Ozone Chrono V3

[TomW]

Price is insane. I got 3 new North Monos, 7-9-12, and a used Reo 5m, for the same price as one 13m Chrono V3.

Comparing apples with apples?
I assume you got the monos in a bargain deal. Who is paying the retail asking prices for any kite? But still a costly piece of kit...

I'm comparing apples to apples. A kite to go kiting with, there's no difference. I go kitesurfing. North Mono 2016 at 40% off = 550-600€, or new 1000€.
A Ozone Chrono 2 or 3 = 1900€. Used Chrono 2 11 = 1350€
Ozone Hyperlink = 1350€

I've never seen an Ozone foil on sale. Only used ones.

Price is so high, I'll never get one. HL is getting closer to what I will pay, but why another 600€ for the Chrono 3? It's not about affordance, but value.

[WH Lithuania]

I would go as far as saying it is the most stable Foil kite on the market. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself.

--
Gunnar

Is it really more stable than Hyperlink? Then it's unbelievable combination of stability and performance!

[andylc]

I got my V2 from Powerkiteshop for about £1450 complete including a temporary 15% discount they were offering. Think it might have been a mistake though as they changed the base price shortly after this and added about £300 to it!

[TomW]

I got my V2 from Powerkiteshop for about £1450 complete including a temporary 15% discount they were offering. Think it might have been a mistake though as they changed the base price shortly after this and added about £300 to it!

That's a decent price if it includes a bar. It needs to come down there if I'm to invest in one.
I think they are making a mistake by pricing them so high, they might increase volumes if they kept them 20% more than premium LEI.

[andylc]

That was with a bar but I agree. Having said that it’s easy to see that the construction is more involved than with an LEI. Given that all foils are very pricey I can’t imagine that the margin is any higher than other kites.

[mgs]

On the assumption that the R1 will be continuing, I assume they’re not aiming for this to be a race kite. However it does beg the question what the distinction is between the intended uses for Hyperlink and Chrono, although I was already confused about that anyway...!

I can understand how defining the distinction between the kites can be confusing as all 3 kites (R1, Chrono and the Hyperlink can be used on the same surfaces) and in essence all do the same thing in principle.
Looking at the Ozone website, the R1, Chrono and Hyperlink can all be ridden on water, snow and land. The R1 & Chrono are closed cell foils with the HL being a combination of both “closed & open cell” with the aim to give the feeling of an inflatable kite, easier to manage (minimal bridle) and mid aspect ratio.
The R1 looks to be the high performance race kite, the Chrono remains as a high performance free ride kite with the HL positioned as an “all-rounder” and probably a good kite to start with for anyone that’s new to foil kites as well as the experienced.

[Matteo V]

...I simply view a stable kite as one that behaves, and does what you want without behaving unpredictably, especially in gusty or overpowered conditions, or in the case of the larger foil kites in very light winds.

To simplify,

1. Anyone can fly a kite that has "primary stability", even beginners - and you do not need to pay attention to that kite in the same way as you would one without primary stability! But you can't do much with it, save keeping it up easily in gusty/shifty winds.

2. A skilled kiter using, and tuned well to, a kite that has "secondary stability", can keep a secondary stable kite up in even worse conditions than a primary stable kite. There are more controls/capabilities available to a skilled kiter with secondarily stable kite than there are available with a primary stable kite. But you have to know those controls by instinct to exploit them to get more stability out of a secondary stable kite vs a primary stable kite.


If, as an already skilled kiter, a "new to you" kite feels stable to you, it is most likely a primary stable kite. Or it has a similar likelyhood of being very close to the kites you are "tuned to" already.

If you feel a kite is unstable, the cause could be that it is an unstable kite. Or it could be that the kite has great secondary stability, but you just do not understand the control inputs to make it stable.

One of the things that made me warm up the the Ozone "Chrono 2" so quickly was that it has the same control inputs of the HQ "Matrixx 1" - which I am used to. But but the "Chrono 2" had way more capability with respect to range and speed with similar "stalled turn" capability.

I hated the "Matrixx 2" because it was nothing like the "Matrixx 1", and very much like the Flysurfer "speed series" kites that I had limited experience with.

