Forums > Kitesurfing Gear Reviews

What's the best bar on the market?

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Created by LGS > 9 months ago, 24 May 2016
LGS
WA, 43 posts
24 May 2016 12:41PM
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G'day guys and gals.
What's currently the best bar on the market and why? I quite like the Cabrinha one but haven't had much experience with anything else..

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
24 May 2016 3:32PM
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Define "best"?

LGS
WA, 43 posts
24 May 2016 1:40PM
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Kamikuza said...
Define "best"?


Yeah good point... Most well designed, robust, simple, clutter free for wave based kiting...
I'm in the market for new wave oriented kites... Like the look of the Naish Pivots but there are lots of Naish Bar haters out there!

kemp90
QLD, 1692 posts
24 May 2016 4:44PM
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Cabrinha is heavy and too much **** going on. I like north except for the bar end tuning. I did really like f.one, simple and light.

KiwiDave
VIC, 192 posts
24 May 2016 4:54PM
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Airush. Simple and reliable. When I first saw the 2015 Cabrinha it looked to me like they had copied Airush but removed the simplicity.

eppo
WA, 9372 posts
24 May 2016 5:23PM
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Plus getting the 'best bar' will make you a sht hot rider.

Just ride.

toppleover
QLD, 2033 posts
24 May 2016 8:24PM
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I have heard recently that there is going to be some BIG changes to some of the control bars released in 2017

weebitbreezy
617 posts
24 May 2016 7:10PM
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North bars are the best - the lines ..... maybe not so much

I've always thought the Naish bars have a really nice tactile feel to them. Haven't tried the 2015 onwards mind. Not a fan of below the bar depower and that's the only negative I'd put against them. Get a test on the Pivot. Its a pretty good kite.

Kamikuza
QLD, 6493 posts
24 May 2016 9:26PM
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kemp90 said..
Cabrinha is heavy and too much **** going on. I like north except for the bar end tuning. I did really like f.one, simple and light.


The adjustable ones are too heavy. I'm very fond of soft bar ends, cos I keep whacking myself in the head/face and thumping my boards :D but for all the design features, there's going to be compromises...

The BWSurf bar looks good n' simple.

I like the Naish bars and below the bar trim, but there are some hinkey things like the suspicious "carbon".

I'd match the kite and the bar, but I'm OCD about that . . .





cauncy
WA, 8407 posts
24 May 2016 8:56PM
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Simplicity















You don't need anything more

strydz
QLD, 136 posts
25 May 2016 6:41AM
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The best bars are the ones you make up yourself, just get the bits from what ever brand you like and make a bar that works for you. I don't think the weight of the bar makes that much difference really. My bar is solid billet aluminium and I don't really notice much difference.

Kozzie
QLD, 1451 posts
25 May 2016 2:18PM
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kemp90 said..
Cabrinha is heavy and too much **** going on. I like north except for the bar end tuning. I did really like f.one, simple and light.





whats wrong with this? its like they built my dream bar this year. cant wait till 2018 so i can afford one no retarded adjustable bar length **** or anything

shi thouse
WA, 1129 posts
25 May 2016 1:47PM
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^^^^ got that Cabrinha bar as I was looking for one of the more simpler bars on the market. Love it! I dont dig the other Cab bars with the adjustable ends and springy attachment.

Kozzie
QLD, 1451 posts
25 May 2016 6:57PM
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shi thouse said..
^^^^ got that Cabrinha bar as I was looking for one of the more simpler bars on the market. Love it! I dont dig the other Cab bars with the adjustable ends and springy attachment.



yeah i made an oath to not buy a cab kite again when they brought that **** in in 2014 the mechanism was just flat iron with teeth i couldnt believe it. little did i know i would only have to wait a few years till they were back on track. i have a feeling im going to like it more then my c4 bar (i just dont think i need a chicken loop that bloody big and you have to remember due to such a big loop it moves it all that much further away from you, doesnt really bother me but i think makeing the loop just a bit smaller in trade of a bit more bar throw would be an improvement. only thing that had me sketch over the new chaos bar was the lack of finger but apparently you can just wack one on anyways so all good.

ultimately tho were talking about ON THE MARKET bars here

i think we all know THIS is the best off the market bar! (no its not your cut down 15cm slingy bar :P ) jump to 52 seconds

horey69
QLD, 495 posts
25 May 2016 7:31PM
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Slingshot comstick, simple, robust, below or above the bar depower. Never had an issue with them.

shi thouse
WA, 1129 posts
25 May 2016 7:41PM
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Hey Kozzie,

You got me thinking about that chicken loop and if it is a "bit too big" as in the picture it does look big. Anyway...so I went out to the shed to check my cab chicken loop and surprisingly enough that photo is deceiving. I put it beside my core bar chicken loop (which perhaps is one of the most simple bars out there) and has a small chicken loop and it is roughly the same size - about the size of my palm.




