Punch-Up Bar... No Good.

[The Jess-Man]

I got a chance to take out a 12m One yesterday. Awesome kite, huge air, lots of depower, stable, solid construction, blah blah blah. It's every thing you would expect it to be. What scked was the Punch-Up bar.

I was really curious to give this kite a go and I really wanted to check out the bar. I've the seen the diagram on the net. I understood how it's supposed to work but I didn't understand the mechanics of it. I would love to to explain it here but I haven't got a clue where to start. It's quite a complex system. Some will say it's simple. If you're one of those people then be my guest a feel free to post how the mechanics of this bar work for everyone else.

Anyway onto the problems.

I had never used a cleat depower system before but as I found out yesterday, I don't like them. Once I had the kite in the air I noticed that I didn't have enough juice, so I reched down with my right hand to let the line out and nothing. The depower strap was locked in tight to the cleat and wasn't coming out. It felt like I had to take the full weight of the kite on one arm to pull depower line out of the cleat. I ended up heading back in so I could use two hands. The constant pressure from the kite had the depower line locked into the cleat tight. It was struggle to get the line out of the cleat with kite in the air.

I also had same problem after I came back in after my session. The wind had come up I was getting tired so when I hit the beach I tried to ditch alot of the power. The depower line was locked into place. When your arms are tired you don't want to have to fight with a cleat and the pull on the depower strap that's carrying the full pull of the kite. I couldn't get this line out. I ended up running under the kite so I could get the tension off the lines so I could line out of the cleat, but then I missed the cleat witht the line and the kite when straight full power. There is lots of room for error with a cleat system.

The guy that owned the kite later tried to give me a little coaching on how to use the depower. I listened but told him that if I can't dpower this thing on the fly by pulling on it with one hand it's no good. I don't want any little tricks because in a pinch, that's not what I am thinking about.

The guy that owned the kite went out after me and broke the reset part of the Punch-Up bar. If you are not familiar with stopper there is a line attached to it that runs throught the bar to a flat piece that when you pull the bar against it reset the stopper. The owner when out riding had nocked the stopper loose so he went to reset it he broke the flat piece off the line that pulls down on the stopper. With out the flat piece there is no way to reset the stopper. So he had broke the punch up. He said he could fix it, but it's no the kind of thing you want to see from bar that's only been in the water for one day.

To sum things things up this is an over complicated bar. OR should ditch the cleat for a strap ( I think Globerider did this for the Sonic,) something similar to what the waroo has. And forget the whole punch up mess. To much plastic. And whe you depend on things to be wedged into place youare only asking for wear and failure to release issues. Use the K.I.S.S priciple.

J.

J.

[bigwave]

I rode a 16m One kite on Saturday.The bar worked very well I thought.The first couple rides I had trouble with the trim cleat.I could not get it to release.My mistake was trying to pull the rope up,back against the cleat.Once I started to pull the rope down, away from the cleat, I could set the rope with no problems.I used the punch up a couple of times to see how the kite reacted.It was perfect, fell to the water ready to relaunch.The bar I used did not have the retro fit kit that joins the upper and lower stoppers.I also found not to much force was required to reset the upper stopper.
I think the bar is pretty good.I had bronco's with the punch out bar and it was excellent.I used the whole Ocean Rodeo kit,One Kite,Zen Board and the Pyro Pro Drysuit.They all worked as advertised.

Dave

[viktor]

The problem with the cleat sounds that it is some compatability problem linetype/cleat. The way I figure is that if you have to pull with all your might to get it out the line is wedged strangely into the cleat as you should not have to pull with much more than halft the tension to get it out.

[fokiten]

Hey,,

Those jamb-cleats require technique:

Pull/yank hard, straight out to unjamb the cleat first then adjust.

If you just pull in line with the rope it will not release,,

You found this out,,I guess

Snap it out, straight out away from the teeth,, then adjust..

fo

ok, go to work now fo,, fucking go to work nice person,,

ok bye

[SonicSpectrum]

!!

- Pull straight down against the tension on the rope to release it from the cleat.

- Adjust trim

- Pull loose end back up and away from the cleat to jam the rope back into the cleat.

- Ride.

Duh.

Sonic

[MikeDobell]

i ride a cam cleat and love it. you have to learn how to use them... i wouldnt ever go back to that backpack style depower strap. cam cleats are the model of simplicity, just learn to yank them at the right angle, then you'll be stoked. good winds. md

[tch]

Hasn't Ocean Rodeo come up with a fix for the reset issue? Was the bar you used one of the original bars or was it from a recent batch. Check-out the OR forum on their website. They have been doing some sporadic informational updates regarding the reset and chicken loop issues - good info, just a little slow in response.

[PBKiteboarding]

If you don't have a pulley above the cleat... You could add one... if it just has a ring... (New rope can sort of bend around the ring not wanting to move) while pulling down to uncleat... (especially) new line... prevents the line from moving and can generally just pull the front lines down... rather than pulling the line through the cleat.... made a huge difference... especially in lighter winds....

Then again when rope breaks in things do get smoother...

Paul

[The Jess-Man]

Hasn't Ocean Rodeo come up with a fix for the reset issue? Was the bar you used one of the original bars or was it from a recent batch. Check-out the OR forum on their website. They have been doing some sporadic informational updates regarding the reset and chicken loop issues - good info, just a little slow in response.

It was the new one.
J.

[spind]

Hey J Man, so what would you suggest to an OR Bronco kite rider who though not not totally impressed with the punch out bar (breaking) and i had some difficulty with the depower strap - ( when fully powered i could hardly reach it to depower ) i found that I had to pull in the front lines to bring it close enough to reach - must have short arms!? anyway thats the past, if i'm going to get a ONE would you recommend a different bar? I take it you don't sell OR but you do sell kite gear? By the way, taking off the backing on my bindings Rocked!!