Behind the design of the Juice 2022

Hello and welcome to another behind the design of Duotone Kiteboarding! Today we’re catching up with Ralf Grösel to talk about the new JUICE for 2022.

Hear the Full Interview

Hear the Full Interview

Hi Ralf, what was the feedback you received from the previous year and what changes did you make to the new version for 2022?
The new goal for the 2022 Juice was to ensure that the handling and also the feedback on the bar is as precise as possible to ensure that you can gain the best out of this concept in terms of the light wind ability. Having the right amount of bar information and also handling characteristics to ensure that you can go in the lightest breeze and to really extract the most out of the concept, was basically the goal for the 2022 model.

What kind of technical changes did you have to make to the kites to achieve those results?
Well, mainly you're working on the arc. And also on the back bridal geometry, these are two variables that highly influence the handling and also the bar feedback and the information the kite is giving you. So what we have done is, widened the arc a little bit to get more sheet and go information and also change the position of the back pigtails to make the best compromise between the sheet and go and also the handling itself.

With the introduction of the Juice D/LAB, does it change the Juice Original position in the kite range at all? Or is it still aimed at the same kind of riders as it was before?
Well, the positioning of the kite has not really changed. The Juice has been setting the benchmark in the industry for light wind, inflatable tube kites, and even before we did the D/LAB (which is on a totally different price point and range) I would say we have pretty much kept the kite as it is. It's being used in schools and it's the kite you want to ride if you want to get like the best light wind performance, regardless, if you're on a twin tip or a foil for a good price point. The Juice D/LAB comes in a completely different material combination and therefore is way more expensive. I would say that the Juice original is a perfect compromise between value and price.

We see with the Juice D/LAB that there is a kite that's better suited for twin-tip riding and another size that is better suited for foil riding. Previously, with the Juice, we saw that it was more dependent on your body weight with the classic Juice and you could ride either twintip or foil. Is that still the case with the original Juice?

The Juice Original is developed for using both the twin-tip and the foil. On the Juice D/LAB we did things a little bit different. Because the Juice 13 D/LAB was mainly dedicated to foiling and the 15 dedicated to the twin-tip, but we have been capturing market feedback, the positioning of the Juice original fit was just right, even from its predecessor. The Juice Original you can ride on both, but maybe with a slight focus more toward the twin-tip.

The Juice was designed to be efficient and excel in light winds, but we see a lot of people enjoying riding it into the mid-teens. It really becomes a pretty amazing kite for doing floaty jumps with really incredible hang time. Tell us a little bit about that.
For me, the Juice original and as well as the Juice D/LAB are ideal old school kites. It’s something that you have to take into consideration if you want to glide and have lofty jumps, especially if you are riding on lakes where thermal components come into play. It's just amazing, these kites, especially the bigger sizes, almost act like a paraglider already, and doing spins, doing rotations, jibes, or anything old school-related, things are just so easy to do. Things come naturally when you're riding these types of kites.