Kites with lighter bar pressure similar to the Rebel?

[SpaceRacer]

Hi, I searched for this on the forum and am still a little unclear. I have been on Rebels since 2008 and love them and know enough about where they sit in the freeride realm and about their bar pressure. Which similar riding kites will provide similar performance with lighter bar pressure? Thank you, SR

[knotwindy]

Maybe Ozone Edge?

[SpaceRacer]

Thanks KW. Possibly the Edge. I have flown them and their bar pressure seems similar to the Rebel.

[Havre]

Bar pressure on the Edge v11 isn't bad. I haven't tried the Rebel SLS, but the Edge v11 is definitely better than the older Rebels. Or better as in lighter. Still not perfect. It doesn't bother me on the v11, but ideally it would have been slightly lighter still.

I have never ridden the Orbit, but that is the "big air" kite with the reputation of having the least bar pressure. But it is also slightly different form the Edge and Rebel - as it isn't a pure "old school big air" kite.

[SpaceRacer]

I've heard that about North Orbit. I'll see if I can get my hands on a demo. It would be fun to go back to "North".

[jhonson]

SS Machine V1 has the same bar pressure as Rebel SLS .

[rnelias]

Bar pressure on the Edge v11 isn't bad. I haven't tried the Rebel SLS, but the Edge v11 is definitely better than the older Rebels. Or better as in lighter. Still not perfect. It doesn't bother me on the v11, but ideally it would have been slightly lighter still.

I have never ridden the Orbit, but that is the "big air" kite with the reputation of having the least bar pressure. But it is also slightly different form the Edge and Rebel - as it isn't a pure "old school big air" kite.

direct comparison with Orbit, with equal sizes, is a little off in my opinion. I've had an Orbit 10m and it pulls a little less than a 10m Rebel, thus, I'd compare Orbits with +1m similar kites. Maybe it justifies the feelling of lighter bar pressure and faster kite. Arc by Arc, Orbits are not as flat as other 5 struct kites too.

[Blackened]

Orbit doesn't have the same performance as the other big air 5 struts. Edge would probably be the closest equivalent. I haven't ridden a Machine yet, so can't compare.

Don't bother with the Orbit unless you want to loop. Rebel will beat it in ease of use, low end, and boosting.

[Havre]

My guess (I don’t know this) is that the arc required for a classical “big air” kite also means higher bar pressure. If not you would have thought someone would have come up with a kite with light bar pressure?

I’m fairly fit. In normal times I go to the gym 4-6 times a week etc. I’m not amazingly strong or anything, but my arms and grip are stronger than the average kiter. Still on an old Rebel I will get a bit tired after long sessions. Might partly be because my steering isn’t technically perfect, but a lot of kiters are also worse than me.

I would love to try the Rebel SLS (I bought the Edge because it was so much cheaper and I couldn’t justify the extra cost for the Rebel), and all these kite evaluations are heavily subjective, but the Edge v11 is definitely the best “big air” kite I have been on. It doesn’t have the brutal “yank” the Rebel got, but I personally have never jumped higher. And the hang time is so good. It is also a lot easier to control after crashing than the Rebel. I had a brutal crash on Wednesday. I was expecting to get thrown all over the place (like I have occasionally with the Rebel), but I managed to get it under control. Might be random luck of course as I clearly haven’t experienced the exact same crash on a Rebel.

[Windigo1]

The Eleveight XS is supposed to have light bar pressure and boost like a Rebel but I haven't tried one yet.