: 9/10

Disclosure: Alliance Gear


My Comments:
Had an early showing of the new 2014 Naish range, im not going to give away too much before its released to the public but here is a bit of a teaser...

Draft - this is new and it will shake up the whole big air thing as its got lots of balls in the upwind and jumping department, if you want float this kite delivers everything they say with some more under the hood. The kite still turns pretty well for what it is aimed at, very enjoyable for just getting a birds eye view of the beach!

Park - good all round kite just got better, a bridle change and some small tweaks has given this kite new life from the low end all the way up. This is by far the closest bridle kite to a C kite i have ridden. direct turning and lots of raw power to burn with EXCELLENT un hooking characteristics, this is my pic of the kites for the season from Naish. If you have not ridden a park try one out this year.

Trip - there is a lot of bad press on the strutless kites coming out, lots of hearsay etc. Give this thing a try, lots of power in light wind and a fun kite to fly, if all you have a is a small amount of room this kite packs into a kids size back pack!

Ride - this is a very underrated kite, super fun and and easy to ride. you can do all sorts of things with it. last season it seemed to be overlooked as a beginners kite.....far from it, this will suit a lot of riders who just want to progress and have fun. There are tons of sizes in this kite now as well.

board range - this season see's 2 x new pad and strap combo's one has so much adjustment it fits the smallest to largest foot with all sorts of angles and even an option for foot length.
the board range has some really interesting bottom shapes but unfortunately i did not get a chance to try them due to lack of wind :( The finish and graphics on the boards are very different this year compared to the normal feel.

Much more info coming soon!

Any changes to the Torch?
Saw the new Park the other day, looks good. The Alana seems to be the same as the Park but with Pink flowers on it.
When will they be released in Oz?

juicerider there are some very minor changes to the torch, its hard to improve on what is probably the best C kite out there i think. They have a formula new formula for the kite designs that allow them to tweak things at a much higher tolerance than before.

Gear should be landing in shops early to mid august.

sorry for the shameless plug but NSW guys follow us on FB and you will get early dibs on the demo's :)

http://www.facebook.com/AllianceGearAustralia

The Alana is a girls park with flowers but all the guys features for performance, the real change is the bar setup. Naish spent a lot of time working on Female sizing to come up with a setup that would be comfy and within reach. The result is a thumbs up from the ladies! The bar features a reduced DIA chicken loop and reduced length of throw on the bar so it does not go out of reach when the stopper slides up. Not a big deal for the blokes but great for our better halfs.

Select to expand quote

juicerider said..
Any changes to the Torch?

Saw the new Park the other day, looks good. The Alana seems to be the same as the Park but with Pink flowers on it.

When will they be released in Oz?

Don't worry about the Torches dude, Alana's all the way!

What about a Torch with pink bits on it, Naish could call it the "flesh light".
Nick, if I had a pink kite too people would start to talk about us.