Gorgo
VIC, 4911 posts
25 May 2016 10:00PM
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It seems to me there are only 3 kinds of LEI bars:

Double depower line through the bar with a separate safety line. The depower can be above of below the bar. The vast majority are like this. North, Naish, Slingshot, Switch, Core etc etc

Single depower line, usually covered in plastic with a separate safety line. (Ozone, Airush, Liquid Force)

Cabrinha style with a single safety and a depower line through a double chambered plastic tube.

I've been using Cabrinha kites and bars for the past 10 years (and the current quiver for 6-7) years. It's a problem for me because they have lasted so well and work so well. I find it very hard to accept the other styles with multiple bare ropes passing through the bar.

I can't understand why other manufacturers don't go for the double chamber tube. It works so well and eliminates wear for the two most critical parts (the depower and the safety line). The only negative is that it can be a pain to replace the depower line (unless you buy the expensive Cabrinha part).

waveslave
WA, 4263 posts
25 May 2016 8:58PM
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Gorgo said..
It seems to me there are only 3 kinds of LEI bars:




Actually there's a fourth. ^^^

A custom bar like my very own.

But I like how you attempted to categorize them anyway.

My bar is so simple it hardly even exists.

There's no trimmer, no swivel, no big-arse-chickenloop-with-dick ...

phew,,,

no stupid double chicken ropes, no long leader ropes, no big-arse-golfclub-bar-ends,

phew,,,

no rubbery floaties, no bungie line managers, no 'safety' leash attachment, or mini-fifth or whatever they call it now.

phew,,,

cause there's no 'safety'. hahaha

But I just restrung it with brand new lines so my well-used kite(s) now feel quite newish and twangy.



Alysum
NSW, 1024 posts
25 May 2016 11:04PM
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The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?

cauncy
WA, 8407 posts
25 May 2016 9:26PM
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Lines shrink,
Flexifoil lines, but you wouldn't like the bar

LGS
WA, 43 posts
25 May 2016 11:08PM
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It sounds like the more gimicky crap they add the worse they become...

EastCC
QLD, 354 posts
26 May 2016 5:56AM
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Gorgo said..
It seems to me there are only 3 kinds of LEI bars:

Double depower line through the bar with a separate safety line. The depower can be above of below the bar. The vast majority are like this. North, Naish, Slingshot, Switch, Core etc etc

Single depower line, usually covered in plastic with a separate safety line. (Ozone, Airush, Liquid Force)

Cabrinha style with a single safety and a depower line through a double chambered plastic tube.

I've been using Cabrinha kites and bars for the past 10 years (and the current quiver for 6-7) years. It's a problem for me because they have lasted so well and work so well. I find it very hard to accept the other styles with multiple bare ropes passing through the bar.

I can't understand why other manufacturers don't go for the double chamber tube. It works so well and eliminates wear for the two most critical parts (the depower and the safety line). The only negative is that it can be a pain to replace the depower line (unless you buy the expensive Cabrinha part).




Some still use the non PU covered as there is no stopper ball on those PU covered types of bars (yet).

BTB swivel only, good QR, soft bar ends and quality lines - happy days.

kemp90
QLD, 1692 posts
26 May 2016 7:59AM
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iv been using the 2016 best red bar of late. It's really quite a good bar, just don't like the mini fifth safety. If you keep rotating the same way the 5th wraps around the centre line it's attached too. Pain in the ass.

That new cab bar looks good. So glad they went back to the cleat depower

Gorgo
VIC, 4911 posts
26 May 2016 10:11AM
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I deliberately left out the BRM bar, which is basically a stick with a hole in it. It obviously works, as long as you never want to change your trim setting after you've launched your kite.

I heard a rumour that Cabrinha are bringing out something new for 2017. It sounded like they might be modifying or getting rid of the chicken loop.

kemp90
QLD, 1692 posts
26 May 2016 11:37AM
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Alysum said...
The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?


This is my 2014 best extract bar. Each line is rated to 650kg. Len10 special. They hold there shape so well.

[:

D]

Kozzie
QLD, 1451 posts
26 May 2016 12:24PM
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shi thouse said..
Hey Kozzie,

You got me thinking about that chicken loop and if it is a "bit too big" as in the picture it does look big. Anyway...so I went out to the shed to check my cab chicken loop and surprisingly enough that photo is deceiving. I put it beside my core bar chicken loop (which perhaps is one of the most simple bars out there) and has a small chicken loop and it is roughly the same size - about the size of my palm.






c4 cloop is biiiig bigger then any other chicken loop ive seen by miles. my guess is you werent compareing it to a c4 bar its like double regular


Kozzie
QLD, 1451 posts
26 May 2016 12:31PM
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kemp90 said..


