What's the point of retail stores?

[Crispy]

WIth the 2 stores that hold stock of festool up here, neither really know much about things ( the first hose i purchased i was told by thte sales assistant 'they'll both fit, it comes down to cost' - i now know better and should have gotten the 36mm hose).
I could be wrong, but im not sure they would let you test things... especially the kapex.
And they dont discount anything for fear of festool finding out and then losing that brand from that shop. I found a ct cyclone with a $75 off on the floor, i didnt need it at the time it was a want, they panicked, told me they couldnt honour the price, so i left on the counter.
We apparently do have a festool rep for up here, but ive never seen him/her, end up watching sedge tools to learn.
I normally try to purchase locally, but when they dont have what i want in stock, or it will be in the next monthly festool order, its just as easy to go direct and have it delivered to my house.

 

[Cypren]

Let me reassure you that you dodged a bullet not getting that cyclone. It works fine for small tools that don’t need a lot of suction (like sanders), but the hit to the airflow it imposes on your CT is absolutely enormous. About 50% airflow loss versus using a direct 36mm hose if I remember correctly. If you search around here on the forum, I did some anemometer measurements on it a few years back and posted the numbers here.

 

[Crispy]

Let me reassure you that you dodged a bullet not getting that cyclone. It works fine for small tools that don’t need a lot of suction (like sanders), but the hit to the airflow it imposes on your CT is absolutely enormous. About 50% airflow loss versus using a direct 36mm hose if I remember correctly. If you search around here on the forum, I did some anemometer measurements on it a few years back and posted the numbers here.

I remember reading that thread, which made me keep looking for comparisons, and alternatives, but they just dont look as pretty
I did recently find a you tubes vid that showed ct-va against a couple of other brands, ive been looking at the lo-pro ever since for when i get a second shop vac, or upgrade my work one to cordless.