Ideas for shorter stroke on bar

[silversurfer_no]

My wife at 1,62m (5'4") is not able to use the whole depower stroke on our North bars. This leads to tiring riding positions and also to a smaller range on the kites. I am sure many others have experienced this challenge also. Me myself at 1,89 (6'3") is not to bothered but it has nevertheless irritated me that so much space is 'wasted' below the bar just to accomodate release, swivel and a massively big chicken loop that I never hook out of anyway.

Does anybody have any suggestions for a solution that gives more efficient use of the available arm length to regain the full intended depower of the kite ? An ideal solution would be to somehow shorten everything below the bar. I have been considering replacing the full assembly with a steel ring and weld a wichard shackle straight onto the spreader bar but I don't like the sacrifices this would give on the safety side of things.

Any other 4 line bars that has a shorter system or any ideas for a rebuild that could make the situation better ?

[SupaEZ]

My wife and i share Rebels
She is 5'2" and i am 6'0"
Her arm reach is about 4 inches less than me
I dropped the adjustable North cleats accordingly on all our bars to fit her perfectly
It shortens the depower trow for me but i can handle the change very easily
Our 12-10-8-6-5m2 have bar/lines on each of them
Yes it is expensive to have complete bar/lines kites but well worth it for us
We both work....both kitesurf..both share the kitesurfing expenses

About the length below bar
We have 2 more kites......Core Riot XR3 19 (mine) & 17 (hers)
Their Sensor bar is a good "2 inches shorter below the bar"...
.... because it is a twist QR instead of push QR and....
.... the below bar finger operated rotator is a bit shorter

[matth]

Is she using a seat ? makes a huge difference in reach. Also make sure harness is good a tight , keeps hook closer to body. I would find a way to shorten hook before I messed with chicken loop.

[silversurfer_no]

Thanks for feedback

SupaEZ:
Yes, I see how that will ensure the bar does not disappear out of range if you let go, but it still does not solve the problem with not being able to use the whole depower range of the kite. We have two bars so I guess I could re-rig hers easily.

matth: She is already on a seat harness and with the shortest hook possible


So the hunt for a perfect solution is still on....

PS: We ride mainly Dice's and Neo's with a few Fuse's thrown in. Small sizes mainly: 4 - 7 or so most of the time.

[dyyylan]

Get some C kites, then you won't need to sheet at all, just edge your board for depower

[davesails7]

Lots of discussion here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2385302

BRM is working on a bar with no chicken loop coming out soon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIEuZELydhs#t=28


Also, a race bar could work. The North bars are very easy to convert to a 4:1 depower that you can hold all the time. Then you just pull the depower instead of letting the bar out. This is the Ozone one, but you can make one easily from North bar ( I did):

[dyyylan]

Why not just move the cleat closer to the bar?

[SupaEZ]

Thanks for feedback

SupaEZ:
Yes, I see how that will ensure the bar does not disappear out of range if you let go, but it still does not solve the problem with not being able to use the whole depower range of the kite. We have two bars so I guess I could re-rig hers easily.

Lowering the cleat 4 inches would result in 8 more inches of line to trim manually to fully depower
2 to 1 system.....pull 8" and reduce front lines length by 4"

Comes out to the same whole depower that you are looking for
Just more trim line coming out of the lower cleat that has to be secure on the velcro

Try with just 3 inches at first and see what she says using the kites you have

Also i find that Rebels are great for shorter arms because of it's unique short stroke needed
They require about a 1/4 to a 1/3 less travel distance when you push bar away for fast depower

[kite252]

Seat harness for her will make a huge difference just having the hook lower on her body. I also found some spreader bar hooks are larger than others, for example dakine has a big hook, where Mystic or NP has a smaller on which will in effect bring everything closer as well. Cabrinha makes a women's bar with a smaller loop and extenders on the trim straps that make them easier to reach that helps too, it can be flown on any 4 line kite, but I guess doesn't help much with a 5 line rebel...

[Rorke]

What about tuning a 2:1 pulley bar for your kite?

LF and Slingshot had them with below-the-bar depower in '06-'08.

Pro's
Twice as much power dump for every inch of throw.
Cheap.
Available.

Con's
Not the best feel.
higher bar pressure.