How is a clicky bar or a ball a game changer?

There're way too many cynics on here with the wrong attitude! I mean honestly a new product comes out which displays a new idea or innovation which no one has thought of before and you all try to shut it down almost wishing it doesn't succeed! The fact is no one is forcing you to buy it!! Your business won't make or break the company but support on the other hand for these new products encourages people to challenge what's out there and come up with new ideas, this is after all how the human race has evolved over time. Everyone is going on about fixing a problem that no one existed! Well no one thought there was a problem with stick shift in cars until automatic transmission came out and made our driving a lot more comfortable or our infotainment screens which make driving yet again more pleasant, some might argue they're unnecessary and maybe they are but you still want/have one don't you?! Rant over.

From a marketing angle it must be a very tough gig for every kite Co to attempt to stay ahead of the pack every year !! The down side is the performance increments are getting smaller but the costs are the same or bigger so the value to the weekend warrior is getting less.

Some people just need the latest and greatest - but many don't or cant afford it , I wonder if anyone has actually looked at the kite surfing community (Australia/ world??) demographics.

It seems there are more kites appearing each year than the 'too old to be flown' rate - that's got to mean a glut of kites ?? Maybe I read the market wrong but the number of 2nd hand kites is just nuts!!

Having said the above - Id hate to be still flying a 2 line kite - that's a WTF moment!! so I do support the innovation and expense that is associated with it - but am also glad the guys that can afford a new kite are out there !!

As far as bars go - please keep it cheap and simple !! The fishing world is trying to make every one buy a baitcaster reel and mega rod - the guys that catch tuna off the side of the boat use a solid rod and a fixed line - super simple!!

I will never spend $1,000 on a bar and lines!! - And thank god we have China to keep the greedy bastards honest

I think everyone has the right to be critical about these new products, they are not out in the mainstream public yet being used and abused in infinite ways.

Just the idea of gears and extreme environments creeps me out, I have gone through 2 digital watches that are water resistant to 30m with no moving parts and have failed just after a year for each.

I think if we all currently were using the fireball type connections and then the chicken loop just came out I'd say that would be more of a game changer... The Dynabar slider hook seems to be even closer to your body centreline than the fireball, cant see any advantage over the Dynabar slider.

By Christ you are a bunch of whining bitches at the moment...lol.

I've had nothing but good experiences from Westoz, WA surf, Action Sports, Kite addiction, Kim up in gero (Who no longer is in the industry and is back on the mines to be able to support his family), even old Puppetmaster...and lots of interstate dudes like kitepower, briskites, even crazy Marvin from in the loop.

Only this weekend both jason and drew were down our way, Jason kiting with his son, drew with some new dices and the clicker bar to try himself plus anyone else who cared to give it a crack.

What gives...maybe you guys are the dickheads, every thought that?

Hmmm I cannot comment on Australia as its still on my to visit list. However, I can tell you that most of the shops from the USA, South Africa, Vietnam, and Europe are really more in it to sell gear nowadays. So many sales reps and store managers who dont really kite anymore. Its all about the Benjamins ($100 currency bills) nowadays.

Personally I have no loyalty to any shop as a result. I either get my goods thru trade pricing deals via the school I work with atm or I wait for closeout deals in late Nov (the American "Black Friday" shopping event).


Mind you, Australia could be different. You guys tell me altho from what Im reading, its the same as this side of the pond.

Do kite company's and stores really make much money?? I'm no expert but it seems to me like stores especially would mostly just be scraping by. Sure they are dealing in fairly big sales and high prices but what margins are they making and how many units would they need to move to keep their doors open?

Now I can't spout off saying support your local etc as I usually only buy secondhand but I have had pretty much all good experiences with the shops I have bought at. I certainly don't get the impression they are all greedy bastards out trying to make a quick buck. If they are they must be fairly misguided and should have probably chosen a different industry.

I don't think I have seen any constructive criticism in this thread. It's all been, "Nah! Too complex. Sand'll **** it. Too expensive. Rip off bastards."

There's a parallel thread of anybody who buys this is an idiot being duped by the stores, and just lately somebody says their bar will do everything you ever wanted for $400 (which is about the price of a Switch bar).

My gear is all pushing 7 years old so I'm starting to make some new purchases. I think that qualifies me as not being a rampant consumer of kiteboard gear. I like the look of the Click Bar. It's on the list of things I want to check out in the next few months.

I think kite shops would like there to be a mass market in expensive gear. I don't see great floods of people at the beach so I'm not sure who they're selling to.

I agree that many (most) kite shops do not have competent staff and don't treat kiting with the respect it deserves. Some of the local shops in Melbourne have all their kiting gear stuffed in a jumble in the corner behind the SUPs and windsurf gear. It's tedious having a freestyle dude trying to sell you a C kite for going racing on.

The bottom line is that you don't have to buy a Click Bar if you don't want to. We'll see whether it works as advertised once it appears on the beaches.

Nothing is a game changer in the true sense but what is a game changer really classified as? It's a convenience, it makes life easier and it makes kiting more accessible. Incremental increased range isn't a game changer, but I think if you produced the c kites we have today and put them against c kites from 10 years ago, that would be a game changer.

We buy it because we are human and human nature means we will spend 10 minutes walking around looking for the remote than walk over to the TV and change the channel. Human nature means we'll climb into a car for a 5 minute trip to the shop than have to walk with 2 shopping bags.

So is it a game changer? Maybe, I think it's too early for naysayers to be calling no or fanboys to be calling yes. Only time will tell but innovation requires change and most of the time change is a good thing. You'll get duds on occasion. You'll get the Hellfish (which would have been good if it worked), the sigma from Naish, cabrinha's recon system, but ultimately you can't innovate without taking risks. Remember the amount of naysayers with the first bow kites. I don't think the clicky bar or the ball are as drastic a change as bow kites but compared to the rest of the changes with kites recently, I think it's a big enough innovation to warrant it calling it a game changer if it works.

I personally think the North is more of a game changer than cabrinha's ball, but that's just me.