Ozone Chrono V2 now available.

Quote: Originally posted by B-Roc

Not to be Debbie Downer but $450 for a bar alone (non race version), making the smallest version of a complete package = $2200 and the largest kite = $2930... wow... who can afford this type of gear?? I don't know how they or others justify that much money for a bar when not too long ago you could get a brand new 4m complete for the cost of the bar alone. Has the cost of carbon gone up that much? Clearly their sales model is fewer kites sold at premium prices. That's fine and this is a niche market kite but my concern is what they are doing to price points across the board when they set that threshold for a bar alone. Was it PL and the inflatos who started the trend to sell kites KO? Bars use to be standard and I have a dedicated bar for each kite. I don't think they do much justice to the common rider breaking it out and charging so much for a dowel regardless of the lines or pulleys attached to it.

I don't disagree b-roc, but its the same people that can afford motorcycles, roadsters, huge rv's, vacation homes, etc. There are a ton of people that can afford this gear. If they happen to live close to good spots then it makes it even more justifiable. There's a ton of people with money. I'm definitely not in that category. There's way more people without but this kite's not targeted for them obviously. As far as the bar, I think that's about what the peter lynn bar for the lynx cost by itself. Still a lot but just saying there are many expensive bars. Hopefully the sport stays somewhat popular to keep manufacturers making somewhat affordable gear. I don't think Ozone in general is after the casual kiter. They are after the discriminant market.

Quote: Originally posted by B-Roc

Not to be Debbie Downer but $450 for a bar alone (non race version), making the smallest version of a complete package = $2200 and the largest kite = $2930... wow... who can afford this type of gear?? I don't know how they or others justify that much money for a bar when not too long ago you could get a brand new 4m complete for the cost of the bar alone. Has the cost of carbon gone up that much? Clearly their sales model is fewer kites sold at premium prices. That's fine and this is a niche market kite but my concern is what they are doing to price points across the board when they set that threshold for a bar alone. Was it PL and the inflatos who started the trend to sell kites KO? Bars use to be standard and I have a dedicated bar for each kite. I don't think they do much justice to the common rider breaking it out and charging so much for a dowel regardless of the lines or pulleys attached to it.

I hear you B. But as SSAyre points out there are some that can and will afford some of these kites. Either due to the fact that they have the extra $$ to throw at stuff like this or they prioritize their funds and spend it on kites as opposed to something else.

No doubt these things are pricey. They are a premium product that fetch a premium price tag. But at least when you drop such a wad on something like this you are getting a product that really performs.

IMO there needs to be more diversity in both product offerings and pricing options. There should be recreational level and pro level spec'd products. Not everyone needs the absolute best, most simply need something good that won't break the bank.

Flysurfer has sort of waded into that pool a bit with the Peak series. But even that kite is too pricey for a lot of people.

My feeling is the kite business is a niche business. There are a lot of recreational kiters, mostly water riders, but few of them are dedicated to the point where they are forgoing other things in favor of having good equipment with the best performance level they can afford.

Foils are a low volume seller. And they take the most work to produce. Coupled with the R&D costs, things get pricey when producing a quality product.

What I find curious is that people will blow $1000's on all kinds of things. Kites, Bikes, Skis, golf gear, cars you name it. But they won't spend a couple hundred for professional instruction on how to use any of it. Thus never getting the full performance out of a product they paid for.

And the funny thing is having good instruction enables the user to get the most out of ANYTHING. It doesn't have to be the best to be good and get performance out of it.

Quote: Originally posted by Feyd

IMO there needs to be more diversity in both product offerings and pricing options. There should be recreational level and pro level spec'd products. Not everyone needs the absolute best, most simply need something good that won't break the bank.

My point exactly.