Sizes Available: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13m
Sizes Tested: 6, 8, 11m
Duotone Says:
The Dice is an incredibly versatile all-rounder; it’s the perfect tool for the rider who doesn’t like to define their kiteboarding. If you prefer to ride whatever the conditions throw at you, or indeed whatever takes your fancy, then the Dice is the right choice. Lasse Walker uses the Dice at the King Of The Air and the Megaloop Challenge, Tom Court uses it for freestyle and Matchu Lopes for wave riding, and the only definition is the one you give it. For 2020 the pulley in the bridle has been removed, making the steering even more accurate and responsive, enhancing its kite loop and wave riding characteristics. The new trailing edge wave design reduces canopy wear and flutter significantly, and the Dice can still be ridden in a four or five line set up depending on your preference. For years riders have been enjoying the Dice for freestyle and waves and now it’s got the big air credentials too! If you want a kite that can do it all, whatever mood you or Mother Nature is in, you want the Dice.
Visit for more info: https://www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/kites/dice/
Our Testers Say:
“Good all-arounder for freestyle and waves. With decent drift, good steering response and fast turning, the Dice was my favorite of the Duotone’s tested.” // Pierce Martin
“Great power, smooth transitions through the pocket, good lift and hangtime, but took more effort to get back upwind in lighter wind.” // Kelly Grief
“Solid build with medium turning speeds in larger sizes, good drift with a solid amount of lift and hangtime for days! The Dice makes for a fun freeride kite.” // Matt Kargl
TKB Says:
With the Rebel and the Evo locking down the big air/performance freeride spectrum of the Duotone lineup, the question is where does the 2020 Dice fit into the mix. The Dice’s 3-strut medium aspect canopy with fuller wingtips covers the territory of hooked and unhooked freestyle, megaloops and some surf performance. The Dice uses Duotone’s large diameter inflation valve dubbed the ”˜Max Flow’ system which connects directly with Duotone’s pump hose without the use of a nozzle; the inflation system’s twist valve rotates with the insertion of the hose to keep air locked in the kite. Deflation can happen through both the inflation valve and a dump valve on one side of the kite, making both inflation and deflation quick and easy. The Dice features a single setting fixed front bridle that doesn’t use pulleys to change the kite’s angle of attack. The front bridle attachment points end in knots and the wingtip attachment pigtails end in loops. The wingtip offers three attachment points to choose from, ”˜Soft, Medium and Hard’ with the factory setting arriving on ”˜Medium.’ The new features for the Dice are the fixed bridle along with a new trailing edge material that both minimizes material and material weight while controlling flutter.
Like all the Duotone kites, the Dice has a really quick steering response with a medium tight pivot turn. The bar pressure even in the larger sizes ranges from light to medium and the kite feels fairly fast and nimble in the air. Compared to the Evo and Rebel, the Dice flies a little deeper in the window, with better drift and more overall ease of controlling the kite in the middle of the window. The Dice has good load/pop/slack for hooked and unhooked freestyle without that runaway lift feeling that makes landing unsent tricks feel scary impossible. We didn’t expect much in the big air category, but the Dice is not too shabby with some really fun lift and good solid matching airtime that felt really balanced. The fixed bridle seems to make the pulling power crisp and even during all types of airs. The power sheeting along the bar’s throw isn’t quite as progressive and smooth as the Evo, and the Dice doesn’t have quite as much depower at the end of the stroke, which makes this less of a progression kite and more of a candidate for the intermediate with freestyle, megaloops, and surf on their mind. The relaunch was quite easy; with medium input on the bar while the kite was flipped nose down at the center of the window, it had an almost instantaneous clean launch from the water. The Dice does an excellent job of straddling the types of riding beyond the narrow focus of big air. It delivers precise turning, solid drift and easy control in the middle of the window that works for surf, while the power and steering also offers pop and release for unsent freestyle tricks and big megaloops. The Dice is the freestyle kiter’s all-terrain vehicle that uses finely tuned performance to cover a large swath of intermediate to advanced riding.
The Dice can be flown with either the Click bar or the Trust bar; descriptions of both bar options are below.
The Click bar was the first bar to scrap the dangling power strap and integrate power tuning into the bar and with four years under its belt, it’s now got the proven track record to cast aside doubts. The Click bar is available in two sizes, either the smaller fixed-length 42cm wide bar with 22m (20m+2m extension) lines or the original 49cm length with 24m (22m+2m extension) lines. The Click bar features a single centerline safety depower system and an adjustable attachment point that allows you to swap the height of the center lines’ 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 to adjust the length of throw and Duotone’s proven push away quick release. The quick release when opened horizontally, locks into an open position, holding the gate open. Reassembly is easy: one hand inserts the loop back into 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 moved back into the locked position.
The Click bar can be purchased with one of the four chicken/connection loop options that are tailored to your specific style of riding. Most freeride oriented kiters might choose the Freeride connection loop which is the smallest option, keeping the bar close to your body. The historically normal-sized loop is now called the ”˜Freestyle Kit,’ which is sized in the middle for both hooked and unhooked riding. For riders that unhook all day long, there is a large ”˜Wakestyle’ loop and for those that only ride with a surf slider rope, there is the ”˜Rope Harness Kit,’ which is a small loop with an integrated metal slider to reduce friction and keep the bar close to the rider. Swapping the loops out is easy; you just need a fin key to remove a ¾ inch set screw to change out the desired loop. 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 at first 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 once you have some familiarity with it and works while kiting with easy tuning on the fly. The Click bar also integrates two visual indicators that reveal the power position the bar is set to; one is located on the bar itself, moving left to right, and the second is a small red indicator on the leader line for the right outside line. You don’t realize how you visually assess the trim strap’s position until it is gone, so these indicators are 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 with integrated floats, a fairly dense EVA grip that feels asymmetrical in your palm with subtle raised bumps between your fingers, and a very comfortable stamp pattern running the entire length of the bar.
The second bar option for Duotone kites is the tried and true Trust bar which received a colorway change this year that sets it apart from the Click bar’s orange and blue chassis. The Trust bar’s left float and bar end are now colored a vibrant yellow to indicate the correct orientation. The Trust bar is a standard 4-line bar with an optional 5th line aftermarket upgrade package, so in theory, you could 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 centerline 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). 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 adjust 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 and feature-rich bar. The Trust bar is a long time favorite of testers and the limited changes to the bar this year lends credence to the proposition; don’t mess with perfection.
Visit for more info on the bar: www.duotonesports.com/kiteboarding/bars/
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