hello all, I'm just getting into the sport and am looking to buy some gear, but am a bit bewildered by the choice available. Best, Naish, and Cabrinha have all been recommended, but I can't make my mind up. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Where do you live...?

Best advice is to find your local retailer and go in there for a chat about different types of kite and gear, but don't be pressured to buy anything....

I live in Browns Bay and went to Anabatic in Orewa who recommended Best. Then went to WSP in Takapuna, who recommended Cabrinha. And then Pt Chev, who recommended Naish. No pressure selling at any of them, but I'm edging towards Best as Lee was raving about them.

alot of people who buy best initially do so cos of the price.. and yes Lee RAVES HARDCORE about BEST hahahahaha. But alot of them like the waroo so much that they stay with BEST. where i live out east akl the place is crawling with waroos.

Alot of kiters out my way find the waroo (the bridled new school kite from BEST) really easy to learn with and it won't be outgrown in a hurry either. Pricewise best are great but try before you buy to see what suits you.

and get lessons so you know the basics before your unleashed on you $3000 worth of kit. all three of those places do lessons? i think they do. I know Lee does.

btw i'm not financially attached to best at all, infact the next kite i get could very well be a 12m (?) cabrinha switchblade.

Thanks for the advice, Mark. Had a couple of lessons with Daniel from Pt Chev last week and oh my god, what an amazing sport! I'm sure my total lack of experience on skateboards or snowboards will stand me in good stead! Don't think my golf clubs or squash rackets are going to see much action for a very, very long time. The wife and kids are going to get a bit lonely, too. Best does sound like the way to go, even though the Waroo is going to cost $500-$600 more, judging by the quotes I've had so far.

what is the waroo gonna cost $600 more than? Please tell me cos dats the brand i'm gonna get.. hahahaha. 9m bow kite for under a grand with bar and lines? woooooooohooooooooo dat means $500 for da kite........ sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!!

ah, that figure was based on a package (kite, bar, harness) - $3,400 for Best, about $2,800 for Naish and Cabrinha

go cabrinha:)

Hey Hey,

I 2 did the google-shop-watchpeopleaththebeech till my brain hurt before starting last year.
I ended up going with the Best package which was more pricey than the Cabrina and Nasih ones for a couple reasons.

First off Lee at the time offered lessons included in the package (Lee do you still do this?) and 2nd of all the package he put together for me was a 16m^2 kite+stuff where the others where 12m kites. After talking to a few of the kiters (and Lee) they all agreed that as a 110kg bloke I would need a bit too much wind to get up and learning on a 12m kite.

Since then I have also got a 12m Waroo. I desperatly need more time on the water though, I still have issues kiting to the right (going left is easy )

HTH

$3400 - 1500 for da kite and bar........ $1900

dude what harness do ya have????????????? hahahahaha must be made of gold.

Mark, if you can get a Best bar and kite for $1500 I wanna know where from!

LOL.... Youre gonna find that like every rider, every shop will 'pimp' their brand...

My advice is to take a lesson at each shop, (you'll gonna need the lessons any way), and decide for yourself... And any 'decent' retailer will knock of the price of a lesson if you buy one of their kites...

something's not adding up

that quote must've included a board?

lees site lists a 13m waroo complete at $1995

harness is coupla hundredish

oops, yes, that figure included board as well. Fine idea, btw, spiglord

2500 is a good deal then!!!

yes you can geta 9m waroo with bar and lines for just over 1500 but boards are about a grand... add a harness onto that ($200) then you get 2700.... so the naish and cabrinha deals are cheaper. A friend of mine has just scored himself a naish boxer sle and he looks like he's going nicely with it. haven't tried the boxer sle but being a former naish boy i know they make kickass c kites. tried the shockwave... didn't like it but apparantly dat cos its designed for waveriding and i don't kite waves often.

so how much is the 07 boxer with bar and lines then for a 9m? dats da size i'm after at da mo and is the "sweet size" for the waroo.

sod it, I'm buying a five-year-old c kite off trade me for $5. What could possibly go wrong? See you at the south pole

Trademe's definitely worth a look. After taking a few lessons and getting advice on best gear for me I got it all off trademe when I started. In different auctions I got a 11m, 16m, and Board for under $1500 all up. Most of it only a season old. Trick seems to be to look at the end of summer when all the people who got into the sport on a whim decide to give up and sell everything off cheap.

yeah, I was on the verge of bidding on a load of one-year-old gear when the guy giving me lessons flogged me all his nearly-new Naish gear for a pretty good price. Checking out the auctions at the end of summer sounds like a cunning plan - will probably want a 9m Waroo by then...

Hi Guys,

YES I am still doing the FREE lessons at ANABATIC.
It's a real bonus for the new guys so we are giving at least 3 FREE Days of training with their rig.
I have never limited the training to just 3 days if a rider needs more. But at least it gives me an out if someone is taking them for granted.
Valued at $180 per session, you can work it out.
And YES, I still run the lessons myself. I can now leave Jess in the shop to run things when I'm at the beach which is great.

BEST PRICES
I prefer to promote a ball park price for an adults sized rig, not a package based on a kids rig or old kit.
Compare the design features and the build quality of BEST against the rest and the rigs sell themselves.

Also if you want a smaller kite it costs less, or a cheaper board it costs less. So the packages get cheaper.

The Perfect Quiver
The reason I quote a package on the 2007 Waroo 13m size is that it replaces last years 14m Waroo for low end grunt and hits the upper range of the 12m Waroo from last year too.
So this sets you up nicely for a two kite quiver.. add a 9m Waroo to give you a range from 10 knots to over 30 knots with only 2 kites. The 9m is just $1095 when you need it too so awesome value.

Another option would be... The one kite quiver. And thats for sure the 2007 BEST Waroo 11m @ $1895 incl GST - c/w the best bar and lines. 12-28 knots.

...we do still have 3 new 16m and 17m kites from $499 if your after a cheap C kite.

So lots of options available to the new riders, just a matter of working out what suits them and their budget... and the teach them.

Cheers Lee