Are Best kites as good as their team riders?

[plummet]

https://vimeo.com/102057100

So years back Best was considered a pretty average brand. Now they have pretty much has bought them self the (excuse the pun) best team riders in the world.

How do the kites stack up now?

PS that's an awesome vid.

[PAFF]

No way..

I still hold Cabrinha-North-Naish-Slingshot over them.

Thumbs up for their straplees waveboards.

[Westozzy]

We will find out this year I think. From a well known north/ozone/core retailer whose been around since day dot (and someone I trust implicitly) they are on the move from the management level to the retailer regardless of the great riders they have. He was thoroughly impressed with the new gear, boards and kites...and best apparently are thoroughly cashed up.

We will see I suppose, but I wouldn't assume anything right now...especially based on the initial model they used...it's all very very different. So I wouldn't be making any generalisations just yet.

[marlboroughman]

I own their 2011, I think, 5"6' surfboard and it is great. I just bought their 2013 6m Cabo on sale from Real for $399, and it works better than RPM, Park or Drift. Still not as good as my old Vapor but it's a keeper.

[davesails7]

When I started kiting in the mid-2000's, I was all about Best kites. The waroos were great and they were a great deal. I tried them out back to back with Cabrinhas which cost a lot more, and I liked the waroos better. I never had a single quality issue with my Waroos. My 2008 11m held up for 150+ sessions before I sold it.

Also they were coming out with videos all the time. More than the other brands were at the time. And I would look forward to the new videos coming out. They had a very busy forum as well. I was hooked on Best kites.

Then they had the 2010 waroo disaster. They stopped coming out with videos. I liked the Kahoona a lot, but it's more of a beginner kite. Never liked the TS after trying multiple generations.

Their prices aren't a bargain anymore, they're pretty much the same as all the other brands. Their forum is dead now. Their website last year only showed prices in Euros for months. I don't see nearly as many Best kites around as I used to.

We usually have a Best demo every year locally, so I look forward to trying out the new kites.

[pj sofine]

One thing I miss is all the forum banter and crazy claims by alex s. and whats his name from England. Had the privledge of having a hellfish blow up in my hands while landing it for a friend Hype is much lower now and those I know that own best products seem happy.

[poldo]

small Kahoona (5,5 and 7,5) are great high wind kites for all levels.

I had a V3 5,5 and loved it (sold in perfect conditions)

Now I got a 5,5 V4 onepump and it's even better.

I'm quite light and can squeeze a very wide range out of these little kites

Never tried a Cabo but would like to do

[Starsky]

Pretty crazy to think back on their trajectory. Was all bikini videos, the fast car lifestyle and cheap gear in the day. Shannon could rip and it drew a lot of good riders to his side like Andy Hurdman. Remember that guys vids? Dude could jump!

Kites look nice now, but the transformation is complete and they are priced to match. I bet their quality is on par with the better brands. It was never terrible, just no frills.

I have and would again own their kites. Loved one, hated the other.

[knotwindy]

i have had a chance to ride their 2013 TS 10 and 8 and the Cabo 6. All seem like good kites. They do what kites are supposed to do, pull you around so you can play on the board/water. TS has great drift and steady pull, is a decent jumper with decent hang time. Rock steady in the air medium size turn also with a steady pull throughout the arc. Catches you just fine on loops. Cabo is similar but does not jump quite as well, it is a wave kite after all, but relaunches a bit faster.
We will see if they last a season but seems to me they are as good as anything else out there. Never rode them before but have heard they were cheap to buy and cheaply made in the past. Not any longer.
No affiliation with any company but i like them a lot right now.

[posty]

No way..

I still hold Cabrinha-North-Naish-Slingshot over them.

Thumbs up for their straplees waveboards.

you still live in 2004?

the kites are just as good as all those brands and have the same issues now and then like every kite has...

(i don't ride best but i did a lot in the past. i only switched because i got a better deal)