Evaluating a secondary stable kite is not something a regular (but skilled) kiter like me can do with out at least 3dsys to a week under it. That said, you usually get the hint that a kite is junk the first time flying it (Ozone "Summit"). If you can fly a kite that should fall into the category of "secondary stability", and things seem just a bit off, you need to be under that kite for some time to adjust your timing and control inputs. That kite may be better than the kites you are used to.

[Matteo V]

I've never seen an Ozone foil on sale. Only used ones.

From my experience over the last 10 years, there has been a bit of a shift in the retailer strategy for selling Ozone kites. There used to be "last years clearance" sales on Ozone gear, including kites - indicating actual stock on hand. I purchased my last "Access SB" harness for only $115.00US. Now look at the new harness price. Nice harness, but I have given up on those and just use a rock climbing harness for snow. No way I am putting $250 into a harness when I can just use a $50 climbing harness and $10 worth of caribiners on it. Ozone has priced themselves out on this one. And most retailers are now "drop ship only" given the high cost and low sales volume Ozone products are known for.

But you have to realize that Ozone is a corporation with a focus on the bottom line. Their strategy seems to be to not produce enough kites to ever have overstock for sales anymore. This keeps their prices up, and provides some insulation from a possible downturn in the market by never having to "dump" kites onto the market. Most kiteboarding companies who's goal it is to be considered "high end", must adopt this market strategy to remain viewed as a "premium brand" by kiteboarders. Image, in the high end market, is EVERYTHING. If kites go on sale for 80% of their initial offering, then they are viewed as less of a "premium kite". Ozone's strategy, along with many other kite companies, is prevent this possibility.


The opposite strategy, is to offer kites at a discount, or late season closeouts on overstock. The effect of this is simple. More kites of discounted kite brands are purchased for water/snow and you make up for lower margins with higher volume. Retailers are also willing to actually stock a high volume sales items as opposed to low volume sales items. So the kite company gets the money at the beginning of the season when retailers actually purchase their years stock. Sales increase, not only due to lower prices, but also aspiring kiters seeing established kiters successfully riding that brand out on the water or snow. I tried to stop many newbies from buying Best kites, but they still did because I was riding Best kites. So this strategy seems to be an even better strategy than Ozone's. But having a larger market share like "Slingshot" is much riskier than having a smaller, but "high end" market share like "Core" or "Ozone". Economic downturns can leave lots of stock on shelves and severely impact next years retailers stocking orders. Thus this strategy is more "up and down".


On top of this, a company can go from "high end" to more affordable, but cannot easily go back. That was made apparent around 2011-2014 when Cabrinha dumped lots of kites onto the market for cheap. Lots of new (to the sport, or new to the brand) kiters scouped up the kites, only to switch brands once the supply was tightened and prices were once again on the high end. One of the devastating effects of this is that you see a kiter you know on brand X in the spring and you ask them, "hey, I thought your were riding brand Z last year. Why did you switch?" The answer is typically, "Well I liked them but I wanted a kite with more performance in this aspect, and the price was right too". This means that not only do you not know anything about this brand of kites, you know someone who moved away from that brand. This is the worst type of "word of mouth" because it is actually backed up by peer actions.


And it seems impossible to dig out "discount reputation. Best was an example of not being able to go from "discount" brand to "almost premium" brand. When viewed for so long as good but cheap.....that sticks to a brand for many years after switching business models. And surviving those years waiting for a companies perceived value to increase, is extremely difficult.


The bottom line is that this is economics. It takes money to pay company owners and designers. Kite companies care about this, and really nothing else - including whether or not you can afford their kite. And then if you can afford their kite, a kite company is most concerned with how much more you would have paid for it.

[TomW]

Hej Matteo,

Interesting to hear your opinion. But I know most of what you're saying as I work in high volume and value consumer electronics.

I still think Ozone is making a mistake, at least in my case. I won't pay that much for a kite that obviously has a high margin, even if it is a proven good product. So they haven't captured me as a customer. And frankly, I've long ago figured out I'm not unique, so there must be others out there like me.
Offer me an outgoing model discount, I might go for it. Even Mercedes-Benz offers it.

[jakemoore]

You can find outgoing model discounts if you shop around. Not many and limited sizes but they are out there.

Maintaining reasonable prices don't just support the owner and designer. It affects everybody in the ecosystem from the shop to the manufacturer. It also helps support the resale value. For a lower cost, I would recommend a Hyperlink for anybody who is foil kite curious as is simpler and less expensive and still very sweet.

I'm excited to see the next gen Chono.