hydrofoil / wave kite and bar: Kauper-XT

[windmlv]

Thanks for the post on the kites, KrisL.
Waiting patiently for my 5m,7m,9m,and bar in LaVentana.
Fortunately, I won't need gloves to try them!
I have been riding only foil kites for the past 4 years so a bit of a learning curve I am sure.
The 5m with the Moses 633 should be just the ticket.

[Rainer Kauper]

I would like to give a helpful info in case the knots do not slide in and out as smooth as they should to adjust the backlines. Please turn out the small screw at the black winder at the right side of the bar and cut or sand the head of the screw by 0.5 - 1mm, see picture below. Then insert the screw again. Now it will work much better. The problem for this issue is that the production maybe sometimes has made the countersunk to deep which lets the screw go too far into the hole and so the knots could touch the head of the screw. Don´t worry it´s not a safety issue. The line will not have any damages or could break if you do not cut the screw, but the internal adjuster will work much better.

Ciao

Rainer Kauper
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[Adventure Logs]

As I have described on our website I have designed the bar with priority to my own needs and taste.

This right here personally raises red flags for me. I’ve seen you use this excuse numerous times here and on the OASE forum anytime someone says anything slightly negative about your gear in reviews or criticism. In my opinion it’s pretty arrogant and a slightly dangerous attitude. This gear isn’t just for you now that you are selling to the masses(except your willingness to sell to the US). Are you also not going to honor warranty claims because “that’s not how you ride” or “not what you designed it for yourself” as well? Perhaps more of an open mind would allow your brand to become even better.

Another red flap is by choosing to keep the same bar line color you are choosing aesthetics over function and most importantly safety. Having colored lines greatly helps in a tangle and have gotten me out of binds in the water more than once. When I’m tangled up in the surf and am blindly grabbing a steering line to keep my foil out of the water, I’m not going to be thinking “oh how nice my lines match my bar”, but more of “oh shit which is which”.
Where else have you chosen form over function?

I do really want to try and possibly buy one(or numerous) of your pixto bars but your constantly shutting down of reviews which might be slightly negative makes me pause. I’m also waiting for some longer use reviews to see how the wear is on that trimming system.

I do hope for the best, I like your innovation and adding the tubing shows you are looking for ways to improve. For all the carbon setups, yours does interest me most.

[Rainer Kauper]

This right here personally raises red flags for me. I’ve seen you use this excuse numerous times here and on the OASE forum anytime someone says anything slightly negative about your gear in reviews or criticism. In my opinion it’s pretty arrogant and a slightly dangerous attitude. This gear isn’t just for you now that you are selling to the masses(except your willingness to sell to the US).

It looks like you have misunderstood or your want to misunderstand my intention. There is no need to excuse in my opinion, but there is definitely a need to explain my gear, because it´s different. Nothing else than to explain I try to do here and in the oase forum. When I say I have designed the gear with priority to my own needs and taste it´s exactly how the designing process did happen. At most kitesurfing brands there is a design team that has to fullfill the demands of the marketing and sales department. At Kauper XT there is no sales and no marketing department, so I was able to design gear that only matches to my personal needs which is a minimalistic design for riding in waves and on foil. This minimalistic design for sure does not match to the "masses", but I was and I am still 100% aware of this. Please believe me that there are enough other kiteboarders loving exactly that minimalistic design which is totally different from the other gear on the market. Being in the kiteboarding business since 2002 I had all the other gear and for me it is fantastic to see other people riding my new gear and have the same fun with it like I do.

Are you also not going to honor warranty claims because “that’s not how you ride” or “not what you designed it for yourself” as well? Perhaps more of an open mind would allow your brand to become even better.

To be honest we do not have serious warranty claims yet. As I am riding approx. 5 days per week and spending a lot of time at the beaches talking frequently with other kiteboarders I test and see a lot. If there is anything on my gear which could affect the perfect kiteboarding day I immediately change the setup or modify it. For example the PU tube was changed to Teflon tube. The leash at the Wichard was modified. We have replaced these items free of charge BEFORE any single customer had a serious safety or comfort issue. Now I have seen that the screw reaches a little bit to deep into the barend. I have immediately posted here and in oase how to modify. Do you call that arrogant or not taking care of kiteboarders safety?

Another red flap is by choosing to keep the same bar line color you are choosing aesthetics over function and most importantly safety. Having coloured lines greatly helps in a tangle and have gotten me out of binds in the water more than once. When I’m tangled up in the surf and am blindly grabbing a steering line to keep my foil out of the water, I’m not going to be thinking “oh how nice my lines match my bar”, but more of “oh shit which is which”.
Where else have you chosen form over function?

I really do not like to repeat myself, but again the design of the bar which naturally includes the colour of lines had to match my own needs and taste. The priority of the Pintxo bar design was to be minimalistic and so the lines have to be all equal in colour. For me it´s not a safety issue to have different colours at the lines or not. If there is tension on the lines you know immediately where to grab it and where not. It´s the same with those elastics at the bar ends to wind up the lines or those bumpers at the bar ends. These details you can have at nearly all other bars on the market with all it´s advantages and disadvantages. For me the Pintxo bar is very safe for the use in waves and on foil and as we have no warranty claims or safety issues the design could not be so bad in comfort and safety.

I do really want to try and possibly buy one(or numerous) of your pixto bars but your constantly shutting down of reviews which might be slightly negative makes me pause. I’m also waiting for some longer use reviews to see how the wear is on that trimming system.

