Attention Rebel Veterans

[NYKiter]

Old 12m kite, but first time flying a Rebel for me today in light 14-18knots strapless (caught a break as temps went above the freezing mark - oh joy). I'm not going to say its a magic kite. I like the 5th line stability. Its solid like an Fone bandit, Jekyl or Cab and it seems to turn quick like a REV (maybe not as quick as an RPM). Seems not to fall out of the sky like my REVs when I rebound hard off a wave (or should I say ankle biter). I would say its best feature is how it eats gusts...rather profound how it smooths them out and locks in at the same time. Very unique. On the down side I found the bar pressure to be over-bearing. I was riding straight armed and had to lean way back to take the stink out of it (not that I have poo stance..). The bar pressure was so high it distracted from the enjoyment. (I learned on LF Havocs so this may explain how I found the bar pressure high). I found the Cab Convert to have a similar pressure. I was leaning way far back to relieve it.

Can someone tell me how to minimize the pressure? I put the steering lines on the farthest wing tip setting and I dont see any knots on the down lines. I had the vario up to allow 8 inches of depower ability and the bar throw was long. Should I move the vario really close to the bar to allow for greater depower on the cleat? The manual says this will reduce the throw and add constant power. Not sure how to move the sweet spot closer to the hook. Is this just a riding style thing where you have to lean back and straight arm fly it? Thanks in advance.

[Zeek]

What year Rebel is it?

Have you played with the knots under the floats?

[NYKiter]

2009...I guess I could let an inch or so out of the steering lines a the bar....the lines are new and I tuned it before flying.

[Zeek]

The 2009 was the only 4 strut version so it should be easy to confirm.

I don't have any experience with that particular model but all the new North bars I have owned came with the lines being equal when the bar is about 50mm from the chicken loop. I preferred my 12m (2011) to be setup so they were equal when the chickenloop rests on the bar.

This moved the sweet spot closer to the bar and did seem to lighten the pressure somewhat.

[davesails7]

One of my buddies has some 2008 Rebels (9m and 14m) and a 2011 Rebel (12m). He was just telling me the other day how unbearably heavy the bar pressure gets on his 2008 14m when he gets powered. I've never ridden it myself.

I have 2011, 2012, 2013 Rebels and I'd say that the bar pressure is medium, maybe slightly heavier than average. I feel it is definitely less than my 2010 kahoona or the Cab switchblades and crossbows I have flown from various years. Heavier than my Edge 13m which has very low bar pressure. So I'm guessing it's just the way the older ones were, seems like the newer ones have less bar pressure.

[windybrit]

What year Rebel is it, and what size?.....In general I believe newer kites have less bar pressure than the older ones.. the first new Rebels I brought were 2010's and they were softer to hold than the 07-08-09's I'd tried before. Till 2011 I believe the only adjustment on the lines you have is under the floats, 3 choices. I usually use mine on the middle knot and use the longest position only if its really blowing, It does soften the bar, but I find it makes things feel a bit too vague for my taste. The shortest position sometimes promotes slight backstall (correctable by talking a little on the cleat),so I tend to avoid it.
The closer you slide the Vario cleat adjuster to you, the less bar travel power adjustment you'll
have (you'll have to adjust the depower with the power line more frequently). If you are constantly straight armed and stretched forward to hang onto the bar you'll find it hard to keep edging properly.... you'll also be making it harder for your arms to hang on.
Slide the vario cleat back towards you till with the bar farthest away from you can just fingertip reach it.... then fly the kite trimmed back till the sweet spot of the bar allows you to hold the bar roughly 1/3 of its travel away from you. If you still cannot hold onto the bar then experiment with the back lines .... The North site details the adjustment on the later kites , the distance between the soft and medium is no more than 2". If that doesn't work for you then you might want to work on grip and arm strength.

[marlboroughman]

You have to adjust fifth line length. I bet it is too short. Park the kite at 12 and pull the bar in all the way. The fifth should have just a tat more slack then front lines. On the other hand if you make the fifth too long you will lose power the kite will feel gutless.

[NYKiter]

Thanks for the quick responses on my 2009 12m Rebel.
Interesting note about slight slack on the 5th above the Y, will verify.
Will go after the next knots on the steering at the bar - let them out ~2 inches as Zeek suggested.
The lines are freshy new so they did all match up well.
Just a very different kite for me and it was not an optimal test day as well.

[windybrit]

Thanks for the quick responses on my 2009 12m Rebel.
Interesting note about slight slack on the 5th above the Y, will verify.
Will go after the next knots on the steering at the bar - let them out ~2 inches as Zeek suggested.
The lines are freshy new so they did all match up well.
Just a very different kite for me and it was not an optimal test day as well.

When you look at the 5th line you'll see in two places it has knots you can use to extend it so as to accommodate the other 4 lines (under constant load) stretching more that it does, use these as suggested by others to give you a little slack in the 5th line. I have an electronic copy of the 09 manual....p.m. me with your email address if you want me to send it to you.

[NYKiter]

I do have the manual - thank you.
So if I am hearing all this correctly:

Under the Y there is significant slack on the safety line.
Above the Y there is also slack, but it is only a very very tiny amount.