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Ozone vs Core

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CaptainCore
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby CaptainCore » Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:44 pm

Take that 'Exotex' or whatever it's called canopy material, it, like the dyneema kite lines are sourced in Germany, for sure the kites are put together in Sri Lanka, but the stuff they are actually made from is not Teijin for instance. They have a triple filament which ok you could call it marketing BS, but i swear to God their stuff lasts and stays crisper longer, go find a kite school that has used other stuff then Core, if you dont believe me.
I'm relatively new to Core, i started with it as recently as 2014 and at that time if you saw a Core rider chances are he was a Kraut and generally in our country entry level, not hot shots at all, just regular guys. One thing i did help with was raising the profile amongst my contacts in the UK press, mags like KiteWorld, IKsurf, then Kitemag, not that i know those guys as well as the former two, its taken us three years to get folk to put Core on their decision list, so every sales is hard fought in e face of decli ing figures and closeouts from just about every other brand.

The shortages thing isn't deliberate, its caused by your market waking up to the brand recently and blowing the doors of their production schedules. Theyve just got some new investment recently which may help that, but with the states growing, us doubling our turnover every year and them moving from a one kite one colourway brand to five kites and two colourways and still running a just in time model, its not surprising that there are shortages.

Its also a new brand in our English speaking markets, and were still reeling from the banking crisis so no dealers can afford to keep high stock levels and certainly not a new to them untried and untested brand, but, that is changing now and the change is being driven purely by product quality and performance. Their designer has a flight background and an attention to detail that i've not come across in all my years, if he says it flys better, it flys better, nobody expected the performance upgrade from the XR4 which was already a pretty damn good kite, from what were very small changes.

This is becoming a bloody marathan post, just leave it by accepting this is a premium brand, they are trying very hard to make a superior product and if someone show the slighteat interest in it, then you can't help us tired cynical old hands evangelising their enthusiasm.

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iriejohn
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby iriejohn » Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:52 pm

grigorib wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:06 pm
good2go wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 8:55 pm
I'm also in the process of buying my first kite. I'm in Dallas and at a weight of 200lbs I have to take those things into consideration. I will mostly be riding the local lakes and the occassional trip to Houston and other Gulf of Mexico destinations a few times this year. That's at least the plan until I get proficient enough to where I can launch/land the kite on my own.

See you out there.
11m Rally would be the best long-term pick for you.
I'm a 178lb old boy and I could use my 12m Rally up to 22 knots/25mph. Just saying.

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CaptainCore
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby CaptainCore » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:00 pm

Remind me, Rally? Three strut isnt it?

Three strut wont out range five.

The Core equivalent of a Rally is the Free, which is also priced lower and a more suitable kite for entry level, like the Rally.

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iriejohn
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby iriejohn » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:04 pm

CaptainCore wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:26 pm
Matteo V wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 5:29 pm
CaptainCore wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 1:37 pm
....however I didn't have to be psychic, because, oh look! our OP was actually asking about guess what? A Core XR5!
GraemeF is right here. While the OP is asking about kites in general, he also mentions two specific kites. As most posters have at least alluded to, the OP has likely bought into some of the hype. And that is OK! Feeling confident in your gear is important, no matter where the mechanism for that confidence is rooted. I may be of the mind that this is the worst reasoning for a purchase, but I cannot change, or talk someone else out of this rational.

Repeating myself again, but if really expensive gear does it for you, than that is simply what it takes to do it for you. The only caveat is when that premium costs you to the point where you have to sacrifice a kite size because you cannot afford the full range of kites. Think about the people in the US driving cars that they can barely afford.
Once again without wishing to be picky, the OP didnt ask for the best priced kite he asked for the Best kite and gave three examples, with an emphasis on range, so the XR5 is that kite. Now as for your own impecunious circumstance that appears to suggest they are 'really expensive' that also isnt really the case, certainly no more than other premium brands, ive no idea what the pricing structure is like in the states where they are the import up against local market brands like slinger and liquid force, but then they are not using European sourced materials like dyneema rather than spectra and canopy materials so may attract different duty and import taxes that hike the cost, that doesnt however deter from the added value of a typical Core lifespan which any school or repair centre wll tell you is considerably longer than others.

Now about my title, please call me Captain or sir in future, ill forgive you this time, but lets not have it happen again, that's a good chap. :wink:
Ah yes, CaptainKaa :lol:

https://youtu.be/cCX5JJwkZhU

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iriejohn
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby iriejohn » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:10 pm

CaptainCore wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:00 pm
Remind me, Rally? Three strut isnt it?
Nope.

grigorib
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby grigorib » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:40 pm

CaptainCore wrote:
Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:00 pm
Remind me, Rally? Three strut isnt it?

