kiteboarding mag, and gear review

DownStream · Since 18 Apr 2007 381 Posts Obsessed

asales, dont take this too personally

i understand this is a hard job and involves a lot of work, and that the magazine is always worried about catering to some specific audience or demographic that they think is soooo important to entertain, that apparently is entertained by a lot of boring shit, and loves gear reviews, and this is probably why i look at each new mag with interest for about 7 seconds, and consider it a chore to actually read, when infact it seams like there are a lot of interesting stories to be told and actually cool things of all different aspects of kiting happening that dont get much coverage ... oh wait, there was supposed to be a point to this:

gear reviews. I think it was a pretty nice format, with the different performance categories and the ratings. i have some issues tho and nw kite is going to be my support group (thanks friends, please help)

power and range (i guess relative to kites of the same claimed size, in the same wind)

bar range (i guess length of bar throw on the bar that comes with the kite, but then why not just say the length, or are you trying to describe how much throw is required to get x amount of change in the kite. ie, some kites require a longer throw than others to get the same amount sheeting adjustment or depower/power feel)

bar pressure (ok, what scored higher, it looks like lighter, why is that? whats wrong with heavier? why not just say lighter, heavier, average)

boost and hangtime (sure whatever i'll take your testers word for it)

turning ability and speed (this is the one i really want to talk about. how can too perfomance aspects that are soooo different, and totally unrelated be grouped together like this??? a cars turning abilities dont have anything to do with its speed, and its the same with everything else in the world including kites. speed and manuevering are very different things. infact, a lot of people that know, consider bar pressure (steering resistance, aka, how much force does it take to steer the kite) , turning radius, and power consitancy in tight turns to equate to manueverability. speed is speed. how fast does it ride. some kites are definately slow, and some are definitely fast. take course racing for example (even tho it generally takes place in light wind and on big gear) your not gonna see an LF envy, of wainman big mamma win, they aren't fast shapes. but they definitely turn tighter and pull steadier during loops and tight turns than a taboo 15 or ozone edge. (both race winning kites) speed has a lot more to do with boost and hangtime than turning abillity. think about it.

relaunch, safety, whatever else was in the review, im not really into writing about it anymore at the moment, not too worried about those criteria ....

but seriously, the reason i just wrote all this is because i think a lot of people do look at the magazine(s) and use it as a reference to help them not only learn more about the sport and the gear but to help communicate with other kiters.

i think its the mags responsibility to not only entertain me (not holding breath) but to help people to know how to talk about kiting and understand kites better (because lets face it, the average beginner intermediate rider is way more concerned and interested in the kite than the riding)

basically, i am sick of going to the beach and listening to people (lots of people) talking about shit, and describing things, and mentioning terms, that i have no idea what they are trying to actually say. and i know a lot about kites and kiting. and on that note, i am willing to help (and actually might, but dont hold your breath), asales and other mag editors, (cause your all in the same boat on these issues.)

denial, ignoring, and pretending not to hear or care is no longer working. thank u nw kite, if this gets blocked, deleted, whatever, its probably for the better, i hpoe i feel better when i post it. suns up, im going riding.

Inept_Fun · Since 14 Apr 2005 1417 Posts Hood River XTreme Poster

damn you actually read those gear reviews?? I wouldnt worry to much about it, the companies pay magazines to say what they want to hear about their product so its not like the gear reviews have anything to do with how the kites actually perform anyways. Thats the real problem with the magazines everything is dictated by the industry and not by an independent voice thats looking out for the sport as a whole.

Loneski · Since 18 Dec 2010 103 Posts Washington Stoked

Knowing you wrote this minutes before a solo rooster session
At 7 am lends a lot of value to the points you made.
I vote for Downwinder for new editor of any kite mag!

Loneski · Since 18 Dec 2010 103 Posts Washington Stoked

So sorry! I meant DOWNSTREAM

Pepi · Wed Nov 09, 11 10:12 am

Having tolerated all types of equipment reviews from back in the day when I used to work for both a kite and windsurf manufacturer, no one was ever happy with the reviews from a manufacturer or retailer standpoint.
No one can ever agree on how the fair or biased the tests were conducted.

Being that I have no biased in support or against Kiteboarding Mag(we don't even advertise in the mag).
I'm gonna throw in my 2 cents to say that I think Aaron did a pretty good job with this review.
Each manufacturer submitted their kite of choice as a representative of the freeride category, and then Kiteboarding mag used a broad range of 'regular jack/jill' kiteboarders from the Gorge to take out the kites and put them through their paces in some of the crappiest and best conditions that the Gorge could serve up.
They each had to fill out a fairly lengthy list of kite performance review details, and do it each time they flew a different kite. It's not perfect, but it worked, and it forced a lot of people to make really honest comments.

For me as a retailer, I think that the categories that the mag used were fairly appropriate.
Yes, I can totally agree and relate with your comments about how illiterate most kiters are on how they judge a kite, especially when comparing their kite to others.

