KIRBY AVALIR

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It's still a sexy machine, but ...

... can manufacturers grow some balls like their forefathers did back in the '50's, '60s, and '70s and use some color?

And I mean REAL color. NOT grey. NOT black. NOT white. NOT beige.

This isn't just Kirby, either ... this is pretty much the entire world, from fashion textiles to shower curtains to tablecloths to cars to toasters.

"Globalization" has blanded-down everything.

If you were born after 1980, I can understand your not remembering what it was like living in a world of COLOR and VARIETY. People weren't afraid of it; they embraced it.

Chartreuse shag carpeting on one level. Orange shag on the other. Bright florals and paisleys on the furniture and windows. Bold colored appliances. Tupperware that was offered in the flaming colors of October in all its splendor. Even CARS came in aqua ... cherry ... PINK! ... copper ... lime ... and orange. And the interiors were just as bold (my uncle had ORANGE PLAID upholstery in his car when I was little).

And everything was different! Today we're all carrying around the same identical iPhones ... tapping away on the same laptops ... driving the same cars ... wearing pretty much the same clothes.

A generation ago, everything -- EVERYTHING -- came in countless models and colors. Part of the fun of being a kid was when visiting other people's houses, seeing what their sweepers looked like ... or their TVs ... their stereos ... even their toasters ... because the world was a wild ride of variety.

Today? *sigh*.
 
I was looking forward to seeing the totally redesigned machine oh well at least it's not Grey anymore
 
Wow as someone who is really getting into my kirbys i am very dissapointed. All the talk of something new something lighter and its just a facelifted sentria, Which in turn is just a faclifted g3 so here we go for 25 years of the same machine.

If i am a ordanary customer what is the incentive to upgrade from my sentria to this new model?
99

I was seriously going to consider buy a new one when it launched but not any more. I wonder if Kirby and porsche dont share the same boring design team with tracing paper design desks. They are built to last but unless your an enthusiast not much difference to tell them appart for the last 20 years.

The excuse of it must look and sound like a Kirby is just that an excuse. The Classic was completely different from the dual santronic and yet still looked and sounded like a Kirby. Same with the G3 vs Legend II . I would have been very dissapointed as a kirby dealer if i Saw this at the launch
 
Yeah I'm annoyed iv been looking forward to seeing it and the only things they have changed are the handle and the shampooer :(
 
Thats it?!?! What a joke. It is exactly the same, It is seriously time for kirby to retire the clunky old generation design and make something new and modern, they are stook in the past.
 
Alex your right.

Still it keeps the 'turn up to anything including the opening of a can fridge door' crowd happy.

Gotta have some reason to pose in front of the cameras with a glass of bubbly.
 
i normally don't post in the "modern" part of the vac world, but after seeing the patent designs kirby filed, which were publically available for a short time; i for one am glad that those designs never made it to light with this new model.

am i disappointed its now a new ground up design change? yes and no. yes because i never like the g series based design. too clunky and thought a powerdrive that kirby invented in 1990 that is still the basic same design, was way too large and cumbersome. they tried to save money making the tech drive unit use the same power from the motor the runs the rug nozzle. the ended up with a bloated machine because the motor isn't mounted on the same axis as power drive axle and needed a complex gearing to power it. a kirby with a motor mounted on the same axis as the brushroll/ axles instead of perpendicular to it would make the unit smaller, and MUCH easier to make a power drive unit that could be done with a belt and turned off with a button.

i am however also pleased kirby didnt go thru with the insane radical design changes originally filed with the avalir patent several years ago. imho it would've cheapened the product and honestly, looked clumisily designed like a bison and be too different to deal with for customers who've owned older models of kirby's. i for one am HAPPY to see a brand new handle design, its sleek, and ERGONOMIC. one complaint i've always had about my vintage kirby's from the classic/ heritage era, is the handle bale. the rug nozzle width and very unbalanced heavy weight under the bale, makes it very hard to carry. the plastic handle grips you CAN carry them by, but would fail after many liftings like this.