Three strut wont out range five.

The Core equivalent of a Rally is the Free, which is also priced lower and a more suitable kite for entry level, like the Rally.
Rally is 5 strut for last 4 years. Added rigidity but also weight.

3 strut Rally 2012 and 3 strut SST are amazing freeride foiling wings though. Few of guys I know would love a foiling Core kite.

Entry level Slingshot Z is an entry level equivalent of Core Free. As cool as BMW stroller. Will be useful for a year and will collect dust in a closet for 10 years.
Last edited by grigorib on Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:24 pm, edited 2 times in total.

grigorib
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby grigorib » Sat Jan 13, 2018 10:46 pm

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baxterbradford
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby baxterbradford » Sat Jan 13, 2018 11:53 pm

It's a shame that such threads degenerate and we end up with Basil Fawlty-esque 'Don't mention the Core'.... I actually started a Core thread here which managed to stay on topic, so I mentioned it once, but think I got away with it....

After just 5 minutes demoing an Enduro V1 on their release, I resolved to sell my Ozone Edge & Catalysts and switch - it was that good and I really enjoyed using those kites over 18 months & still wonder why I decided to change. However change I did and now own 4 Core kites, 1 Free & 3 XR5. They are great. I am not driven to bad mouth Ozone after changing, nor am I a Core evangelist. At my beach, we get out and kite, there isn't any badmouthing different kite brands of which many are represented. There is curiosity and we discuss how they fly, even offering to loan gear.

With margins being so tight and equipment being so expensive, I think the days of shops having a wide range of (or indeed any) demo gear, are pretty much gone and in my short kiting career (<5yrs), the number of brand demo days has shrunk considerably in the UK. Getting these infrequent demo days to coincide with decent wind makes chance of having an informative demo even less. In fact the only thing I have been able to demo, instead of buying on spec is the Enduro. Thus I have had to incur loss on items which haven't met my expectations. Yet the magazines still persist with what I believe to be an unrealistic 'demo this' line pretty much every issue. (I'm keen to demo a Section 2 in 12m btw Graeme!).

This 'forum fighting' impassioned as it is, isn't unique to Core vs whoever vs another whoever or other things we see on KF, it sadly is far too widespread. Earlier this week I was referred to as a 'clueless keyboard warrior' in a photography (my profession) social media stream. Having made a polite, factual & objective comment about a picture; the other guy saw red and NASA probably picked up the ballistic outbursts which he generated at me, over 3 different platforms!

I can't believe that the industry leaders of any of the kitesurf brands are terribly happy to see detrimental 'discussion' here or other social media, it rather messes with the dreams they conjure up in magazine & video marketing.

So back to the OP, there are a wide range of kites out there which will suit your needs brilliantly. 'buy once' is cheapest, but the chances are your requirements/whims may change as you progress or succumb to new colours/designs/marketing claims and so you'll look to switch at some point. I would say it's far easier to build a relationship of trust with your local dealers than it is through 'keyboard warriors' such as myself in an online forum. That's not to say however that you should dismiss KF. I've found it incredibly useful due to the kindness of some of the people here to share knowledge gained from operating towards the top of our game. Such information wasn't available at my local dealer.

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iriejohn
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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby iriejohn » Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:13 am

baxterbradford wrote:. So back to the OP, there are a wide range of kites out there which will suit your needs brilliantly.
Couldn't agree more. :thumb:

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Re: Ozone vs Core

Postby stenner » Sun Jan 14, 2018 1:26 am

I have to say how disappointed I am to many of the responses to my initial query. I thought I was asking a fairly simple question about three kites. As I mentioned I like the idea of Ozone because they have control of their own manufacturing facility. I picked two models, the Catalyst and the Enduro, both reasonable choices for my ability.
I also asked about the Core XR5, a kite know for boosting but also as an easy riding all -arounder with massive range (important to me), again well within my experience range and a company that is know for high quality and like Ozone, control over their own factory. Sure there are many other excellent kites out there but again l narrowed the topic to those three because those are what I'm interested in simple as that. Yeah my picks are more pricey than some others but what the f*** do you care? That was my question and some of you come back with stupid remarks about status or snobbery being the motivation. I shouldn't need to defend asking about a brand and who cares if I decide to spend an extra couple hundred on a kite, it's my fucking money!
I regret even asking because of all the pettyness over such a simple question, this should have been a fun conversation.
Please leave me out in further discussions, I withdraw my question.


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