Postby Dan-at-Duotone » Thu Aug 14, 2014 6:46 pm
Sorry in advance for the long post. Too much coffee not enough wind...
I'm a little confused by the complaints. Are you guys not sure about our lineup for 2014 and 2015? I feel like it's the most clear and accurate that it has ever been... I guess I can see some confusion because we had a big shuffle between 2013 and 2014, but I think that shuffle was necessary and left us with a pretty clear lineup going forward...
Rebel: Freeride, loaded 5 line... It does everything well as long as you like to stay hooked in. It jumps well, turns well, and gives the most useable range thanks to the fact that the kite remains reactive even when sheeted out. This is the kite that I would recommend to the vast majority of riders. 5 struts means more stability and performance through a larger windrange.
Evo: Freeride, 4/5 line compatible. Also 5 struts. Basically the same target customer as the Rebel, but on 4 lines. I've been told it jumps just a little better than the Rebel, but maybe has slightly less range due to bridles vs 5-lines. The Rebel is our bestselling kite, so we know that there is the demand for this kind of performance, but we also know that for various reasons, there are those who do not want a 5-line kite. Therefore, Evo.
Dice: All around, 4/5 line compatible. Freeride, unhooked freestyle, advanced wave (hooked or unhooked). Basically this is the kite that does it all. It does freestyle really well, but maybe not as well as the Vegas. It's great for freeride, but the 3-strut setup means it may not have the same range or performance at the ends of its range that the Evo/Rebel has. Jumps well, but maybe not as big as the Evo or Rebel. Does waves amazingly well in the waves (great drift from 3-struts), but maybe not quite as well as the Neo.
Neo: Wave, 4/5 line compatible. Wave only. Maximum drift to float down the line coupled with maximum low-end power so you can ride the smallest kite possible, while maintaining quick turning, so you can park and ride down the line or throw it around in onshore conditions.
Vegas: Freestyle. Loaded 5 line. Advanced unhooked freestyle.
As far as complaints about the Rebel... I've said it before and I'll say it again, everyone has their own preferences. If the Rebel no longer suits your riding style, try other kites. I'd hope that there's something in our lineup to make you happy, but if something from another brand makes you happier, by all means ride their gear. I honestly think North makes the best gear available, but everyone is different and there will obviously be many people whose riding styles/personal preferences match other brands' lineups better than ours.
As far as complaints that the Rebel has become gruntier and 'piggish' over the years, that does not jive with my personal experience or the response I've gotten from customers. The single biggest complaint I hear about the Rebel concerns the 2013, when people complained that it had too little low-end, not enough grunt, coupled with an unnecessary amount of top end. Response from customers and dealers to the 2014 has been pretty much 100% positive as Ken brought the low-end of the 2012 back. It is possible that in the years since the Rebel was released that there are other designs that turn faster making the Rebel feel slower in comparison... We have a couple models ourselves.
In my opinion there are two things that the Rebel offers that other kites do not... 1. the performance and reactivity when depowered or when the kite is drifting. There are tons of kites that depower more or less completely. But as you sheet out on those kites, the slack in the outside lines means that you cannot steer the kite anymore, so your usable windrange is not as big as the Rebel. With the Rebel, when you're racing down the face of a wave, or you don't redirect correctly after a jump, or when you're just fully depowered, you can still move the kite around and put it where you want it to be. 2. And more importantly, there's the feel of a 5-line kite that you simply cannot get with a 4-line kite. I don't generally ride Rebels, like I said no kite suits everyone and the Rebel simply doesn't suit my riding style anymore. But when I go back to the Rebel it always feels so damn good, like an extension of my body. I can feel where it is, it goes exactly where I want it to go... It's like coming home to the woman you've loved your whole life. It is this feeling, along with the fact that it is a high-performance freeride kite, that makes the Rebel the best selling North model year after year.
As far as release dates, we moved the Neo up in production as there's a pretty big winter wave season, and we wanted to get the Neo out at the beginning of this rather than the end. As far as I'm aware the Evo will come out in November as it has done for several years now. We also dropped the Vegas back a month and moved the Dice up a month. This doesn't seem like a huge deal to me but I'm sorry if it affects anyone negatively.
Whoa. I got wicked off track there. Regardless, I hope this helps straighten out your confusion on our lineup. If you have further questions regarding what kite might suit your particular riding style, your first move should be to try to find a demo or a local shop willing to loan you a kite. If there's nothing around you, feel free to hit me up with a PM. I'm always down to talk kite and try to pair you up with a kite that will give you what you're looking for.
-Dan