Did you try Jack from f-one in Arundel??

The interweb shows that they are still open....
3/61 Newheath Dve, Arundel

April was the instructor working out of there but she has moved away....they have fakebook page @foneaustralia....

Next port of call would be Kitethrills at Currumundi on the sunny coast, they are an f-one distributor...

Good luck!!

Hi littlewing,

Jack is no longer in Australia but you can still contact F-one Australia directly: info@f-one.com.au

The first step is to make 100% sure that all your lines are exactly the same length as per my video tutorial here: www.kitebud.com.au/kitesurfing-online-courses/kitesurfing-line-tuning/

It's possible that the bridles are causing the issue as well. You'll have a hard time finding a matching set of exactly the same bridles but you may get lucky and be able to order those through F-one Australia or F-one International. This could take some time though as it's rare that shops/distributors or even the actual Factory have those laying around in stock.

In my opinion, the best and quickest solution is to get bridles custom made based on the exact bridle measurements. F-one will be able to provide the bridle specs for you and a competent sail maker / kite repairer can assemble those for you to match the exact specs. If F-one Australia can't find the specs for you, F-one international surely can help you : www.f-one.world/contact/

It's highly likely that the bridles, just like your lines, have shrunk over time. If the kite repairer made new bridles based on the shrunken length of the previous bridles, that's unfortunately not going to solve the issue. That's why you should always make new bridles from the spec sheet and never use the lengths of used bridles as a reference.

As for the pulleys, if F-one Australia doesn't have any in stock, you can get them in Australia here: www.fixmykite.com.au/f-one-bridle-pulley-plus-pigtail

Good luck

Christian

What year model?

Some old versions of F-One bandits had longer front bridles, so that the steering lines were longer by about 50-60cm from my recollection.

I could not get rid of that kite quickly enough, it was a scary powerful kite.

Sounds like a good way to throw away money.

I've been down this path too many times, if there's lots of mucking around/ problems to identify etc etc could be worth getting something else for about the same price you'd pay for all the repairs

littlewing said..

Peahi said..
What year model?

I believe bandit x is a 2017, will try some suggestions and see how it goes thanks for all the input

yeah don't believe the naysayers, bridles are easily replaceable, best if you can get matching brand/year/kite and if not at least ensure the lengths of the bridle pigtails match the steering line pigtails, sounds like the shop in GC had NFI. Try adventure sports in Noosa or Moti replaces bridles (although they get mixed reviews).

I also reckon its a myth that bridles stretch/shrink the type of rope used is a lot different to kite lines and a lot shorter.

dafish said..

Peahi said..

littlewing said..

Peahi said..
What year model?

I believe bandit x is a 2017, will try some suggestions and see how it goes thanks for all the input

yeah don't believe the naysayers, bridles are easily replaceable, best if you can get matching brand/year/kite and if not at least ensure the lengths of the bridle pigtails match the steering line pigtails, sounds like the shop in GC had NFI. Try adventure sports in Noosa or Moti replaces bridles (although they get mixed reviews).

I also reckon its a myth that bridles stretch/shrink the type of rope used is a lot different to kite lines and a lot shorter.

Hmmm, I wouldn't not call it a myth at all. Any time you have pullys running up and down lines do create an adverse affect over time. The last bridle kite I had were the Slingshot Revs. Great kite for the time but those p-lines would shrink and the kite would start flying like crap. I replaced those lines once a year in order for it to be flying like it should. Never had those issues on bridles without pullys.

yes I hard a 2017 drifter where the covers of the bridle lines were worn off due to the pulleys didn't seem to affect the the lengths of the bridles

The f-one agent in Australia is Peter. He is on the GC and his mobile is +61 428 778 118. Feel free to contact him directly.