9m waroo review from a sonic rider (long)

[Kurt]

I have a 9m demo waroo that has been used and abused by no less than 25-30 people and it is still as sweet as the day I got it!
Looking good on the build quality front imo.....

[lesbian horse]

bad day on the sonic.

today I spent all day sitting on the beach, after I found the LE seam split exposing about 2 inches of bladder, making it buldge on my sonic. Perfect 20knots breeze, flat water. On both sides of the kite the same thing, terrible.

Unless you have a very good local dealer dont even think about getting the sonic it has attrocious build quality. I've got 2 popped strut bladders, 2 holes in the leading edge due to bridles rubbing (leaving exposed bladder), a snapped chickenloop, a snapped camcleat ring, camcleat slipping, completely worn off bar grip, front lines snapped off the chickenloop line. The distributor here is terrible and hasn't helped at all, I'm stuck with a kite that is ready to be binned (one season out of it and it will be buggered), being a student who put all his savings into a kite, it hurts alot when you cant kite because your NEW!! kite that you dropped a bomb on (a bomb to me) has broken.



Anyone know when someone in last place on the waiting list would get a waroo? I can't go on with this thing, take a loss on it and learn from my experiences I guess (eg don't buy crap stuff).

Must say so far I think the build quality of my 2 Sonics seems to be excellent, certainly no worse than any other kite I have ever had. Judging by some of the posts I have previously read of yours all over the net, you have had this kite for quite a while, and it sounds like it was one of the earlier models if the bridle lines have rubbed through and the cleat snapped off the chicken loop. I would be very interested in knowing how many hours of riding you have had (an estimate would be OK), and what sort of conditions you have kited in. With the list of woes you mention, sounds like this kite has really been put through it's paces! Some of your threads have been most complimentary as regards the Sonic, and some have been very insulting. The feeling I get from having spent many, many hours browsing forums on the net as regards the Sonic, is that most users absolutely LOVE this kite! A bit hard to understand your love/hate relationship with the Sonic?

Well it is a love hate relationship. The kites performance is awesome, its just built really badly, cheaply and with very little thought. Out of the bag it is so nice, give it 10-15 sessions and things start going wrong, very wrong. I expect more from a $1300 kite than that.

btw this is my second sonic, I had one before. Still buggered.

[Dr.Gonzo]

@LH ... I just posted at length and lost it on a time out which has pi$$ed me off but I'll go again...


Fist up I would like to ask you to clear up which distributor you think is "terrible" .. etc. I ask because you are regularly posting on the UK forum and have also been in the UK recently.

... As the UK distributor I know you are not refering to me but others may not realise that so I would just ask that you clear that up... ?

I understand that poor service will leave a bad taste but I work very hard to provide the best in customer service and wouldn't like to be cought up in any crossfire between you and your supplier if you have a problem in your country etc.

I can tell you that we have ZERO unhappy Sonic customers in the UK... and that is for a best selling kite over a 5 month period now. There are a lot out there.

I'm sorry to hear that you have a seam open up on you LE... this can happen on any kite. I can tell you I have dealt with a 3% rate over 5 months with this (even less in the US I believe)...3% does not make it an issue or something that is 'happening'. It is acceptable and better than other popular kites I could mention. New kites have been supplied under warranty in the UK...

.... If you are having a serious customer service problem, by all means contact me with some photos and I will do my best to help you from my end.

Other issues wise...

You have 2 burst strut bladders... I can honestly tell you that I have had Zero requests for any replacement bladders at all... struts or LE. So that is a total non issue for sure.

Likewise I have ZERO eyebolt failures reported.

Everything else you mention reads like a list of every single thing that has ever been mentioned on a forum as possibly happening to a Sonic, whether remote and rare as above or well documented like the first C loops and LE bridle wear that are now well sorted... you are very unlucky to have it all happen to your one kite. My own Sonic is 6 months old and fully battered... I've had no problem and still use it.

All these issues relate only to the very early kites... all have been sorted at manufacture long since. Thanks partly to Globe being so responsive we got sorted very quickly in the UK and made sure everyone was up to spec and looked after... as a result, like I have said, we have happy Sonic owners... as are quite obviously the vast majority of Sonic owners worldwide.

