Duotone Select 2021 Kiteboard Review

The new Duotone Select replaces the famous X-Ride and is the perfect board for those who want to improve their skills. A comfort board for intermediates that offers increased performance for freeriding and the first freestyle tricks.

Soft Flex makes the board comfortable and forgiving even in the roughest seas. Grab Rails ensure that you always have the right grip on your board, no matter what the situation. The Step-Mono-Concave shape in the bottom increases the board’s grip and upwind characteristics, while the Carbon Beam reduces weight and improves responsiveness.

Just as fun in the waves as it is flying through the air or cruising upwind, the Select is an all-rounder that will make you look great no matter what your style!

Construction of the Duotone Select

The overall flex pattern in combination with the flat rocker makes it very easy to get going quickly with the Duotone Select 2021 and gaining altitude has never been easier either. Due to the flat rocker, the board offers less resistance in the water and you get even with little pressure in the kite quickly into the glide.

The performance on the water

The Select already paws with its hooves in the lower wind range and wants to move forward. It glides effortlessly and, once accelerated, hardly wants to stop on its own. Even coarser wind holes are glided through smoothly.

The handling of the Select can be reduced to the formula “simple and uncomplicated“. Once the right weight distribution has been found with a little more load on the rear leg, the Select always does exactly what the rider wants it to do. It can be accelerated until the edge smokes. It hardly knows splash water at all. Only at top speed in choppy water or a very wide stance do drops come shooting up.

Despite the sporty, taut feel, comfort is not neglected. The damping is excellent and harmonizes with the extremely precise and technically undemanding handling. The edge guides cleanly and the board doesn’t stick to the fins, but at the same time it offers more than enough grip to keep from veering off to leeward even in heavy gusts. Instead, it efficiently converts energy into speed.

As befits a good freerider, going upwind with the Select is almost automatic. Just put it on, start riding, take the edge – and you’re done. Even with minimal technical skills, you can achieve good courses upwind. It doesn’t make much difference whether it’s ridden in very little or very much wind.

When the water is really booming, the Select takes it easy. The slightly softer tips flex away bumps in the water smoothly, while the edge does its job with stoic composure. Despite the good damping, the tips do not give way, so that in the end only the thigh muscles decide when the strong wind fun is over. The Select offers enormous reserves.

The Select is not one of the most hyperagile boards in this test group. Instead, it scores with a lot of precision in all situations. It carves cleanly and with plenty of steam in different radii. It glides well through the turns and, with kite support, pulls powerfully and with enormous grip into the turn.

Only when turning the board on the water surface into the switch position you feel that a piece of the strong guidance was bought with the fins. Because they can hook a bit when turning the board carelessly on the water or with incorrect weight distribution.

Jumping behavior

It requires little force in the jump, so that the edge can be loaded quite cleanly and metered, to finally shoot out of the water willingly and powerfully with the pilot. Hooked jumps with takeoff over the back foot are his metier. The landings are surprisingly soft and, above all, forgiving.

Summary

The Select has a lot to offer in the freeride segment: high smoothness, exemplary gliding properties, a lot of control and excellent jump handling. In addition, it can be ridden effortlessly by beginners as well as professionals. Anyone who invests in the Select will enjoy it for a long time.

Duotone Select 2021 – Hardfacts:

• Torsion Flex: Allows twisting around the longitudinal axis of the board
• Grab Rails: Facilitate board-offs, and provide a more comfortable ride
• Space Flex: Guarantees smooth carving and a comfortable ride
• Step Mono Concave: Improves the maneuverability of the board, as well as the upwind riding ability
• Premium Construction with Carbon Beams: Just like the boards Jaime and Soleil, the Select has a carbon reinforcement. This increases the performance of the board, because carbon ensures a faster and more direct power transmission
• Soft Flex: Ensures a comfortable ride even in rough conditions