Along the same vein of pulley design now overcoming that spongey feel to come up with a fast responsive kite, do you think non pulley kites have also overcome the backline tension issues when depowered? The Reo reviews say it has good steering when depowered, which by all accounts shouldnt be true in a non pulley kite right?Oldnbroken wrote:I believe that pulleys on well designed bridles contribute to smoothing out the ride / absorbing gusts.
And allowing for more back line tension when depowered so steering is more effective while depowered.
My guess is the RRD has deeper profiles along the span. If this is the case, it generates not only more power through turns, but more power parked as well.zarb wrote: Firstly a question about general shape. The reviews done on the Reo/Airush yield more similar results in power delivery than the RRD compared to the Reo, despite the Reo being more similar shaped to the RRD. Reviews of the RRD say that it generates far more power through turns than the Reo and Airush. Why is this? Are powerful turns more to do with a different build characteristic?
All of these kites are low aspect , have a pretty curved platform spanwise and wide wingtips. That should be enough to provide a direct feel, regardless of having pulleys on the front line bridles.zarb wrote: Next a question about the pulleys. The Reo seems to be the only one in the lineup without pulleys. I understand that this is supposed to offer a more direct feel with the kite. But one of the major strengths that reviewers have noted with the RRD is that it offers excellent direct feel, despite having pulleys. Another contradiction with the pulley issue lies in the speed and responsiveness that people have noticed in the Airush Wave. 6 pulleys (?), yet it was noted to be the most responsive and fast kite in the lineup in reviews and not at all "spongey".
I think that for this sort of kite, in which responsiveness is already there, the main downside (but it may not be a downside, if the kite is designed well) of pulleys is a less gradual power delivery through sheeting. Since with pulleys you decrease the angle of attack more for a given bar push, there could be an on-off feel through sheeting if the kite is not designed well. On the other hand, having a lot of depower on tap is extremely desirable on a surf kite, specially strapless.zarb wrote: If it's true that RRD and Airush have found a way to overcome these once despised pulley characteristics, does this then simplify the argument of pulleys vs no pulleys to a question of "Absorbtion of gusts and better depower" vs "No failure points" respectively? When surfing down the line, strapless, what would be a more desirable characteristic in a wave kite - absorbing gusts and smoothing out a ride with pulleys, or having no complicated pulleys on a bridle to f**k up your kite when you eat sh#t?
zarb wrote: As for the North Dice, to me it just looks like a C kite with slightly different wing tips. How is this going to compare to the other kites when it is released?
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