North Dice a few months on?

I'm in the market for a new 12m kite and am really interested in the Dice. I just wondered how dice owners were loving / hating it?

I've demoed it twice in the 11m and unfortunately the wind was a bit light (both times) for my 95kg of lard to really be lit and see what the kite could really do but I loved how it flew and came in with a huge grin on my face but just with a couple of niggles.

1) The Y on the front lines means how do you self land the thing without smashing it into the ground? Does anyone ride it with another manufacturers bar?

2) I loved that you had to fly the kite rather than just "park and ride" but occasionally its nice to do that and edge hard up wind. Whenever I did this the kite flew to the edge of the window and I began to stall meaning I had to fly the kite back into the window losing ground downwind. Do you still have these problems when well powered? I am only an intermediate kiter and suspect the Dice is a significant step up too but feel I could grow into it.

3) Has anyone had problems with the stiffening rods in the trailing edge popping through or damaging other areas of the canopy? The look like they could potentially do this.

Otherwise I loved the kite. I am essentially after a wave / free ride kite for use with both twin tip and surfboard. I have demoed the cabrihna switchblade: very easy to fly and made me feel like a far better kiter than I am, jumps great and pulls so strong but just found the 12m a little bit......well boring and definitely too slow for me in the waves. I've also demoed the Ozone reo which is obviously a great wave kite but not so good at my size on the tt.

Sorry about all the waffle but any advice would be appreciated

Read just recently on the Kiteforum a very balanced description of the new dice...

"I demoed a 9m dice and was pleased to find that everything that has been said is about right, It is a very good kite, not groundbreaking in any way, just a great blend of characteristics "


I ride with three others who have been on the dice 9 and 12 since mid September. I think the above description is really well written and sums up this kite really well.

Like all kites it does take a bit of getting used to, especially if you have been spoilt and grown soft on the bow revolution. It flies or needs to be flown like an old fashioned C kite, albeit a little more refined and not as hard core as say a C4, torch, razor and most Defintely softer than the fuel, lol. But the basic c kite characteristics and the technique to fly it well remain the same. The loops could be considered softish in comparison, but they can still give you a real kick if that's what you want, (far more than the flat C hybrids I've flown), Like all good C based kites. But it's no hardcore freestyle kite as that's not its design profile. Doesn't need to be trimmed to unhook which is great. Very stable unhooked. Took me some time to come to grips with its C kite flying characteristics and to learn how to get the most out of it for basic height and hang time. It's no rebel, edge etc for jumping, but with enough wind it holds it own, especially the 9m. When the wind is less, well venture as far as you want to go into the freestyle arena. Has a lot of dimensions this kite which you can explore. Best part about any kite with a real deal C arc (it's deceptive on this kite because the tips are tapered, not 'c' ed off like a lot of c kites, but the overall plan shape is very C) is they accelerate up and out of the loop, this is super fun and comforting when pulling the trigger.

Good think about the dice is on a TT it's really good (aka wave kite good, not some half assed all rounder good) on the wake style setting. Put it on the 'wave' setting and it becomes a super stable platform in the waves on a surfboard, very exact and like all good wave kites does 'drift' as they say really really well. Gives you a lot of confidence in conditions that you would normally be holding back. But alas I've ridden some awesome wave kites lately, it's no better nor worse. As the guy said above a good blend.

To specifically answer some of your questions, the 12m has significant more static grunt than the 11m. Almost a metre and a half more, not just one. Two of the guys I ride with the 12 is there biggest kite and they are out with me and my bro on our beloved zephyrs a lot of the time on lighter wind boards of course, but nevertheless they are out having fun. The lack of low end reported at times with regard to this kite is somewhat incorrect. The low end is accessible if you learn how to extract it. It's not as obvious as say a rebel/edge. Also it's not as flat as say a park, it really does have a C arc, you gotta earn ya biscuits. But once you do all is well. Like all kites, just gotta spend enough time on them. It does fly to the edge, and if you just leave it there in marginal conditions it will be asking wtf you are doing. And yes with more wind locking it off becomes much easier. Remember to use the upstroke, this kite has a powerful upstroke use it.

Self landing a high Y AKS (now action sports or something I think) put out a great video on how to land the different setups, including this one, maybe someone can post it. Sometimes in powered conditions you gotta do a walk up that Y upwind. To he quite honest we get our kites landed or self tether so I've not had to self land this kite a great deal.

Battens, no probs. I've had not one problem with this kite and those that know me personally will attest I'm on the water a disproportionate amount of time...lol. Nor have I had problems with inflate valve. And I'm still on the same depower rope (I use just one bar between the 12 and 9 so a sh1t load of use) with no need to change (this was my biggest worry after having the 2012 bar, changing that depower rope nearly fkcn killed me, seriously crap design, but I do know those who do It more Easily than I could). I actually bought a new rope in anticipation but it is still sitting in my shed. No peeling etc that seems to be a certain problem with the 2013 bar, which is a shame considering the cost of these bars.

It is the holy grail of kites. Nope. Read what the guy said, this is concur with. Are their plenty of other great kites that could do the job you are after...you bet there are.

Just demo enough to find the feel that suites you. Have you tried a park or an rpm? Or even the catalyst. The new Varial X is also a really good machine, but not as good as the others in the surf though...so probably not. The wainmens a good cross over kite in the wake style surf kite category to.

But honestly after you have chosen one make it work. They all work, just got to spend enough time on them.

Hi guys thanks you for the responses. Its great to hear some balanced and honest feedback about the Dice, no kite is going to be perfect for everyone but it sounds like for the most part it sounds like Dice owners are really enjoying them. I did suspect that the kite flying to the edge was more related to my ability and due to the fact that I most definitely have been spoilt by learning on bow kites combined with marginal winds.

The marginal winds are always going to be a problem for me here on the northern beaches of Sydney and at 95kg what marginal is more wind than for most....still all the kiting I'm doing is thankfully shredding off those kilos nice a quickly
So I do wonder if a kite I can manage better in the holes we get up here would be better for me and my usual conditions. It was a real shame the other day the Best team had organised a demo day for their 2014 range on the beach (looked like nice kites) but the forecast 25knots only made it to 10 up here where-as it was cranking 20-25 down on Botany Bay / Kurnell.

I've currently got the new Naish park 12m on Demo. Got it yesterday and the usually fart of a a sea breeze disappeared in disappointing whimper before i could get out on it so here's hoping the wind fills in today

Told ya! enjoy man.....

Stoked for ya buddy, now lock n load and hit it!!!