Naish vs Switch

[GraemeF]

Man, I would not buy any kites from you.

Putting aside for one moment your complete lack of understanding of my point, even if you were in my country you wouldn't be buying kites from me, that's not what distributors do, our job is to broaden the sport and access to it as well as present the brand we are selling. Quite correctly you point out it is Core these days, but that's not what this thread is about, it's about Naish v's Switch, which I don't come across much tbh, but my point remains the same, you as much as I need local what do you refer to them in the states? Mom and Pop stores? Because the main ingredient they bring to the party is enthusiasm and nothing crushes enthusiasm more than a direct to market brand.
Naish is the brand singularly most responsible for the existence of kitesurfing not Best, nor any other parasite brand and yes I bashed Best in my time, but you won't hear me bashing F1 for example another structured market brand that supports local stores.

As for my 'tone' your problem in not getting the nuance of the post, not mine, I'm not here in this thread to talk Core, my point was to arrest the attack on Naish, if in doing so it redirects it at me then fine, san fairy ann, I can cope with that, resting as I do in the sure and certain knowledge I didn't just vote a reality joke into power...

[Matteo V]

A bit off topic but which Switch kite, Element or Nitro would be most similar to a Slingshot Rally?

Definitely the Element is more similar to both the Rally and RPM. The Rally will relaunch a little easier though.

I would say a toss up. The Element handles pretty easy and does not yank you like the Nitro (I like the nitro for that though). I agree that the Nitro is much more like the RPM. But to just to be completely honest, while I recommend Rally's and they are one of the best kites ever made for the kiteboarding masses, I just cannot make them work.

And some of my linking the Element (3, and 4) to the Rally, is that I get that same feeling from both. Again, take that with a grain of salt as I am in the 5% of kiters that just cant seem to warm up to Rally's.

[GraemeF]

then the volumes drop, then the prices increase

The prices certainly didn't decrease now that ten times more kites are on the water since I started 8 years ago.

I understand your point of view but I don't understand you bashing a fine brand.
It's a free market, that's a good thing and simply how things work.
And hey, 2017, internet, hello

But what should be happening is that you get a reasonable trade in value for your used kite, so you trade up every so often as kites continue to improve, but direct sell forcing prices down which brings on close outs, hurts the resale price of your own kite. Now the big jumps in performance have gone it should be so that entry level riders pick up used kites. So, Switch attacks all kite owners not just stores, so how can it be a 'fine' brand and frankly lets consider direct to market history. Wipika went direct where are they, Takoon? never see them, Best? bankrupt if the stories are to be believed, how did Ben fair with his kites? I don't think it went that well, so how long will Switch be about, long enough to make life tough for another couple of seasons I'm sure, but as I said, it doesn't make it right and it doesn't help the entire community, not by a long chalk, better Naish than Switch.

[Faxie]

No, shop owners running a 35-45% margin on kites, giving major discounts on last years models (that nowadays perform the same anyway) are hurting the resale values.

You buy a kite for 1500,-, next year the same kite brand new will cost 1000,- . So if you want to sell your used kite, you're not getting much more than 800,-. That's a 700,- loss....you can almost buy a brand new direct sales brand current model kite for that.

Btw, Best was doing fine when they sold direct. It went downhill recently... you know, when they were sold in shops.

You're full of shit and are making Core look bad. Shame.

[tautologies]

Btw, Best was doing fine when they sold direct. It went downhill recently... you know, when they were sold in shops.

Faxie, go easy on the personal attacks (goes for anyone). No need for it.

I don't think Bests downfall was the shops. I think they realized they needed to be in shops to continue the growth. I think their downfall was attempting to grow by getting a lot of team riders. Maybe I am wrong. I have no idea....but they were fine for many years while having shops as part of their value chain.

[GraemeF]

You need to ask Shannon how fine Best were doing, sadly the whole tale isn't full of the ethical high points of human endeavour and it's not for me to enlighten you all with the dirty backside of the kite industry, all I'm trying to do is to introduce a little common sense and explanation of what the OP asked about, particularly in his choice of the word community which like it or not we are all part of and our actions have ramifications for each other.

[Jelle_vw]

It's not for me to enlighten you all with the dirty backside of the kite industry

[Starsky]

Dude, its so funny you invoke the Donald to make your point. From what I've seen over the years, your cut from a similar tartan.

You not only love to shit talk, but always seem to take it that little bit too far for someone making their living as a brand/sport ambassador!

Even with the weird alias you don't fool anyone, as if somehow that would make any of it better!

Really, your a bit like Trump. You can't help yourself.

Even under this account, it doesn't matter much who you're bashing, its just the way you do it.

Betrays your temperament, and reflects poorly for someone in your position.

[Matteo V]

You need to ask Shannon how fine Best were doing, sadly the whole tale isn't full of the ethical high points of human endeavour and it's not for me to enlighten you all with the dirty backside of the kite industry.....

So Shannon Best is quoted as having stated this (link follows):

"As the company expanded, our controlling investor’ priorities shifted and a new management team was hired. I never got involved into the finance or management of the company and had little to say at the time but the dwindling bottom line became the most important thing and the bean counters stepped in, attempting to control not only the business but also the design and development of our products. This was catastrophic and their involvement led to poor quality and failed designs resulting in a collapse of the sales. Although touting his Harvard degree and proclaiming to be the only one qualified enough to manage a company of that size, the new CEO proved to bring about the collapse of Best Kiteboarding from a $21 million a year of sales to less than $4 million last year."

https://www.air-head.com/2013/08/shanno ... urf-brand/

Given the time frame of when this was going down with Best Kiteboarding, I am thinking that this had lots to do with the "Profit above all" mentality that wiggled it's way into the most successful kiteboarding company of it's time. This fostered the rise in prices of Best Kiteboarding gear to within almost 5% or so of Core. There are many more causal links that can be made to model the collapse of the market domination of Best, but I think this is the number one - The bean counters started bitching about more money, and they dug Best Kiteboardings grave to find it. GraemeF, you seem to be doing a bit of diggin in Core's plot next to Best's.

[GraemeF]

Dude, its so funny ...

I love it when some yank calls me Dude, I wonder is he some rad skater dude, is his bb cap on back to front, sideways maybe, possibly tanned, maybe a ladies man, maybe even a cool kiter, then reality always clicks in and the imagery reverts back to type, tubby keyboard warrior.. I think we're done here.