Sasha said...


It seems to me that the only way to achieve stability of the leading edge and increase the wind range mostly by adding depower ability is to go SLE=bridles.

This is not the case from my experience. Remember the Rebel is a few generations old and they have achieved stability in the leading edge from day one. I have seen leading edge deformation on quite a few 4 line bridled kites. Globerider 06 Sonic and Ozone 09 Edge come to mind.....

I don't ride Rebels as my every day kite but will attest that the demo ones I owned had a much larger wind range than 70% of bridled kites.

Hey Kitepower,

You don't see bungees on other kites rear lines because they already have a bridle that performs a similar function. North had to do something different because of the distinct lack of bridles on north kites. Last year the bungee was designed to aid in relaunch. This year they have redesigned the bungee with one of the goals being to aid steering with slack steering lines.

MikeAUS146 said "fully depowered" which has very different connotations to "no power" that you miss quoted so I don't think he meant less power. But this system is designed for when you completely screw a bottom turn and end up riding straight at your kite and it ends up drifting through the air with no tension on any lines. I know i have never been able to steer in that position and I don't think a bridle would do the same job as a bungee in this case.

bracko said...

Hey Kitepower,

You don't see bungees on other kites rear lines because they already have a bridle that performs a similar function. North had to do something different because of the distinct lack of bridles on north kites. Last year the bungee was designed to aid in relaunch. This year they have redesigned the bungee with one of the goals being to aid steering with slack steering lines.

MikeAUS146 said "fully depowered" which has very different connotations to "no power" that you miss quoted so I don't think he meant less power. But this system is designed for when you completely screw a bottom turn and end up riding straight at your kite and it ends up drifting through the air with no tension on any lines. I know i have never been able to steer in that position and I don't think a bridle would do the same job as a bungee in this case.

Sorry, not correct, there are plenty of kites that don't have a rear line bridle, and no bungees!
AND there are plenty of kites that have a simple Y bridle on the rear lines (just like North!!), no pulleys and no bungees.
THEN there are plenty of kites that have a rear to front interconnecting bridle, and no bungees.
The majority of kites do not have bungees! Why?

Its because of the shape of the tips and the overall more swept back shape of the entire kite, and correct, well researched placement of the rear line attachment point(s).

The bungee will not auto steer the kite, you still need to pull on the bar, its not magic bungee, its just plain bungee and its there to aid relaunch.
Just because some dude decided "aid relaunch" implies hard to relaunch, and then made up some spin to make it sound like it does something else, does not make it magic bungee ok?

If you are riding straight at your kite, then there is NO tension on the lines until you are able to ride away from your drifting and falling kite, and regain control.

I did not misquote Mike, read both replies again.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Don't argue mikeAUS156
Arguing with kitepower is futile.

So it doesnt invert, relaunch is fast and bar pressure is sweet?

Ive been kiting since 2002. Owned Cabrinha, slingshot and Norths. Mostly enjoyed the Slingshot Fuels for there grunt. Purchased a North rebel 12mtre 2009 start of last season after spending a few days on my mates 08 Rebel. I weight 85kg and i punished my 09 Rebel all season never had a problem, never folded up on me once. One thing was I got a bit of tennis elbow from the bar pressure. If the 2010 Octane lives up to the Hype I will probably upgrade this year mainly for the turning speed and the light bar pressure. Hope slingshot keeps there build qaulity as my past fuels where bullet proof.

All

I see the 2010 Rebel is basically the 2009 Evo, without the bridles.

poor relative said...

poor relative said...

So it doesnt invert, relaunch is fast and bar pressure is sweet?

....anyone?

Hey Rellie,

Teel ya what, you be the judge. The kites and boards arrive on Friday. Be the first to ride it and give it a review. I like your unbiased opinions.

Cheers,

KH

Have got to admit seems lots of different opinions flying around here. So thought i'd give my 2 cents worth. Only rebels I had any trouble with last year (was only 2 x14mtr) were fixed simply by pumping up more. They were being used in 25 plus conditions by big blokes. My wife Fiona used a 10 most of last year and I struggled to get her to ride anything else, it was supposed to be sold, but she insisted on taking it to Bali over winter. But now her new 10 Rebel has arrived (with our first shipment of 2010 Rebels) she suddenly wants to sell the 09 one. Still waiting for a ride, but need wind and Fiona wont let me ride it first (looks good but).

Have Fun George

Hi Peeps,

We received stock of new 2010 North gear today, YAY!

I hope to get out and ride the new Rebels tomorrow as well as the new WAM 6', FSF, X-Ride and Jaime.

Unfortunately bars and Vegas are still a few days away. I'll write a decent review once I get a good ride in. I'm already frothing on the new bars as we saw samples some months ago. I hope the kites live up to the hype.

Sweet! I love new gear arriving, it's like Christmas in Sept.

KH

7m Review is up

I had some balistic wind and 6-8 ft tripple overhead waves, it was awesome, this kite was so steady and smooth, really super nice. Check the same link.

Dazza

i swapped from a 12 meter 08 to the 2010 10 meter , i ride mostly in waves and most days on a directional styled surfboard (underground freewave) i can get going upwind in 14 knots, im either side of 72 kilos , 2010 has no backstall issues although bar does need to be setup out of box for the kite , unless you have realy long arms the throw is too much i think for average user , lower bar pressure than 12 meter and much,much easier to relaunch (not that the 08 was hard). i find both the kites are more float then hight jumping kites ( same for the 2010 7 meter rebel for that matter) stabiliy is the same, one pump is nice, bars way improved from the 08 .

i had a go of my mates rebel 2010 i dont normally ride these kites but i can honestly say i jizzed in my pants.

Can anyone comment on the floating strut weakness when being washed by a wave?

I read a review where a guy had his 2010 rebel out for the second time, a wave hit it and ripped the kite where the floating strut attaches... the guy took it to a shop and the repairer showed him another rebel with the exact same problem...

Sasha said...

Hi Jans,
Having kite damaged by a wave has nothing to do with the floating strut, it can happen to any kite.
If you dropped the kite in the impact zone jsut de-power it (let go off the bar or pull safety line depending on the brand of the kite).
It's easy to power back up and re-launch the kite later on when you are in the cleaner water.
If still in trouble just leave kite fully depowered till you are back on shore.
In this case you'll have your kite in one piece.

thanks for your reply sasha. Surely though if the strut was fixed all the way to the luff where the dacron is again that this would make for a stronger build and more resistant to tearing?