G'day guys and gals.
What's currently the best bar on the market and why? I quite like the Cabrinha one but haven't had much experience with anything else..

Kamikuza said...
Define "best"?

Yeah good point... Most well designed, robust, simple, clutter free for wave based kiting...
I'm in the market for new wave oriented kites... Like the look of the Naish Pivots but there are lots of Naish Bar haters out there!

Airush. Simple and reliable. When I first saw the 2015 Cabrinha it looked to me like they had copied Airush but removed the simplicity.

I have heard recently that there is going to be some BIG changes to some of the control bars released in 2017

kemp90 said..
Cabrinha is heavy and too much **** going on. I like north except for the bar end tuning. I did really like f.one, simple and light.

The adjustable ones are too heavy. I'm very fond of soft bar ends, cos I keep whacking myself in the head/face and thumping my boards :D but for all the design features, there's going to be compromises...

The BWSurf bar looks good n' simple.

I like the Naish bars and below the bar trim, but there are some hinkey things like the suspicious "carbon".

I'd match the kite and the bar, but I'm OCD about that . . .

The best bars are the ones you make up yourself, just get the bits from what ever brand you like and make a bar that works for you. I don't think the weight of the bar makes that much difference really. My bar is solid billet aluminium and I don't really notice much difference.

^^^^ got that Cabrinha bar as I was looking for one of the more simpler bars on the market. Love it! I dont dig the other Cab bars with the adjustable ends and springy attachment.

Slingshot comstick, simple, robust, below or above the bar depower. Never had an issue with them.

It seems to me there are only 3 kinds of LEI bars:

Double depower line through the bar with a separate safety line. The depower can be above of below the bar. The vast majority are like this. North, Naish, Slingshot, Switch, Core etc etc

Single depower line, usually covered in plastic with a separate safety line. (Ozone, Airush, Liquid Force)

Cabrinha style with a single safety and a depower line through a double chambered plastic tube.

I've been using Cabrinha kites and bars for the past 10 years (and the current quiver for 6-7) years. It's a problem for me because they have lasted so well and work so well. I find it very hard to accept the other styles with multiple bare ropes passing through the bar.

I can't understand why other manufacturers don't go for the double chamber tube. It works so well and eliminates wear for the two most critical parts (the depower and the safety line). The only negative is that it can be a pain to replace the depower line (unless you buy the expensive Cabrinha part).

The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?

It sounds like the more gimicky crap they add the worse they become...

iv been using the 2016 best red bar of late. It's really quite a good bar, just don't like the mini fifth safety. If you keep rotating the same way the 5th wraps around the centre line it's attached too. Pain in the ass.

That new cab bar looks good. So glad they went back to the cleat depower

Alysum said...
The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?

This is my 2014 best extract bar. Each line is rated to 650kg. Len10 special. They hold there shape so well.

[:

D]

kemp90 said..

Alysum said...
The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?

This is my 2014 best extract bar. Each line is rated to 650kg. Len10 special. They hold there shape so well.

[:

D]

650 kg lines for all 4? or just centers? looks like all 4 from here, very nice. shame about the ****ty floats/red plastic chinese from a toy by matell quick release and the red safety line allways getting caught in the clamcleat and there for being disabled. also i prefer a polyurethane coating on my lines that pass thru the bar. my best bars lines look so damned haggered man compared to older cab/ozone/north lines

hay so how did your 2015 best kites go did you suffer the same as quite a few others where the boot for the hoses from leading edge to struts just deteriated/got torn thru by the stitching? i had never seen anything like that and was wondering if it just isnt mentioned anywhere because they were all given free replacement kites. seriously tempted to pick up a 2015 just so i can hand it in for a 2016

hay what did they figure it was due to? i only had a mate show me a dozen or so photos on the phone so didnt get to actually feel the rubber etc, was it the sewing machines pushing to deep or the thread being stronger thus weakening the boot or were the boots themselves left out in the sun or made from a different rubber/plastic then usual? just looked like they almost cracked away.
pm me if you want probably shouldnt neg them if your getting 50% or 70% im just curious cause i thought of a few cheap ways to repair myself and wouldn't mind snapping up a bargain. got a 2014 still going strong.

very keen to get some super heavey lines. dont know why it seems so hard to get above 500kg lines especially because there is such a market for number geeks like me who want to know which fabric will last for xxx hours in sun etc gotto be 80% sales going to mid lifers who just want to throw money at a new hobby in hopes it creates a new identity they would lap that stuff up. and the only "custom kiteline" people i find dont go above 500 !?!? seriously those lines dont look that thick surely the extra weight of them gives them a bit more of a structured feeling so the parasitic drag isnt exactly going to be noticeable at all and there not going to be lofting off in a breeze etc

when your next on that bar and lines wanna give it a force frontal stall while its at zenith walk forward if you have to im intrested to know if the extra strength of the lines kinda means you loose a bit of feeling in them sooner when it lulls and stalls, as in you dont feel the lulls and stalls straight away as you would with thinner lines. ive got a bit of a thoery thats why race lines are so pissy its as much to feel the wing loose pressure as it is to reduce the parasitic drag (cause honestly my ears create more drag then a micron width of line)

Most top brand lines are pretty good, but if you want really strong lines make them up yourself. I've got a spool of 16 plait (about 2mm) dyneema sk99 coming to make my next set. The line has a swl of 430 kg depending on type of termination, which is the safe work load before you will start to see creep/elongation, the breaking strain is over 500 kg
This is my solid aluminium bar which never break and is easy to replace the grip when it goes.