Anyway... of course you do have some issues... but you have a very well used early kite and you have not had such good after sales service by the sounds of it which I think is the thing largely to blame for your woes.... Lets not cloud the fact that the Sonic is a well loved and very successful kite all round.


Waroo wise... if there is a waiting list, you have probably already jumped it with your forum posting. Keep it up and you may even blag a free kite like Fo, if you havn't already.... a few thousand more posts and you could even make marketing director for Australia

Anyroad... back on topic.... it doesn't matter how its dressed up as a 'big 9m' or a 'small 11m' (which it isn't)... it is no use pitching the performance characteristics of these two kites against each other.

8m Sonic vs 9m Waroo is the closest like for like to be fair ... that or the 12m Waroo which is yet to show.




... BTW... you had another Sonic ? Didn't you sell it in the UK and got over £600 GBP for it ? Can't have been that buggered to be fair?

[mentholelch]

well put sean!

[sq225917]

he can post all he wants, he won't be jumping any queue with us.....


i have to side with sean here on the build quality of the sonics, they are first rate, you've just been unlucky...

[lesbian horse]

@LH ... I just posted at length and lost it on a time out which has pi$$ed me off but I'll go again...


Fist up I would like to ask you to clear up which distributor you think is "terrible" .. etc. I ask because you are regularly posting on the UK forum and have also been in the UK recently.

... As the UK distributor I know you are not refering to me but others may not realise that so I would just ask that you clear that up... ?

I understand that poor service will leave a bad taste but I work very hard to provide the best in customer service and wouldn't like to be cought up in any crossfire between you and your supplier if you have a problem in your country etc.

I can tell you that we have ZERO unhappy Sonic customers in the UK... and that is for a best selling kite over a 5 month period now. There are a lot out there.

I'm sorry to hear that you have a seam open up on you LE... this can happen on any kite. I can tell you I have dealt with a 3% rate over 5 months with this (even less in the US I believe)...3% does not make it an issue or something that is 'happening'. It is acceptable and better than other popular kites I could mention. New kites have been supplied under warranty in the UK...

.... If you are having a serious customer service problem, by all means contact me with some photos and I will do my best to help you from my end.

Other issues wise...

You have 2 burst strut bladders... I can honestly tell you that I have had Zero requests for any replacement bladders at all... struts or LE. So that is a total non issue for sure.

Likewise I have ZERO eyebolt failures reported.

Everything else you mention reads like a list of every single thing that has ever been mentioned on a forum as possibly happening to a Sonic, whether remote and rare as above or well documented like the first C loops and LE bridle wear that are now well sorted... you are very unlucky to have it all happen to your one kite. My own Sonic is 6 months old and fully battered... I've had no problem and still use it.

All these issues relate only to the very early kites... all have been sorted at manufacture long since. Thanks partly to Globe being so responsive we got sorted very quickly in the UK and made sure everyone was up to spec and looked after... as a result, like I have said, we have happy Sonic owners... as are quite obviously the vast majority of Sonic owners worldwide.

Anyway... of course you do have some issues... but you have a very well used early kite and you have not had such good after sales service by the sounds of it which I think is the thing largely to blame for your woes.... Lets not cloud the fact that the Sonic is a well loved and very successful kite all round.


Waroo wise... if there is a waiting list, you have probably already jumped it with your forum posting. Keep it up and you may even blag a free kite like Fo, if you havn't already.... a few thousand more posts and you could even make marketing director for Australia

Anyroad... back on topic.... it doesn't matter how its dressed up as a 'big 9m' or a 'small 11m' (which it isn't)... it is no use pitching the performance characteristics of these two kites against each other.

8m Sonic vs 9m Waroo is the closest like for like to be fair ... that or the 12m Waroo which is yet to show.




