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17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

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BazingaBen
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17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby BazingaBen » Sun May 24, 2015 10:40 am

Hey all, According to the Cabrinha compatibility charts, it's acceptable to use the 2015 Overdrive bar with a 17m Contra.

I just bought a standard 2015 bar to replace my 2014, it's to be used with my 9m and 12m Switchblades. I'm interested in getting a 17m kite and the chart seems to say I can get away with it.

I'd like to hear people's thoughts on using this 2015 bar with the 17m Contra as opposed to having to also buy the Overdrive 1X L 2015 bar.

Last year you couldn't get away with this due to the length of the safety line but that doesn't appear to be an issue now. I take it there will be a performance difference (different line lengths by 2m, i'm not sure) so turning speed would be affected etc?

Is this acceptable or is it going to affect the performance of the kite to the point where I should be looking to get the larger bar too to make getting the 17m worthwhile?

What about the issue of bar length? The Standard 2015 Overdrive Bar is 48-56 cm where as the Large Overdrive Bar is 57-65 cm, presumably they are expecting you to use the 65cm setting on the largest kite which is the 17m, and being at 56cm instead will mean slower turning?

Interestingly for those that don't want to spend the extra on the Overdrive and want to buy the fixed bars, they come in 45cm and 55cm. Does this mean the largest fixed bar is usable with the contra 17m at 55cm so the standard overdrive should cover it? Or are they expecting Contra users to fork out for the more expensive Overdrive bar?


Thank you all.

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Re: 17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby Costa99 » Sun May 24, 2015 7:32 pm

I have the 2015 Contra 17m and have personally used it with my 57cm 2015 Switchblade bar... It works fine but its not recommended as the flag line is specific to the Contra on the XL bar , the Switchblade bar will not flag the kite out totally. The XL bar also includes the extra long lines and the extra width which helps with the turning. Here's a clip of me flying in 10 knots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1rYfWqWNJI

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Re: 17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby snowflake » Sun May 24, 2015 8:47 pm

With a shorter bar the kite will be less reactive to movements at the bar as the levers get shorter resulting in less differences between the lines, therefore it will require more effort fort turning it. It will fly with exactly the same speed. This is not necessarily a bad thing, many freestylers prefer shorter bars to avoid accidentally crashing the kite.

You need to make sure that the bar travels far enough to completely kill the kite when flagging out.

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Re: 17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby Kamikuza » Mon May 25, 2015 5:16 am

Took a 48cm on a trip with 10 and 13m kites. Usually use the 65cm bar on the 13... so the 48 sucked. Too slow, too much work. Get he right bar.

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Re: 17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby BazingaBen » Tue May 26, 2015 1:50 am

Wow! Awesome forum, thanks for all the replies and feedback guys.

I also spoke to a Cabrinha rider today and his views echo the general consensus here, it will work but the turning will be slower, harder on the arms, some people prefer a smaller bar but in general you want the larger bar to help you get it turning that much better.

I'm also looking at Zephyr, Turbine, Flite and others since it seems I may want to get the full package and not just kite only if I do go for this.

Costa99
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Re: 17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby Costa99 » Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:48 am

Costa99 wrote:I have the 2015 Contra 17m and have personally used it with my 57cm 2015 Switchblade bar... It works fine but its not recommended as the flag line is specific to the Contra on the XL bar , the Switchblade bar will not flag the kite out totally. The XL bar also includes the extra long lines and the extra width which helps with the turning. Here's a clip of me flying in 10 knots https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1rYfWqWNJI
Correction !! The Contra is compatible with the 1X and the 1XL 2015 bars but not the 1X 2014 bar, although the 1XL is recommended. Good news!

BazingaBen
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Re: 17m Contra with Standard Size 2015 Overdrive Bar?

Postby BazingaBen » Tue Jun 09, 2015 6:22 am

Guess what... It's me you're talking to on YouTube haha. Thanks for the reply and for updating the post too haha. Think I'll go with surfboard first then get this kite with the longer lines, thanks for pointing out they're longer as I just thought the bar size was different!


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