The Harlem Force is going to set a new standard. Produced by the innovating Brainchild Production. A plant located in the southeastern European country North Macedonia has kite genius Ralf Groesel as its owner. Aiming to be different in many ways to other kite factories. The innovation bowl in Macedonia is cooking and boiling at an fascinating rapid pace. Stirred by the Dutch Harlem team the Force has erupted out of the eco-friendly plant. Incomparable to their previous Harlem kites. The result is astonishing. Testing it gave an exciting thrill we haven’t had in more than 10 years. Every sign shows us that in a couple of years at least the welding technique has been copied by other major kite manufacturers. Well done Harlem!
Exclusive kite
The Force is more than an eco-friendly European production story. The way it is produced -for exampling the welding- couldn’t have been done without the help and innovation of Brainchild Production. But Ralf did not design the Harlem. That is done by the Harlem team. Read below the review why Duotone’s designer Ralf Groesel started Brainchild Production and why Harlem is the one to start with him.
For example:
- welding of seams on the leading edge instead of sewing. Which means use of less material. Less holes in the product. Resulting in an lighter and stiffer frame.
- digital printing means the production start out with one colour canopy (white). It creates less waste over multicoloured kites. Customizing the look of The Force has 3 options. The standard version. Or the costumer can almost unlimited adjust the colours, brightness and even upload logo’s (+599 euro). For the pro’s that need to be like an Formula-1 racer the full kite can be transformed to their (external) sponsor’s need (+990 euro). Which sounds very attractive for the sport in general.
- Weight of a 9 meter of only 2.8 kg
- 8 battens with 5 struts. I.e. more stiffness!
- A future ready recycle program by a deposit system. For example the inflatesystem is made specially to be able to be recycled.
The performance of the Force is -of course- designed to serve the more advanced rider. Those that know to convert the extra money spend on a stiffer and rapid responsive kite into bigger and more extreme big air moves. A kite to win KOTA. And this time it isn’t another kite on Aluula.
Performance
The way the Harlem force flies is not easy to describe. First of all it has very little to do with other kites from Harlem. Second reason is the seemingly impossible combination of a kite that takes you to the moon -like a Rebel SLS or an Ozone Edge– without that slow feeling of a five strut kite. On the contrary; it is a fast reacting kite. That is why it can easily be flown on 24 meter (high front line split) lines. On 22 meter the loops gets at least as sweet as a Duotone Dice.
Going back from flying a Dice SLS to the Force is the moment we noticed the Force has less drag. The Force goes through the air like a hot knife through butter. Jamie’s and Ruben’s wet dream. The opposite to a Core XR pro. A leopard versus an elephant. An electric motor versus a diesel engine.
The best flying characteristics from an Ozone Edge combined with the direct response from a Duotone Dice
Warnings
Some fair warnings though: everybody that took the Force out for a ride needed quite some time to get used to it. Much more than any other kite. Main reason: it has an ultra-low bar pressure. Which makes it not suitable for beginners. The kite is also very responsive. Which means the power can build up quite suddenly and abrupt. Perfect for performance if you can deal with it. But at times quite challenging to ride in gusty wind. And possibly overwhelming for the unexperienced. Another pitfall on the menu; we sincerely hope the chances on teething problems the next few months are not as present as the waiting list for the Force is. Any wonderful dish can be overcooked.
The Force is already part of our new quiver. It must be our way to break our personal WOO PR. Without losing in on the fun part by having a kite that is alive & kicking. It is the future. It is unique. The question is for how long?
List price
Harlem Force 9m (kite only, standard looks) EUR 2144,-
Why did you establish Brainchild Production?
Ralf: ‘Well, it was the sum of many different aspects, but being intensively involved in the industry since 2000, it came down to two main reasons. Firstly, to be in the position to lead innovation within a fast changing kite and wing industry. Secondly, to change the way we approach the product in general. Making it environmentally friendly as much as possible, is quite an crazy task. We have been question “every” single aspect of making a kite involving supply chains, manufacturing techniques and materials. In a nutshell, it is all about progression and the vision to change the sport by setting new standards’.
Why Harlem as first customer?
Ralf: ‘The total commitment and will from Alex to be part of the Brainchild idea made me decide to choose Harlem as the first customer. He has been re-structuring his entire company alongside our vision. With an impressive speed they developed a new Harlem look&feel, using the wide range of possibilities given by the new production technologies of digital printing and welding technology.’