... BTW... you had another Sonic ? Didn't you sell it in the UK and got over £600 GBP for it ? Can't have been that buggered to be fair?

if its long type it in word


I'll also make it clear. I'm not talking about distribution in Uk by airjam

Firstly this latest stuff up is on my 14 which is only about a month and a half old. It has all the patches (plus the plastic over the top) and all that shiz and infact comes with the 63cm bar, so its one of the later 14's.

i don't know about you guys in england but over in aus we use our gear alot and hard. 5-6 hours a day, day after day is not uncommon. Our conditions are probably a bit more condusive to wear issues, but still other brands don't have problems.

As I say unless you have a good dealer/distributor support don't go the sonic. I know you guys are actually good and will support customers and have largely been responsible for getting most of the issues addressed yourselves. But really it shouldn't be upto you guys to fix all the problems and describe how to get the thing to work properly.

I know it sounds like a list of everything that could go wrong, but they have happened on either of the sonics I've owned or both. I seriously can't believe you have had zero eye bolt failures. I've seen atleast 5, maybe your getting the Good batch of kites while we are getting rejects.

anyway do you want me to send photographic evidence. I'll also include a picture of my mates bar (its comedy gold, looks like a 4yr old bar thats been run over by a truck) and i'll show you where his seam is about to split aswell (he's bailing on his sonic because of quality issues)


Btw I wish I still had that 11. Once the patches had been applied, and the bar retrofitted with a completely new system, it was solid. No splitting seams nothing. These newer ones are like a step backwards. And nah i didn't end up selling it in the uk, sold it over here to a mate (a different one to the one above), i didn't feel right selling it to someone I couldn't offer 100% support to if something stuffed up. I'm glad I didn't because if they get a seam split they would pissed!.


re the queue thing. That was something said out of jest after a shit day sitting on the beach (don't take everything seriously from a person who has a horse with a dildo on its head for an avatar).

Well as you may be able to tell im brutally honest about the gear I ride (when i am being serious). Not many people bag out there own kites, and i'm serious about what I say. You don't like to admit that you could have got something better or paid less, or been having more fun out there if you had different kit.

How many negative reviews do you see? How many from people who actually own the gear?

What I say is 100% straight, (fokiten used to be 100% but then he got bought out and is bent like the dildo on my head)

listen to the riders (who pay $) not the ones with the free kites (and not the ones from different brands). Giving out free kites is like buying votes, DODGEY!





So back on track.

Anyone else have some views on the waroo?

[Flyer51]

Hey Lesb, a while back this was your quote:
"confrimed what I was thinking.
sonic copy.
same shit different stink.
Best could have at least used a different bar to the sonic, kind of gives the game away. "
on this thread:
phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=2323552&postdays=0&postorder=asc
and now you are telling us you one want one of these?!

[lesbian horse]

read what i said in the first post.

"I'll start off by saying the waroo and sonic are completely different kites. I've been guilty of saying the sonic and waroo are the same in the past, I'll retract those statements now I have actually tried both"


I admit guilt i said that, I also admit i was wrong.

I wouldnt mind one, would be more accurate. Atm I have a sonic with numerous issues that im trying to sort out.


if I had an endless supply of new 11m sonics to play with (grab a new one each time one breaks), it would be a super super super close call between waroo and sonic. The differential I would say is that sonic is a little nicer unhooked, waroo nicer air.

[OzBungy]

I have a 9m demo waroo that has been used and abused by no less than 25-30 people and it is still as sweet as the day I got it!
Looking good on the build quality front imo.....

What are the leading edge seams like on the Waroo?
The leading edge panels on my Sonic are flat sewn so that the laser cut edges are bare. The side I self launch on catches and the edges are all frayed. It is cosmetic and does no real harm but it looks cheap (especially when everything else is so nicely done). All the kites from the major brands have hemmed seams with no bare edges. Does the Waroo have flat seams or folded seams?

How does the Waroo deal with the ends of the bridles rubbing on the leading edge?
On the Sonic the end bridle attachment point rubs on the leading edge. Globe provided a rubbing patch but contact with the beach peels it off and the patch has rubbed through the outer layers very quickly.

Apart from these minor problems my Sonic 11 is like new after 35 hours of heavy use. Some parts of the Sonic construction is the best I have seen which makes these minor flaws a little more annoying.

[Kurt]

Just got my 12 so I will take some pics of those areas for you on both size kites and post here.