A bar is just a stick with a bunch of string.
It's low-tech simple.
lol.

At the price they should be fully optioned with air bags, remote controlled power sensor, snooze function and AM-FM radio. Not to mention heated hand grips and voice activated weather updates.

Rear vision mirrors would not go astray either to save looking back before a turn, leading on to the fact that reversing sensors should also be included in the price.

Have I forgotten anything?

Price is high, but they will last well if you look after them and have you ever seen one totally worn out from use and not abuse. I know I have not.
I have had my current bar over four seasons, used the same bar for every kite and had three and now two kite quivers.
Have just got a new one and hope it will last well too.
Old one is still going strong and is now a spare.
So total cost of a bar per session over 4 seasons?
Not so Expensive.
Just my 2 cents worth

rwtaaffe said...

Price is high, but they will last well if you look after them and have you ever seen one totally worn out from use and not abuse. I know I have not.
I have had my current bar over four seasons, used the same bar for every kite and had three and now two kite quivers.
Have just got a new one and hope it will last well too.
Old one is still going strong and is now a spare.
So total cost of a bar per session over 4 seasons?
Not so Expensive.
Just my 2 cents worth

Don't think you get to kite enough, using north over the last two years I only got six months before the grip had worn away, depower replaced, lines trimmed from loop fraying and main centerline snapped and replaced. And that's using seperate bars between my 10 and 7!

It's Australia we pay far too much compared to other countries for nearly everything especially kiting kit, its one of the main reasons we don't see as many youngsters getting into the sport over here compared to europe,I've been teaching some local kids on my gear as they can't afford a set up .

NickT said...

rwtaaffe said...

Price is high, but they will last well if you look after them and have you ever seen one totally worn out from use and not abuse. I know I have not.
I have had my current bar over four seasons, used the same bar for every kite and had three and now two kite quivers.
Have just got a new one and hope it will last well too.
Old one is still going strong and is now a spare.
So total cost of a bar per session over 4 seasons?
Not so Expensive.
Just my 2 cents worth

Don't think you get to kite enough, using north over the last two years I only got six months before the grip had worn away, depower replaced, lines trimmed from loop fraying and main centerline snapped and replaced. And that's using seperate bars between my 10 and 7!

You wash your gear Nick?

BarryDawson said...

woodys said...

Simple answer - Yes.
But we are a small market to produce for - with way too many brands.
If they could churn them out in mega numbers then they would be way cheaper.

Are you serious?

Wouldn't the bars and lines for one brand all come from the same factory therefore being produced in mega numbers for a global market?

Or, are you saying Australia is a small market and the bars and lines for this region are manufactured in a seperate factory for this region only?

Nah it would surely all be made in massive bulk by a Chinese company and distributed to all countries over the world. It is the mark up from the merchants that makes it so expensive. Look at for instance switch kites. You buy those online, straight from the manufacturer and they go for about $500 new. Obviously even they would also still put quite a margin on their product. Probably at least a few hundred bucks.

However keep in mind that the merchants over here don't always actually buy this big bulk. Even though it does get made in big bulk to be distributed over world. kite shops would only be buying relatively small amounts of gear here because of the small demand. And because there isn't a big market prices have to go up in order to be able to sustain a business. Fair enough I'd say. I wouldn't be surprised if there also is another middleman in Australia that specifically imports surfing gear and the merchants buy it of this warehouse which would crank up the price as well.

Im only speaking from my own experience because I work at an importer for bathroom and plumbing gear myself however don't get me wrong it might be different with kiting gear but I can't really see why it would be..

Neptune said...

BarryDawson said...

woodys said...

Simple answer - Yes.
But we are a small market to produce for - with way too many brands.
If they could churn them out in mega numbers then they would be way cheaper.

Are you serious?

Wouldn't the bars and lines for one brand all come from the same factory therefore being produced in mega numbers for a global market?

Or, are you saying Australia is a small market and the bars and lines for this region are manufactured in a seperate factory for this region only?

Nah it would surely all be made in massive bulk by a Chinese company and distributed to all countries over the world. It is the mark up from the merchants that makes it so expensive. Look at for instance switch kites. You buy those online, straight from the manufacturer and they go for about $500 new. Obviously even they would also still put quite a margin on their product. Probably at least a few hundred bucks.

However keep in mind that the merchants over here don't always actually buy this big bulk. Even though it does get made in big bulk to be distributed over world. kite shops would only be buying relatively small amounts of gear here because of the small demand. And because there isn't a big market prices have to go up in order to be able to sustain a business. Fair enough I'd say. I wouldn't be surprised if there also is another middleman in Australia that specifically imports surfing gear and the merchants buy it of this warehouse which would crank up the price as well.

Im only speaking from my own experience because I work at an importer for bathroom and plumbing gear myself however don't get me wrong it might be different with kiting gear but I can't really see why it would be..

$290 AUD actually.

I thought it was when there was more manufacturers that actually brought the price down.?
When there is only a few so to speak the prices stay up because people cant go elsewhere. There is maybe $50-100 worth of material in a bar.

cauncy said...

It's Australia we pay far too much compared to other countries for nearly everything especially kiting kit, its one of the main reasons we don't see as many youngsters getting into the sport over here compared to europe,I've been teaching some local kids on my gear as they can't afford a set up .

bollocks. They can buy stuff on buy and sell here for peanuts .The teacup gen are a bunch of wimps who want to be top of the game after 5 mins *there are obviously some exceptions to this rule) .They won;t do the hard yards and would not be caught dead flying a ghey trainer kite until tey can do it in their sleep and cannot bear looking like a goober when learning or being called a noob)there is also too much **** to cart around and get your head around.
To be fair though there are also other limitations such as wimpy parents who hold the kid back from doing it because it looks too dangerous ,none of the kids mates do it and if they do have a spot locally it is probably pretty busy and its not good being the new kid on the block at the best of times or they live in an isolated town and no one does it ,so how do you learn . $$$$ are not the issue here they have no probs getting all the latest electronic gadgetry and if they really wanted to kite they would do it

Talking about getting shafted in Aus, I was looking to buy an ebook yesterday orf of Amazon. On the UK site, said ebook was 3.99GBP. It wouldn't let me buy from the UK site, and the same book on Amazon Aus was $23.99 (or about 15GBP equivalent)!!!

Get...

Fecked...

waveslave said...

A bar is just a stick with a bunch of string.
It's low-tech simple.
lol.

No, a carbon tax is an excuse to charge more for everything!

anyway back on topic, if they didnt charge so much for their bars, companies wouldnt be able to spend their profits making 55sec video clips worthy of an academy award, but still leaving you saying, WTF? theres 55sec of my life ill never get back again lol:

pomE said...

Talking about getting shafted in Aus, I was looking to buy an ebook yesterday orf of Amazon. On the UK site, said ebook was 3.99GBP. It wouldn't let me buy from the UK site, and the same book on Amazon Aus was $23.99 (or about 15GBP equivalent)!!!

Get...

Fecked...

I used to think the UK was the rip off capital of the world but since i moved here, it is the Australians that are being fleeced by the world. For sure.

WAIT A MINUTE
Do you all realise that we are all here contributing to an intelligent & even somewhat productive topic poster by good ol Slavey.

History in the making right before your eyes

Rabble on............