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Sizes Available: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12m
Sizes Tested: 6, 8, 11m

Duotone Says:

The Neo is a high-performance purebred wave-riding kite with incredible handling and excellent drifting capabilities that can also perform for freeriding and foiling.

If you like nothing better than carving smooth bottom turns and smashing off the lips, then the NEO is the kite for you. Developed by Ken Winner alongside our pro wave riders and World Champions Airton Cozzolino, Matchu Lopes, Sebastian Ribeiro and Patri McLaughlin, this is the kite of choice on the GKA Strapless World Tour. Now with improved handling, thanks to the special Flex Segment which is integrated into the leading edge. This unique feature allows the kite to twist more when it is turning; this increases the responsiveness of the kite and results in a fast more dynamic ride. Of course, the NEO is still incredibly powerful and thanks to its lightweight, yet tough design the drifting ability is unsurpassed. Combined with the revolutionary Click Bar, you get a huge depower throw and the ability to dump all the power from the kite in an instant. Not only is this feature important during critical moments on the wave, it is also crucial for landing technical strapless tricks. The kite can be tuned to a freeride setting, which is great for cruising, boosting and foiling too. No matter what kind of conditions you ride, onshore, offshore, from small to flatwater strapless freestyle, the NEO is the only wave kite you’ll need!

Visit for more info: www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/kites/neo

Our Testers Say:

“This is a kite for the rider that doesn’t want to worry about the kite ”” it is very stable, generates the right amount of pull and is easy to depower.” // Marko Bartscherer

“Grunty kite that still turned quickly and had good boost. Stays in control even when I was overpowered. Overall, good all around kite with a little heavier bar pressure but fun all arounder.” // Bryan Waldberg

“Turns well with a grunty feel just as fun on a twin tip or surfboard. Goes upwind well, slightly heavier bar pressure, turns fast, super stable. Overall, a very versatile well-rounded kite that will make any kiter happy. ” // Kiter Mike

Meet Our Testers

TKB Says:

This is the first year that we’ve tested the Neo under the Duotone label. Largely, this is the dedicated surf and freeride kite that has a long track record from all the years when Duotone was called North. The Neo is Duotone’s dedicated wave kite with a 3-strut frame and slight delta-shaped canopy which offers incremental changes for this year. When it comes to inflation, Duotone’s large diameter inflation valve dubbed the ”˜Airport Valve II’ connects directly with Duotone’s pump hose without the use of a nozzle and the inflation system’s twist valve rotates with the insertion of the hose to keep air in the system. Deflation happens through both the inflation valve and a dump valve on one side of the kite, making both inflation and deflation quick and easy. The Neo features two settings on the front bridle for adjusting between high depower and medium depower, and uses a single pulley to help adjust the kite’s angle of attack. We rode our Neo in 4-line mode but it can also be flown in 5-line mode with either the Trust bar or the Click bar with the addition of an optional 5th line package. The Neo comes with front bridle attachment points that end in knots and wingtip pigtails that end in loops.This year we tested the front bridle in the high depower setting and we tested the wingtip steering setting on the softer setting. The first impression continues to be the Neo’s gutsy power deliver with a ton of good grunty power in every size. The Neo likes to sit deeper in the window, yet this kite has a ton of depower in the bar stroke but when you sheet the kite in the canopy loads up and delivers tons of pull. Testers commented on the bar pressure feeling medium plus, noticeably more bar tension than the Evo. The steering response felt fairly crisp with a direct steering response and a steering path that is a pivot style that seems to turn on the front bridle for a tight pivot style turn which doesn’t generate a ton of power but makes it easy to put the kite where you want. We did notice in the smaller sizes that sometimes in the middle of a big boost the kite turned fast enough that we had to pay extra attention to track its position. We tested the Neo’s drift while carving off the wind and its stability by overflying jumps and the Neo scored really well. With regard to boosting the Neo had a solid amount of lift and a fair amount of hangtime which reiterates our thoughts that the Neo is not only a surf kite but an all around freeride option too. If you want a kite that sits a bit deeper in the window for onshore surf conditions you can adjust the bridle setting, and if you like more kite feedback into the bar you can change the Adaptive wingtip setting to hard. The relaunch on the Neo was excellent. This is one of those kites that when its nose down in the water at the bottom of the window all you have to do is yank on one of the bar’s leader line and the Neo promptly stands on a wingtip, pivots and launches from the bottom of the window. This is a nice characteristic to have for a kite that you’re going to use in the surf because a lot of times you don’t have a lot of time to dilly dally with your kite in the water before the next set waves cleans you out. Overall the Neo has the making of a surf specialist with all around freeride capabilities for someone that wants to do some jumping. We also endorse the Neo as a foilboarding option on the high depower setting for someone who likes a bit more pull.

