Why do some kites need heaps of pulleys on their bridles but others don't need any at all ??

I changed out my pulleys and replaced them with a 12mm Dia thick stainless rings on my helix with no difference to the feel of the kite.
Sure the line still wears out but I have made up short replacement lines that are easly changed out so their is no need to change out the whole bridle.

Simple solution ..... Don't buy a bridle kite ..

Manny said...

Pulleys are a good idea in theory.But I`ve got a brand new kite and the pulleys don`t work. All it takes is a couple of grains of sand and the pulley jams up. Good idea undone. I`ve had pulleys wear out and the bridle jam up, not a good experience.

spray your pulleys with silicone spray($10/can that lasts for a years use) every few months and you will have no problems with your pulleys. even jammed up pulleys will run like new after a good spray with this stuff. I use sailcoat by ronstan

jim said...

Simple solution ..... Don't buy a bridle kite ..

I believe Peter Lynns and Flysurfers have lots of bridles but no pulleys... [}:)]

Fooosh said...

jim said...

Simple solution ..... Don't buy a bridle kite ..

I believe Peter Lynns and Flysurfers have lots of bridles but no pulleys... [}:)]

FAIL.

Flysurfers have lots of both.
They even found a way to put 6 pulleys on the new PL's-

I've seen a fair few broken pulleys.
Another reason I like Ozones. Pulleys, who needs em?

2 liners had pulleys.

pullys are useless. some kites have them for de-power, some for turning some for bar pressure. and yet there are kites like the jekyll, the origin, ozone, which have no pullys and in my opinion perform better.
theres nothing like a direct feel of a kite.

Andrash said...

sir ROWDY said...

2 liners had pulleys.

...neither my Co 2....nor my friends Wipikas had any.......10 years ago..........
...unless you convince us otherwise....
....and, of course, if you consider that there was only one line on each end of the kite, what would the pulleys do?....but let the past go, or leave it to the histrorians with some respects to the kiters who did not make it to the time of pulleys....

Have a couple of old RRD CONVs (CONV meant CONVertable from 2 line to 4 line, cutting edge stuff). Bought them second hand and only used as 4 line, but there are pulleys on the LE that were somehow used in the 2 line set up.

Maybe having consumables on a kite is like cream on the cake for kite brands , not just selling a kite but also having a chance of selling replacement bits for the kite is pretty smart for a company. It's 1.1 of selling and producing anyproduct , assesories or consumables to increase sales and profits as long as it's done with some slick marketing folks buy it up.

Simple answer! Buy a North Rebel, never had pulleys or bridles, and they handle great!

Andrash said...

sir ROWDY said...

2 liners had pulleys.

...neither my Co 2....nor my friends Wipikas had any.......10 years ago..........
...unless you convince us otherwise....
....and, of course, if you consider that there was only one line on each end of the kite, what would the pulleys do?....but let the past go, or leave it to the histrorians with some respects to the kiters who did not make it to the time of pulleys....

Hi Andrash,

Wipika Classic (2-Line) , Freeair (2/4-Line) and also Wipika Airblast (4-Line) all had pulleys way back in the day (1997-2003)

Pulleys aren't a hassle, the first pulleys on the 07 Airush Flow failed due to the larks head arrangement of how they were attached to the cord. This caused misalignment of the line through the pulley and wore out the pulley body and wheel leading to bridle line failure. The '08 model Flow remedied this problem and I haven't seen a pulley fail on any kite since through wear and tear.

It is still wise to check bridle lines and pulleys from time to time and give them a quick spray when necessary.

Honestly, what a lot of hoo haa. Pulleys are fine, there is no need to not buy brand "X" kite due to fear of pulley failure. We sell pulley kites and also non pulley kites, both fly great and we've had no problem with either. Both lots of kite buyers are happy with their respective purchases and have many hours of joy on the water.

Cheers,

KH

Kitehard said...
We sell pulley kites and also non pulley kites, both fly great and we've had no problem with either.

Maybe folks misunderstood my question ?
My question wasn't....
"Are pulleys good or evil" ?
My question is...
Why do some bridled kites need to have sh1t loads of pulleys,
while other bridled kites can get away with zero ??
I mean,
if you can build a bridled kite that flys well with zero pulleys...
why would you add superfluous stuff ?

Pulleys are total BS, wear through bridle lines (great for the retailer selling numerous replacements) and if you ever have the misfortune of one breaking which does happen chances are the kite will go into a dangerous spiral. I check my pulleys regularly and the one that broke causing a near fatality looked okey to me, it simply pulled apart. Most pulleys used are not sufficiently strong enough for people kiting regularly in 25-30 knots

Hopefully in the future we can look back at the day bridles were ill designed with numerous pulleys.

kiter77 said...

Pulleys are total BS, wear through bridle lines (great for the retailer selling numerous replacements) and if you ever have the misfortune of one breaking which does happen chances are the kite will go into a dangerous spiral. I check my pulleys regularly and the one that broke causing a near fatality looked okey to me, it simply pulled apart. Most pulleys used are not sufficiently strong enough for people kiting regularly in 25-30 knots

Hopefully in the future we can look back at the day bridles were ill designed with numerous pulleys.

Yep, you've figured it out, we're all making a fortune on selling spare pulleys. I myself have sold three in the last 3 years, all in 2008 and I made a grand total of about $8 in profit. Thank god for pulley sales otherwise my business would be down the toilet. <rolls eyes and smacks forehead>

Pulleys enable kites to have maximum depower and a safer safety system with only 4 lines. They also allow shorter sheeting range and suit kites with surf qualities as they pivot turn.

You should perpetuate the urban myths though. Don't forget how 5th line kites get cut in half whenever they invert.

Cheers,

KH

waveslave said...

Kitehard said...
We sell pulley kites and also non pulley kites, both fly great and we've had no problem with either.

Maybe folks misunderstood my question ?
My question wasn't....
"Are pulleys good or evil" ?
My question is...
Why do some bridled kites need to have sh1t loads of pulleys,
while other bridled kites can get away with zero ??
I mean,
if you can build a bridled kite that flys well with zero pulleys...
why would you add superfluous stuff ?

More blocks can make up for sh!t geometry and design by by changing load points thereby decreasing bar pressure and increasing bar input. I'm surprised (reading another post) that Cabrinha don't have at least 50 on their kites. LOL. I doubt very much its about building in consumables to make a profit. But I could be wrong.