Good chance your wing tip will get caught in the bridal.
Lose the bridals, they're for the weak and people who lack confidence

Depends on what you are looking for. Some people like the slight delay of the pulleys and the relative spongy feel it creates. Notice I said relative Having always had pulley kites since the advent of the good old bow kite, now flying with bridles and no pulleys, I can say I prefer no pulleys. Gives you more of a direct feel and allows you to control speed though edging the board and slight depower adjustments. Like to feel the kite through the window. Allows a shorter bar throw as well.

It is all relative though. Some people love their kites that use pulleys.

Lovely said...

Good chance your wing tip will get caught in the bridal.
Lose the bridals, they're for the weak and people who lack confidence

Bridals are for getting married.

School is for learning to spell.

And pulleys are one more point of weight and complexity.

Having 2 pulleys each side certainly makes the turning behaviour quite indirect, as at least one pulleys moves quite a bit.

However having just 1 pulley each side, you can design the bridle so that the pulley doesn't move during turns, just as you sheet the bar in/out.

So the kite will feel just as direct in transitions, but with the added advantages of
- Bigger wind range/ more depower with less bar travel.
- At the same time a shorter bridle.
- More boost/hangtime. Keep the bar close and load up to the max, then as you rise up, sheet the bar all the way out. If you then sheet it in again, you will get a big second lift.
- Better gust absorption.

For unhooked freestyle, pulleys may cost you some slack though.

My conclusion: For freeriding/boosting, a well designed kite/bridle with 1 pulley per side is probably the better trade-off.

KnutH said...

Having 2 pulleys each side certainly makes the turning behaviour quite indirect, as at least one pulleys moves quite a bit.

However having just 1 pulley each side, you can design the bridle so that the pulley doesn't move during turns, just as you sheet the bar in/out.

So the kite will feel just as direct in transitions, but with the added advantages of
- Bigger wind range/ more depower with less bar travel.
- At the same time a shorter bridle.
- More boost/hangtime. Keep the bar close and load up to the max, then as you rise up, sheet the bar all the way out. If you then sheet it in again, you will get a big second lift.
- Better gust absorption.

For unhooked freestyle, pulleys may cost you some slack though.

My conclusion: For freeriding/boosting, a well designed kite/bridle with 1 pulley per side is probably the better trade-off.

Not sure if i agree with this - although you do make some good points. The biggest boosting, gust absorption, with the smallest depower bar movement and throw I have ever used is a non pulley kite. The wind range factor I may not be able to argue with though...