Aside from the category challenges, I think that one of the better aspects of the test was using the gorge to test, as it serves up actual 'real world' riding conditions that most kiters experience on a day to day basis and truly brings out the true characteristics of a kite and what it can or cannot do well.
Testing in Maui, the DR, Hatteras or any 'resort' location only gives the testers a smooth sailing test track where an 04' Wipika would probably feel stable and easy to use.

Props to Aaron for the reviews. Not everyone's gonna like it and some will hate it, but wtf are you gonna do, except do the best you can.

Here's a little props our there for all you lovers out there who are might want to tear me a part for these comments.

Link

OG · Since 07 Jun 2011 597 Posts Addicted

h8 h8 h8

Windance Crew · Since 18 Apr 2008 473 Posts Hood River Kite Shop Obsessed

It's a tough job for Aaron to write a magazine that caters to all. I think he is getting it pretty much right on the money. I read every issue cover to cover.

Reviews are always part of any good gear mag; bike, computer, wahtever. I think he did a great job of providing an un-biased report on the kites qualities and performance. Yes you can dispute any results you want, just write a letter to the editor.

Good work Aaron, do more reviews please.

Sella · Wed Nov 09, 11 1:30 pm

I thought this particular kite test in the mag was solid due to the format; A bunch of random people selected in the Gorge to give their best perception of the kite. These are the people I want to hear from....and the feedback is the testers knew what they were talking about. (added bonus. Wink

)This type of testing takes considerable time and organization compared to some random kite mag giving next years line-up to their 3 in-house "testers" so it was actually one article I anticipated in a long time but not for the testing recap....for the pictures. Kiteboarding Mag has strong local NW roots and coverage, which I'm biased towards, plus what I think is great overall quality of photos ever dedicated to page space over the years.

I will admit though.....I now quickly go through the mag while standing in a shop. I have a ton of old mags from back in the day but once online mags came about the convenience and interaction makes so much more sense to me in today's digital world I cannot see how paper sales stay around much longer. Hopefully Kiteboarding Mag goes virtual with the same editing team. Thumb's Up

Lurk · Since 04 Apr 2009 355 Posts Obsessed

Pepi, there is a difference between being a hater and telling it like it is. The mags are, and always have been, advertising for the manufacturers. Ad sales dictate reviews. No ad, no review. Bad review, no ad. The mags exist as advertising copy. Its true in all sports, you want unbiased? get consumer reports. They take no ad revenue.

All this begs the question, were you born yesterday?

Random people do not make for qualified reviewers. Guy been kiting 1 month or 10 years? IQ 60 or 180? Knows difference betwwen a delta and a bow kite? Dunno...

Get real

Justsmile · Since 20 Jul 2009 1530 Posts Not Portland XTreme Poster

is this edition on line yet???

Pepi · Wed Nov 09, 11 3:12 pm

DownStream · Since 18 Apr 2007 381 Posts Obsessed

sorry, they might have been missed ... i brought up a few specific points:

especially turning ability and speed.

no one has a comment on this?? really? everyone is ok with speed and manueverability somehow being combined. there is no way. the fastest kites out there right now are the least manueverable. and when true speed kites start getting built, specifically for going fast, they will probably completey suck at everything else, may not even be ridable except in one direction, who knows, it happened with windsurf sails (although it didnt last), but many other fast things as well.

there are other points in there too. im tired of the excuses. this is the same issue that points to and labels parts of the control bar things like chicken loop and donkey dick. f that. its bullshit and they need to quit it.

DownStream · Since 18 Apr 2007 381 Posts Obsessed

btw, had a good solo session in the waves this morning on spi, and was gonna let this all go, but then spent all day at a (anti) border wall rally in brownsville, followed by argument with gf, and got all fired up ... and thats how the last post happened.

DownStream · Since 18 Apr 2007 381 Posts Obsessed

one more...

regarding the ad dollars and review conclusions:

it sounds like a likely story, and ive heard it before. but is it really like that? i dont think the mags have to release a gear review. i also dont think people wait all year, knowing when it comes out, looking forward to it like xmas, or that the brands are hucking money to the editors to get that better adjective in their review, so they can sell 11.6% more kites the next year after everyone reads the great review. i dont buy that anymore.

i am willing to say that i think the mags do a gear review because they want to, and that they are actually trying to do a good job by NOT bashing any kite brands excellent work (becuase every kite is in fact good), and are simply trying to describe the attributes of the equipment. it might be a reach, and maybe im wasted (not maybe) but i think that might be the goal, and that it doesnt have to do with ad dollars.

DownStream · Since 18 Apr 2007 381 Posts Obsessed

and this is a letter to the editor.

peace.

Rollo Tomasi · Since 17 Mar 2005 983 Posts Attractive

So_Many_Problems

wakeup · Since 11 Sep 2005 328 Posts always Obsessed