North Kites confusion! On purpose???

[Babel]

@ Heinzbush: I know. However this was a default by my 2013 North Rebels: If you take a look at the round black patches on Rebels 2013 (and probably every other north kites 2013), the sewing doesn't go till the edge of the patch, thus, if the adhesive looses strength sand sticks to it and they sort of peel of till the sewing.

So, if you stick a patch on only without sewing it will simply peel off... Thats why I am asking if North provides the patch and sews it on before the pinholes appear.

That would actually be what I expect of a company devoted to quality and proper design.

[Dan-at-Duotone]

My advice is to bring it to your dealer. If you are worried about it wearing, ask for them to cover the cost of sewing a patch on. Just for the record THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE FACTORY WOULD HAVE DONE. There is no difference, other than that you have to hand over your kite for a few minutes to have the repair done. Maybe you've gotta send in a photo/serial number to get the credit. I used to run a kite-repair loft and this fix should be about 5 minutes and cost about $5-$10.

Let me also make a little comparison... I recently spent an absurd amount of money on a new bike, the new Santa Cruz Nomad (it's everything they claim it to be, if you're curious). It cost far more than a full quiver of kites. Then I went home and covered any wear spots with clear tape. While doing so I found that the rubber guard on the chainstay was already coming unglued. The idea of returning the bike or turning to the dealer or some internet forum never entered my mind. I got some glue and glued it back down. Last year I had an Ibis Mojo HD and the maxle axle didn't line up exactly with the dropout/derailleur hanger so I filed it down and ordered a new derailleur hanger (I ordered it expecting to pay but when I did the shop asked about it and gave it to me on warranty) and I made it work.

If you buy a new kite and you notice a wear area, put some repair tape over that area. If it starts chafing before you notice it, you should definitely bring it to your shop and have a professional repair done. You are not wrong for asking for a warranty, but realize that the world is not perfect. Every single brand has issues of some sort. There's a thread on here right now about Cabrinha lines stretching. I've seen threads about fatal chafing of some Naish LEs, Best bar failures, SS sizing issues, OR safety issues... I've seen threads bitching at every single brand I know of for some detail or other and invariably someone says "I paid $2000 for a new kite it should be perfect I will never buy brand X again their workmanship has gone downhill". I also run into that kind of thing on the beach every once in a while, with someone bitching about something that went wrong with their brand new kite. My reaction, every time, regardless of what brand the person is bitching about is to assure them that their brand is no different than any other and that there is always the chance that something on your kite will be imperfect. This is a small industry. There are those of you that think this is some huge coverup or there's some conspiracy so that North or whatever other brand can keep fleecing you of your money. We do the best we can every year to make the best gear possible. The same is true of every other brand. We are not getting rich on this. I know our CEO. His wife works full time. They live in a modest house and are really nice people. The same can be said of everyone I know at every company I know.

Ken had the option to add that patch. He assumed that because of the soft top of the new valve the patch would be unnecessary. He obviously didn't consider that some people would remove that valve cap before rolling up, or that it simply chafed more than anticipated. As I said, my kites show no sign of wear, so I really can't blame him. This was a human making an error, and we are willing to pay to have patches installed for anyone who wants/needs it, which make the kite the same as if Ken had approved the patches to begin with. I do not know anything about the one-pump clips chafing the LE, though I am not doubting it is happening. As far as I'm aware, all the clips are covered by a soft neoprene sock, and as before I have no wear on any of my kites from them, but as before, please contact your dealer if you have an issue in order to work out a solution, and if they aren't helping to your satisfaction please contact me here and I'll do what I can for you.

Sorry for the rant.

-Dan

[heinzbush]

My advice is to bring it to your dealer. If you are worried about it wearing, ask for them to cover the cost of sewing a patch on. Just for the record THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE FACTORY WOULD HAVE DONE. There is no difference, other than that you have to hand over your kite for a few minutes to have the repair done. Maybe you've gotta send in a photo/serial number to get the credit. I used to run a kite-repair loft and this fix should be about 5 minutes and cost about $5-$10.