Do you really see my postings shutting down anything here or in oase? I understand that there are many questions and also many things that could be misunderstood, because our gear is so differrent. So I think the best way to publish the correct use of our gear is to explain in case somebody has misunderstood.
Regarding the wear at the trimming system I can tell you that I am still using one of my first prototype bars with the same lines external and internal for 1,5 years now. Just yesterday I have checked them again to see if there is any wear. I can assure you that there is nothing yet to see and please believe me I am a heavy user with riding approx 5 days per week.

I do hope for the best, I like your innovation and adding the tubing shows you are looking for ways to improve. For all the carbon setups, yours does interest me most.

Thank you very much and I hope one day I can convince you, preferably by testing our equipment.

Ciao

Rainer Kauper
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[nixmatters]

... If there is anything on my gear which could affect the perfect kiteboarding day I immediately change the setup or modify it. For example the PU tube was changed to Teflon tube...

Ciao

Rainer Kauper
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Hey Rainer, that was quick!
How's the Teflon tubing performing vs the PU? You forgot to follow up on this, but I'm sure you've been busy

Happy to take credit and share it with Toby

[OzBungy]

I have about 9 1/2hours on my Pintxo bar. It works fine. It takes some time to adapt.

The two biggest challenges have been the feel of the light weight bar, and the changed bar position due to using the Wichard and a new line set. The bar sits about 150mm closer to me than my old bars with a chicken loop.

I have had a bit of a play with the trim adjustment. At first it was a bit sticky and hard to use. That got easier, presumably because the knots settled in, I practiced it a bit more, and I filed the point off the screw.

To an extent the 60cm bar travel makes the trim adjuster a bit redundant. When the wind pushes in I just hold the bar a bit further out and everything works just fine.

If you want a minimalist bar then the Pintxo is the one to get. As Rainier says, it has everything you need and nothing you don't (although some of the things you don't need are quite nice to have).

I have added coloured pigtails to my bar. I needed to do that to connect to my kites. The pigtails also make for a nice closing hitch when I tie the lines to the bar.

My preferred way of rigging is to link the ends of all the lines together so I can attach the lines to the kite, wind out, launch and go. No dropping the bar in the sand and walking the lines to the kite. It was easy enough to work out a winding system and set of hitches on the bar to do that ( wind the line, wrap and hitch to secure, join the line ends, wind the remaining line, wind the individual bit of slack line until all the line ends meet, then wrap and hitch to close). I just had to think a bit and practice a few times. The few times I have ended up with line crosses after winding out the bar is so light it is easy to pass through and sort things out.

I haven't decided if the changed bar position is a problem yet. It is a problem if you're not prepared for it. The front-rear line lengths will settle with use. I may add some knots to the kite rear pigtails, or change the Wichard attachment so that I can tune the bar distance from my body depending on the day.

The one thing I really like is the long bar throw. I am already imagining building a very long travel bar with no trim adjuster (I have long arms). That would be super clean .... but maybe some bar floats and big squishy bar ends with bungies.

[tomtom]

There is only one ergonomically position for riding style - being 15 cm off is biomechanical and ergonomical disaster. Make line pigtaitals to compensate.

[OzBungy]

It would be simpler to adjust the position of the Wichard so that the bar sits at your preferred position for riding. That way you still get the benefit of the full 60cm bar travel. I am inclined to persevere at the moment. It's important to really get to know a new piece of equipment before you start changing stuff around.

[Rainer Kauper]

How's the Teflon tubing performing vs the PU? You forgot to follow up on this, but I'm sure you've been busy

When we made the tests it was pretty quickly clear that PTFE (Teflon) is much better than PU tubes for our use. Especially at hot temperatures like we had Spain in summer the PTFE tube worked way better. Beside that it slides much smoother through the bar hole. The only thing that you have to take care of is, that you do not kink this PTFE tube. When you put the bar into your bag you always have to take care of that. It`s not a big thing and I am really happy now as the tube lasts way longer. I was in touch with plastics institute of the university of Aachen in Germany which is my home town. They have also advised me to use PTFE.
Anyway thanks for your advise, too.

I have about 9 1/2hours on my Pintxo bar. It works fine. It takes some time to adapt.

If you want a minimalist bar then the Pintxo is the one to get. As Rainier says, it has everything you need and nothing you don't (although some of the things you don't need are quite nice to have).

Thanks for detailed review.

There is only one ergonomically position for riding style - being 15 cm off is biomechanical and ergonomical disaster. Make line pigtaitals to compensate.

I am sorry, but I absolutely disagree. Each human is different. Some people have longer legs and shorter upperbody and some have very short arms. And I think each rider has a different style. I see some kiteboarders riding very upright and others very close to the surface of the sea. I think each rider should play a little bit with the distance and see how it works for him personally.

Ciao

Rainer Kauper
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[tomtom]

There is only one ergonomically position for riding style - being 15 cm off is biomechanical and ergonomical disaster. Make line pigtaitals to compensate.

I am sorry, but I absolutely disagree. Each human is different. Some people have longer legs and shorter upperbody and some have very short arms. And I think each rider has a different style. I see some .

This ONE position is of course PERSON dependent - that is so obvious that i dont event write it. By style dependent i mean Freeride Hydrofoil o/arms up/ vs f.e. powered TT arms down by cca. 10cm
But be 15 cm off this ideal position will be almost unridable for me.