a kirby hasn't been easy to lift since the DS80. this makes it MUCH easier to lift the machine for quick moves, the for going up and down stairs, the typical low handle bail is preferred on any upright. i think the handle design is smart and a very good step forward for the Avalir. i also like the color scheme. ive hated EVERY g series color combination except for the G5. i only liked the g5 because it actually HAS color in it, i don't really care for maroon, but its better than the 50 shades of grey EVERY g series had and the g six was too blah, albiet black blah. this color scheme reminds me a lot of the heritage II though updated smartly and a bag pattern with a fun complex design. though it is stil essentially a sentria, at least that awful name finally died, and they actually put some effort into redesigning the handle for the first time in 25 years, and put some decent effort into the color scheme. the rug shampooer looks interesting and completely different , which really hasn't changed since the d50 much at all. that IS a big change. i personally never used a rug reno even on my old kirby's so i couldn't compare it to the new one. will have to get a look at the attachments before i could put an opinion on them. i always thought the g series attachments were cheap and not as diverse as the older attachments with my classic III/ tradition/ heritage II or older machines.

overall i give the new design an a+ for fixing a very big ergonomic problem the g series machines and even 70's/80's kirby's had, and coming up with a new rug reno system and very smart color scheme. i would actually consider getting one of these used off craigslist, an estate sale or thrift store if i ever saw one. i will never buy a kirby new, just too expensive to justify when i can repair them myself and don't need a warranty to repair them, or deal with the DTD demo, even if i called for one. it'll probably be a few years before i could even afford to get one from the used market, so ill enjoy the photos or play with one a collector has till that point.
 
A+ really? It's a Sentria with a new handle and a different colour bag. What a let down for all you Kirby lovers expecting something radical. Was hardly worth bothering!
 
Marks here

I agree, I was thinking the same thing in regards to the magnesium. It also like they contoured a little hand grip where the bag attaches, but like on my sentria II where it says carry handle its just not comfortable to carry from that position. I like the lower handle better center of gravity.
 
Yes I agree with you Colby, you need a crane & hoist just to lift it from that elevation (fancy words) I like the middle much more controllable from that point.
 
I think kirbys are about as heavy as most other uprights out there, usually only a pound or two heavier. But for older folks its def not the easiest, I'll have to make sure to stay in shape when I'm older so I'll always be able to use one
 
The Kirby is about 22 pound there's many uprights 15 pound and below :-) It's a very heavy machine.
 
I agree there are many vacs under the weight of the kirby, but I guess the vast majority of uprights are close to the weight of a kirby

Colby
 
When

Will this model be on sale/reflected on the website? I'm sure they will want to deplete the inventory of sentria 2 beforehand. Will they be selling sentria 2 at a discount to do so?
 
Ok, here is my two cents......

In some ways, I was looking forward to a whole new design for the Kirby. On the other hand, I was worried that it would be too light and perhaps not groom the carpet as well. I feel every time there is a complete change in design, there is always a risk that it will not clean as well as the earlier design. Quite frankly, I don't see too many ways for Kirby to improve the G Series vacuum. Granted each model of that series, has had changes that made it better than the previous model. I currently have a G5, Gsix, Ultimate G and a Sentria II. Up until the Sentria II, I thought the color of the G5 was the nicest of the series. I do like the Sentria II color scheme in brown and teal the best.

In ways a 100th anniversary model in black makes since. The first models were black and then they changed to gray and kept gray for a long long time. The g series had too much gray used on too many models as another poster already mentioned....G3 terrible color period, G4 Charcoal was terrific compared to the G3. G5 one of the best colors, Gsix just ok, not enough yellow accents. G7 was a pretty neat color change, but the Diamond series only had a bag change and then we got the first sentria in gray again. That was 3 gray models in a row Kirby are you listening......NO MORE Gray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks for bringing that up Matt, you are absolutely right about more color. I was hoping for an Emerald Green model.


Thanks to all who were able to post pictures for the rest of us and I am looking forward to seeing the new shampooer set up. Looks like it has a way to keep the suds from building up and overflowing the tray, which is a good thing. I have used the Kirby to shampoo my carpets several times and it did a great job. As far as a carpet shampooer goes, I like my Electrolux Floor Pro the best.....Clean up is simple and quick as well as the time it takes to use the shampooer...



Sincerely,

PR-21
Bud Mattingly
 
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