Cheap Kites

[Jev]

Just out of curiosity dos anyone know anything about Switch kites. They appear to be fairly cheap – price wise. Just wondering if it is a case of “you get what you pay for”.

I have also noticed that each time someone posts anything about Switch kites on SB the tread gets deleted. I wonder if it’s possible to discuss it here.

[.Joel]

Hi Jev,

I haven't flown one, however someone I know bought a Nitro recently (I'll let him pop in if he wants to be named ) as it's a "touchy subject" for some. The bar itself is good, the stuff attached around it is junk. The lines are average, the kite flys "ok." It's not a complete piece of shit, neither is it a stunning outfit, it's just a middle of the road, nothing special, nothing adverse type of kite. The build quality is mediocre, so expect to get a couple of seasons out of it but don't expect to get half a decade out of it. The fabric on the main canopy just feels average, however the fabric on the struts, leading edge etc all feels similar to your main brand names.

A 12m comes out just over $1000 complete, at that price point I think anyone buying one needs to be realistic that what they are getting is going to have a few cut backs. Sure you can chop some price by going direct, but you still need to survive so they make these savings in other areas. At this price point, every $1 extra accessory counts.

Undoubtedly, as their company grows, and their quality increases as they do more of their own R&D over the coming seasons their prices will increase. Also, selling so close to their build costs, as raw material increases it will hit companies like this more as they have no buffer. But hey, it's a different end of the market so let them have a crack. They're not the first, BEST came out doing a 3 for 2 deal, rock bottom pricing, everyone hated them, but there still here years later just that their gear is priced the same as everyone else as their overheads grew with the company and their increase in quality.

Personally, I would go spend that $1000 to $1200 on a last season's model of kite from someone like a North, Naish, Griffin, and dare I say it Cabrinha etc. Purely because they have been around longer, and what looks the same to the naked eye of the customer, isn't always the same. They've had years of building kites, and know how to design them not to fail and this is the biggest thing with new brands. You can give a 10 year brand the same materials as a 10 day startup, the brand with experience will construct those same materials in a method/build process that is superior due to the knowledge they have learnt over the 10 years.

If you do end up buying one, at least let us know what you think personally.

Regards,

Joel

[Jev]

Hi Joel,

Thanks, that just confirmed my assumption that they are cheap. I saw ads here and there but never seen any of the kites and it appears that some fora delete any posts that discuss these kites and therefore was also wondering if there is more to it. But it looks like just another brand trying to have a slice of the cake while having a steep learning curve in regards to R&D.

I am currently not looking at buying new kites, I try to stick to the bigger brands simply because of the reasons mentioned.

[Jason]

Probably good timing to bring up the topic of kite pricing.

We were reviewing our kite sales and our most popular kite this year is also our most expensive, go figure....

[Jev]

^^^ it just goes to show that people want quality and it turns out to be cheaper in the long run anyway if you consider the lifespan of a good quality kite, resell value, and less faults. OR maybe you guys are just good at selling

BTW whats the most sold kite in your area anyway?

[koma]

Having spent a little while helping someone set up the fifth line on a brand new Switch Combat i can say that from what i've seen they're built a little light. None of the the nice reinforcing and scuff pads that i'm used to from flying Naish for the last few years. They look and feel like an '06 C-kite, with none of the nice refinements that the higher end Naish and Slingshot kites have had over the last 5 years.

I completely agree with Joel regarding the bar. The chicken loop and QR looks like a giant Fisher Price toy, and the fifth line kit that came with the Combat required a fair bit of stuffing around to install. The way they recommend installing the fifth line just isn't safe. If you do attempt to drop it to the fifth line then it will only travel about 1.5m up the line before getting stuck on the attachment point. To correct this problem i helped the new Combat owner run the fifth line directly through the mickey mouse ears and down through the bar and through the QR assembly and attaching to the ring, pretty much matching a North setup.

[Dave Shepp]

Is this the same company advertising for team rider's, makeing request's about posting to various websites weekly n all that and Still expecting you to pay over Cost price for your kite's+delivery. a friend of mine sent me a link to the team rider side of thier site and I read thru the bullshit once and shut down the page never to be revisited again

Not surprising the build quality is light on

Good to know I didn't waist my time apart from the read

[Jev]

^^^thats the one.