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North Neo 2014

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Toby
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North Neo 2014

Postby Toby » Mon Feb 03, 2014 8:03 pm

North News:

Neo 2014

1 North.jpg
Over the years the NEO from North Kiteboarding developed into a pure wave kite. Stay tuned for teamrider and product developer Sky Solbach explaining the 2014 version of the Neo on our blog!

Size 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12

Information
- Quick and easy turning
- Responsive steering when depowered
- Best drifting ability of the range
- Massive depower
- Soft power development

The Neo is the dedicated wave-freeride kite in the line up, aimed at the rider who values quality waves and needs a kite to perform. Airton Cozzolino chooses the Neo for his demanding style of competitive wave riding on the KSP World Tour. His influence was essential to improve the wave characteristic without loosing the good freeride abilities. This year the Neo comes with a floating strut and the structure of the kite is a little softer to enable the Neo to absorb gusts, giving a smoother power development and allowing the rider even more control on the wave. The struts have also been moved further towards the outside of the kite, this has shifted the centre of gravity allowing the kite to sit further back in the window. This enables the kite to drift down the line incredibly well, allowing you to park the kite and ride the wave without having to worry about it stalling. Additionally it is responsible for an easy and fast relaunch. The Neo is extremely responsive to rider input on the bar, making it easy to manoeuvre on the wave. The lightweight construction makes the kite very lively in the air, but also means there is even less chance of the kite dropping back in the window as you race down the line.

If you like riding waves, but don´t want to miss comfort freeriding, the Neo is the kite for you.

http://www.northkites.com/products/kites/neo/


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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby peterheirman » Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:15 pm

I always wonder where they test these wave kites.
Never ever seen any testing on the typical wave spots in The Netherlands which have specific requirements gusty winds, 6 foot waves or more and short periods (4-6 secs). Very demanding for kite, kite surfboard and kite surfer.
So where did North test the Neo ? On Hawaii and Morne ?

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby Dan-at-Duotone » Tue Feb 04, 2014 9:14 pm

Most testing was done in Hawaii. Sky, Ken, Patri, Airton, and several other team members were actively involved in the testing, most of which was done at Ho'okipa/Lanes and various other spots, mostly on the North Shore of Maui.
-Dan

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby Tony » Tue Feb 04, 2014 11:31 pm

Dan,
Do you know if the Neo performs equally as well on 5-lines or 4-lines?
Or, is it more like the Dice where it will be better to run it on 4 lines?
Did Sky, Ken, Patri, Airton, and the other team members ride it 4 or 5 line?
How does it compare to the 2013 Neo?
Tony

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby Dan-at-Duotone » Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:25 am

Tony-

According to Ken... Neo works well with a 5th-line bar but is a little nicer with the 4 line bar. Sky, Patri, Airton and Machu use the 4-line bar.

Compared to the 2013 Neo, Sky would say the new one has crisper depower, better depower, smoother turning and easier turn initiation. Relaunch is extremely easy. As I mentioned another time, the 2014 Neo has a lot of power so when you might use a 10-meter Dice or a 9-meter Rebel you’ll probably use an 8-meter Neo.

-Dan

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby j0nes » Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:59 am

I am riding a Rebel 12m, 9m and 6m from 2011 and I am going to upgrade this year. For the 12m and 9m I will probably stay with the Rebel, but as I am going more into waveriding I am looking to get a Neo in smaller sizes. For waves, the gap between the 9m and 6m Rebel was too big for me riding strapless (65kg, North Sea conditions).

In general, how does the Neo compare to the Rebel in the waves? What size of the Neo would you recommend me, a 7m (and optional 5m later)? And... how good does it work on a twintip?

Thank you for your help!
Jonas

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby Dan-at-Duotone » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:47 pm

Jonas-

First some notes regarding Rebel vs Neo from Ken:

- Neo doesn't fly to the edge as aggressively, so keeping it downwind of you and pulling smoothly through turns on the wave is easier.
- Drifts downwind in the air extremely well
- Neo turns quicker with more consistent power delivery.
- Neo turn initiation is easier -- less bar input required.
- The gap from Rebel 9 to Neo 6 will feel smaller than the gap from Rebel 9 to Rebel 6.
- Quicker relaunch
- Neo is fine for strapless jumping, but not as good as the Rebel for strapped jumping.

Ken also reminded me for Peterheirman that much of the testing in Maui was done in Waiehu where you get short period choppy swell with dead-onshore wind, much like the conditions he was describing in the North Sea.

Some personal notes:
I've had a few sessions on an early prototype and I can say that it DEFINITELY pulls harder, meter for meter, compared to the Rebel. Ken says he toned down the low end a bit in the final version in order to improve the high-end, but if he says it pulls like a size larger Rebel, I believe him. Therefore I think it may be totally reasonable to just get the Neo 6 to fill the entire gap down from Rebel 9.

As far as twintip riding, I found the Neo to be a great freeride kite in some ways but not great in others... It's super stable and easy to ride, so mowing the lawn was great, relaunch was super easy, it turned fast and felt responsive. Jumping is where it got really really interesting... I would send the kite and go up, and then I would just kind of sit there, hanging in the air. I kept waiting for the kite to accelerate over my head, requiring a loop or at least a redirection, but it simply refused to do so. With any other kite I've ever ridden, the kite would've for sure gone straight over my head and tumbled, but this kite sits so well in the window that it just hung there, a little downwind of 12:00 as I went up, and stayed there as I drifted slowly back down. The hangtime was crazy and the feel was very different from any other kite. When Ken says it works well for strapless jumping I believe it, when he says the Rebel jumps better strapped, I believe that too... In spite of the hangtime my guess is that it didn't get me as high or rocket me up the way a Rebel can. 2 caveats to this jumping review, though... 1. as I mentioned, it was a proto, not the final version, and 2. I don't jump a whole lot and only had a few hours total on this kite. That said, there were a good number of us testing the kite (local guys, not North affiliated) and everyone said pretty much that same thing. They also said that it was the most powerful kite they've flown, though, again, Ken says he toned that down.

Hope this all helps, and to be honest, I don't have a whole lot of more info on this kite. If anyone picks one up or gets a demo in please put up your thoughts here. A little warning; though the kite has been announced it may have been a little premature as I think most areas won't actually be getting Neos for some time (here in North America we're still at least a month out on production kites), and the initial run may well be limited, so be patient.

-Dan

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby gc » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:07 pm

flew the NEO 2014 10m at 14 - 17 knots, while the drift worked great as promised, the bar pressure was very high - significant more then the Rebel (used the soft setting knot, 4 lines, 22m). Is this the way it should be for the 2014 NEO?

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby windfreak » Wed Feb 05, 2014 6:11 pm

Hi Dan thanks for the info, you said the new neo had good low-end but what about the high end...I am planning to buy a 8 or 9m to complete my quiver with a 2013 12m evo,looking for an 2014 evo , dice or the new neo.S0 i need a good high end too ,i am about 210 ,surf mostly and freeriding ! Can you compare these 3 kites. Thanks man :thumb:

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Re: North Neo 2014

Postby Westozzy » Wed Feb 05, 2014 11:29 pm

Great info dan. I have no doubt about its surf capabilities. Just on the hang time factor...do you think you could get away with some basic old school board offs even on a TT given its 'predictable' hang time?? You may not get the height, but the hang time would be useful. I ride Tts and surfboards (50/50 flat and waves)..thinking of heading back into the old school stuff a bit as the powered freestyle is starting to hurt my aging body dammit....

I know you only spent a couple of hours so hard to answer but would appreciate an extrapolation anyway.


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