Let me also make a little comparison... I recently spent an absurd amount of money on a new bike, the new Santa Cruz Nomad (it's everything they claim it to be, if you're curious). It cost far more than a full quiver of kites. Then I went home and covered any wear spots with clear tape. While doing so I found that the rubber guard on the chainstay was already coming unglued. The idea of returning the bike or turning to the dealer or some internet forum never entered my mind. I got some glue and glued it back down. Last year I had an Ibis Mojo HD and the maxle axle didn't line up exactly with the dropout/derailleur hanger so I filed it down and ordered a new derailleur hanger (I ordered it expecting to pay but when I did the shop asked about it and gave it to me on warranty) and I made it work.

If you buy a new kite and you notice a wear area, put some repair tape over that area. If it starts chafing before you notice it, you should definitely bring it to your shop and have a professional repair done. You are not wrong for asking for a warranty, but realize that the world is not perfect. Every single brand has issues of some sort. There's a thread on here right now about Cabrinha lines stretching. I've seen threads about fatal chafing of some Naish LEs, Best bar failures, SS sizing issues, OR safety issues... I've seen threads bitching at every single brand I know of for some detail or other and invariably someone says "I paid $2000 for a new kite it should be perfect I will never buy brand X again their workmanship has gone downhill". I also run into that kind of thing on the beach every once in a while, with someone bitching about something that went wrong with their brand new kite. My reaction, every time, regardless of what brand the person is bitching about is to assure them that their brand is no different than any other and that there is always the chance that something on your kite will be imperfect. This is a small industry. There are those of you that think this is some huge coverup or there's some conspiracy so that North or whatever other brand can keep fleecing you of your money. We do the best we can every year to make the best gear possible. The same is true of every other brand. We are not getting rich on this. I know our CEO. His wife works full time. They live in a modest house and are really nice people. The same can be said of everyone I know at every company I know.

Ken had the option to add that patch. He assumed that because of the soft top of the new valve the patch would be unnecessary. He obviously didn't consider that some people would remove that valve cap before rolling up, or that it simply chafed more than anticipated. As I said, my kites show no sign of wear, so I really can't blame him. This was a human making an error, and we are willing to pay to have patches installed for anyone who wants/needs it, which make the kite the same as if Ken had approved the patches to begin with. I do not know anything about the one-pump clips chafing the LE, though I am not doubting it is happening. As far as I'm aware, all the clips are covered by a soft neoprene sock, and as before I have no wear on any of my kites from them, but as before, please contact your dealer if you have an issue in order to work out a solution, and if they aren't helping to your satisfaction please contact me here and I'll do what I can for you.

Sorry for the rant.

-Dan

Appreciate the rant

You or I can bring many more examples on how u can find defects on expensive items .. There is a hilarious youtube series about the guy who bought a Porsche and has nothing but issues... Search for it, it's brilliant ..

However, point is, North should not justify their issues with the arguments that others also have some... They can't do that if they want to be such a "premium" product!

Again: IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE UNPROTECTED VALVE CAP, IT'S ABOUT THE MANY UNPROTECTED HARD PLASTIC PARTS ON THE KITE THAT ALSO CAUSES HOLES (see my pics or Wes's comment)!

Imagine ur mentioned new bike gets small cracks and they tell u to just put patches on it! Then I want to see how u would react and whether u buy the brand again.

I flipping don't want 6 patches on my kite, and no, it's not "just what the factory has done"!

Yes, Cabrinha lines can stretch in the first session, you adjust it, and then they stay (this is what happened to my bars and what I read in the thread u mention)... Maybe they should increase the pre-stretch load... BUT, sorry, that does not compare to getting holes in th canopy!

Look, ppl have different tolerance levels and it's a buyers market! The one with the best quality/value offering wins! I don't accept these Norh issues, since I can get a better product at the same price... This is simply rational behaviour from an economics point of view...

[Westozzy]

Well I fly the best wing for what I do and can deal with a few patches here and there, not that I've needed them, just my mate... each to their own...