The Neo  can be flown with either the Click bar or the Trust bar, descriptions of both bar options below.

The Click bar is back for its third year although branded under the new Duotone label with a few changes like an updated color scheme that visually sets off one side of the bar along with the introduction of a smaller bar version. The Click bar now comes with either the smaller fixed length 42cm wide bar with 20-22m lines or the original 49cm length with 22m or 24m lines. The Click bar features a single center-line safety depower system, and an adjustable attachment point that allows you to swap back and forth between a high and low-V (it’s worth noting that you don’t have to re-thread the entire length of a line through a ring to accomplish the change). The outside lines end in knots and the center lines end in loops. The Click bar features a molded plastic throw line that untwists itself after you spin, a sliding stopper and Duotone’s proven push away quick release. The quick release when opened horizontally, locks into an open position, holding the gate open. Reassembly still requires two hands: one hand holds the loop in position and pushes on the catch button while the other hand raises the quick release handle so the catch can move back into its closed position and then the handle is released.

The Click bar settles the debate between above or below the bar tuning by placing it exactly at your fingertips. The twisting motion for powering up takes a little bit of focus while riding and the button for depower is easily accessed at all times. While it’s a big shift from the systems we have come to know, seamless controls like this are the future of the sport. The ratchet knob built into the bar end is easy to grab a hold of and easy to rotate while kiting and easy to tune on the fly. The Click bar also integrates a visual indicator that reveals the position the bar is set to this is actually a very nice feature. Compared to other systems, the mechanics of Duotone’s Click bar is entirely closed, which means you won’t be washing it out. The Click bar features retractable bar bungees, soft bar ends and integrated floats with a fairly dense EVA grip that feels asymmetrical in your palm with subtle raised bumps between fingers, and a very comfortable stamp pattern the entire length of the bar.The Trust bar also received a color way upgrade to the new Duotone colors for this year. The big change last year was making the Trust bar a standard 4-line bar with an optional 5th line aftermarket upgrade package (yes, it looks as if the 5-line freeride kites are going the way of the dinosaurs). Essentially, you can switch back and forth between 4 and 5-lines from the same base bar purchase. The Trust bar is a dual adjustable length bar that comes in two options, 42/49cm and a 46/53cm length. On the smaller bar you can choose between 19 or 22m lines and on the longer bar you can choose between 24 and 27m lines. Duotone feels line length is an important tunable feature to match with your kite and style of riding. Our kites came with the 4-line base version with the single center-line safety depower that runs up to one of the bridles. The center lines are knotted for rigging purposes and the outside lines end in loops. The adjustable length spectra throw line features a tuning cleat with a magnet on the depower strap to keep it in place. The Trust has a push away quick release with a below the bar hand swivel that also functions as a quick release travel guard. At the time of purchase you can select from four different chicken loop options (Wakestyle, Freestyle, Freeride and Rope Harness). The Rope Harness Kit is a super short loop with a metal center for rope traveler based harnesses. The second and probably most common is the Freeride kit which is smaller than the standard-length chicken loop for regular freeriders who won’t be unhooking. Then there’s the Freestyle loop that is the standard length most kites are offered with and finally a Wakestyle kit which features an extra-large loop for those that are unhooking on a regular basis. We tested the bar with the Freestyle loop, but we think the Freeride loop is an excellent idea for those kiters that won’t be riding unhooked. The Trust features a spectra trim/throw line, a sliding stopper for long tacks and a firm molded chicken finger to prevent accidental unhooking. The padded bar ends are tunable and offer integrated floats and retractable bar bungees for a clean wrap up. In addition to adjusting the length of the bar, you can adjustable the length of the outside lines by pulling the bar ends apart and choosing from three color coded knots for length options (green/blue/red). The bar grip is fairly plush EVA with middle of the road texture which makes the Trust a very comfy bar and continues to be a bar that gets rave reviews during our test week.

Visit for more info on the bar: www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/bars


With the help of 14 testers from all walks of kiteboarding, Tkb’s staff assembled detailed gear reviews with objective performance criteria of the latest 2019 kites, twin tips and foilboards all packed into one neat and tidy 180-page digital package. Get all the reviews in convenient digital guide here: https://www.thekiteboarder.com/product/2019-freeride-gear-review-guide/