Alysum said...
The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?




This is my 2014 best extract bar. Each line is rated to 650kg. Len10 special. They hold there shape so well.

[:

D]



650 kg lines for all 4? or just centers? looks like all 4 from here, very nice. shame about the ****ty floats/red plastic chinese from a toy by matell quick release and the red safety line allways getting caught in the clamcleat and there for being disabled. also i prefer a polyurethane coating on my lines that pass thru the bar. my best bars lines look so damned haggered man compared to older cab/ozone/north lines

hay so how did your 2015 best kites go did you suffer the same as quite a few others where the boot for the hoses from leading edge to struts just deteriated/got torn thru by the stitching? i had never seen anything like that and was wondering if it just isnt mentioned anywhere because they were all given free replacement kites. seriously tempted to pick up a 2015 just so i can hand it in for a 2016

kemp90
QLD, 1692 posts
26 May 2016 1:06PM
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Kozzie said...
kemp90 said..


Alysum said...
The best bars should be the ones whose lines stretch the least and are not too costly to replace the lines... What would that be?




This is my 2014 best extract bar. Each line is rated to 650kg. Len10 special. They hold there shape so well.

[:

D]



650 kg lines for all 4? or just centers? looks like all 4 from here, very nice. shame about the ****ty floats/red plastic chinese from a toy by matell quick release and the red safety line allways getting caught in the clamcleat and there for being disabled. also i prefer a polyurethane coating on my lines that pass thru the bar. my best bars lines look so damned haggered man compared to older cab/ozone/north lines

hay so how did your 2015 best kites go did you suffer the same as quite a few others where the boot for the hoses from leading edge to struts just deteriated/got torn thru by the stitching? i had never seen anything like that and was wondering if it just isnt mentioned anywhere because they were all given free replacement kites. seriously tempted to pick up a 2015 just so i can hand it in for a 2016


450kn Ruben reckons, only on the extract bar tho. They are quite thick. I like that they are so heavy.

As for the kites. My 11 did do this but I'm not worried about it. I didn't pay much for it so not bothered. It's my kite I take out if I'm planing on crashing a lot. It got a lot of use befor it started playing up on me.
2016 is a much much better build.

Kozzie
QLD, 1451 posts
26 May 2016 8:29PM
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hay what did they figure it was due to? i only had a mate show me a dozen or so photos on the phone so didnt get to actually feel the rubber etc, was it the sewing machines pushing to deep or the thread being stronger thus weakening the boot or were the boots themselves left out in the sun or made from a different rubber/plastic then usual? just looked like they almost cracked away.
pm me if you want probably shouldnt neg them if your getting 50% or 70% im just curious cause i thought of a few cheap ways to repair myself and wouldn't mind snapping up a bargain. got a 2014 still going strong.

very keen to get some super heavey lines. dont know why it seems so hard to get above 500kg lines especially because there is such a market for number geeks like me who want to know which fabric will last for xxx hours in sun etc gotto be 80% sales going to mid lifers who just want to throw money at a new hobby in hopes it creates a new identity they would lap that stuff up. and the only "custom kiteline" people i find dont go above 500 !?!? seriously those lines dont look that thick surely the extra weight of them gives them a bit more of a structured feeling so the parasitic drag isnt exactly going to be noticeable at all and there not going to be lofting off in a breeze etc

when your next on that bar and lines wanna give it a force frontal stall while its at zenith walk forward if you have to im intrested to know if the extra strength of the lines kinda means you loose a bit of feeling in them sooner when it lulls and stalls, as in you dont feel the lulls and stalls straight away as you would with thinner lines. ive got a bit of a thoery thats why race lines are so pissy its as much to feel the wing loose pressure as it is to reduce the parasitic drag (cause honestly my ears create more drag then a micron width of line)

waveslave
WA, 4263 posts
26 May 2016 6:56PM
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"Honey, I shrunk the lines," says Chucklehead.

strydz
QLD, 136 posts
26 May 2016 9:23PM
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Most top brand lines are pretty good, but if you want really strong lines make them up yourself. I've got a spool of 16 plait (about 2mm) dyneema sk99 coming to make my next set. The line has a swl of 430 kg depending on type of termination, which is the safe work load before you will start to see creep/elongation, the breaking strain is over 500 kg
This is my solid aluminium bar which never break and is easy to replace the grip when it goes.








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"What's the best bar on the market?" started by LGS