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Sizes Available: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15m
Sizes Tested: 7, 9, 12m

Duotone Says:

The Rebel has been part of Duotone’s history, and it is very much part of our future. The five-strut kite is the ultimate freeride and big air weapon, perfect for cruising lagoons or for soaring through the skies. For 2020 the leading edge diameter has been reduced, this makes the kite a little faster and a lot more efficient. In addition to this, there is also a new flatter section in the middle of the canopy profile. This unique design increases the power of the kite, while the designers have ensured the legendary depower of the Rebel remains. This means the kite now has a much bigger wind range, meaning fewer kites in your quiver and more time on the water if the conditions change. The new trailing edge wave design further enhances the life span of the canopy and reduces flutter. The Rebel has excellent sheet and go capabilities, meaning you can easily dial up power at the bar. It’s a fantastic kite for progressing, as it is so forgiving, however, it is also packed with performance too. The Rebel is the kite you need when you want to send it to the moon, if you want bigger jumps from your sessions, it’s time to join the Rebellion!

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

Our Testers Say:

“WOW mega boost and float with predictable and consistent pull, with quick turning and instant relaunch. It’s the king of big air with the best of boost and hangtime.” // Brad Poulos

“Really aggressive kite with awesome boost producing insane jump heights and long hang times, not a drifting kite. Larger sizes turn fast once they are moving.” // Matt Kargl

“Riding this kite is an instant party with lots of power, fun to fly, fast turning and great jumps.” // Marko Bartscherer

Meet Our Testers

TKB Says:

The Rebel is back for 2020 with some small tweaks that narrow the gap between a massive boosting performance freeride kite and a user-friendly take anywhere platform. With its four-line setup (5th line setup is now an aftermarket add-on) and 5-strut higher aspect canopy with wide arc and sweptback wingtips, the Rebel has that classic performance freeride look. The Rebel 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 Rebel features a single setting front bridle with a single pulley used in the bridle to change the kite’s angle of attack. The bridle attachment point ends in a knot and the wingtip attachment pigtail ends in a larks head loop. The Rebel sports the ”˜Adaptive Tip’ adjustment system which is a V bridle that offers two settings: yellow for soft feeling and blue for hard feeling. The soft setting puts the effective attachment point closer to the end of the wingtip and offers a softer feeling and quicker turning. The harder setting moves that bridle point forward and delivers more kite feedback and aggressive inputs into the kite. The changes for this year deliver a smaller diameter leading edge and a new trailing edge material that weighs less but also reduces the overall use of material while giving the TE enough stiffness to control the departure surface.

The most apparent quality about the Rebel is that it is capable of building an immense amount of lifting power when you sheet the bar in. If you can (or are willing) to hold onto that power and turn it into vertical lift, then you have one of the highest performing freeride boosting kites in the test. The Rebel feels like it just wants to accelerate and create maximum lift which gives it a very sporty, active feel with light to medium bar pressure. The Rebel these days has a bit longer throw than when it was a five-line kite but it still has a little narrower bar movement to travel between full power and depower, noticeable mostly when compared directly to progressive freeride kites. That means that the real power delivery/control happens with smaller movements of the bar, yet on the whole, the Rebel of today feels more progressive and sheet and go than in the past. The Rebel offers better steering response, which is notable with its higher aspect shape and turns relatively quickly in a wider steering arc that generates a lot of power through the turn. We liked the Rebel tuned to the soft factory setting and felt that its turning and feel was the most intuitive and comfortable. The Rebel has the perfect complement of steering and power that allows you to reliably put the Rebel where it needs to be to maximize jumping performance. The kite’s pulling power is impressive; moving the kite through the window just creates a ton of pull, which can be loaded and released vertically to create explosive jumps. At the same time, the Rebel’s pulling power is highly controlled and scored solid points for screaming upwind really well. The canopy’s depower is quite effective at making the Rebel’s high-performance characteristics not feel threatening or scary. In terms of relaunch, the Rebel when nose down in the water at the bottom of the wind was quick to respond to bar inputs, easily flipping onto a wingtip and taxiing to the edge of the window, typically releasing at the edge of the window rather than hot launching straight into the air. The 5-strut airframe can handle heavy loads and heavy riders without deforming and also delivered some of the longest hangtimes of the test. The Rebel isn’t our top pick for surfing or carving up swell on a foilboard (think Neo or Mono if that’s your jam) because it likes solid line tension and flying towards the front of the window, but we could see the appeal of sizing down the Rebel and using its lift for screaming high speed runs on a high aspect foil. Hands down, the Rebel is a pure lift machine that is ideally suited for the dedicated twin tip big air rider focused on setting Woo records and claiming local bragging rights, yet we are also seeing with that big air performance a more refined softer underbelly of comfort and user-friendly handling that hasn’t compromised the overall big air Rebel mission.

The Rebel 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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