Game changer ^^^^^^

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shi thouse said..
Game changer ^^^^^^

No....its the game changer of the game changer.

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eppo said..

shi thouse said..
Game changer ^^^^^^

No....its the game changer of the game changer.

I want one!! I want to change my game!!! Yeah

Nice clean bar, knob might be a bit small.....

So are the days of soft ends on the bar gone?

My surfboard hates these bars.

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bjw said...
So are the days of soft ends on the bar gone?

My surfboard hates these bars.

But your board repairer loves em!

Game changing for him, now he can send his kids to private school!

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bjw said...
So are the days of soft ends on the bar gone?

My surfboard hates these bars.

Ditto. And my head hates hard bar ends when I unspin and clock myself...even more fun when the bar weighs a ton.

The North Bar ends are soft.

If this highly mechanised bar had been the standard for about as far back as you could remember, with all its gears and winder stuff, then some one came along and invented a simple strap to power and depower my kite, now that would be a game changer.

Great innovation from North. Good to see R&D investment continuing in kiting with something significant, not a small incremental change that offers better upwind, downwind, beginner, advanced mega loops.

Time will tell if it's robust enough, fail proof and better than existing center line adjustment mechanisms. Either way we're all winners as the sport is progressing, other brands will fight back with their own innovations and ultimately we get the choice of what's best for ourselves

All of this winding business looks just as annoying as using cleats which for me are jammed most of the time

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SugarQube said...
If this highly mechanised bar had been the standard for about as far back as you could remember, with all its gears and winder stuff, then some one came along and invented a simple strap to power and depower my kite, now that would be a game changer.

Exactly!

Oh - any publicity is good publicity I hear ? personally Ill stick to my incredibly simple and very effective above the bar depower.
Good on North for playing around with something that aint broke - but that's progress !!
Cant this thread possibly make yet another page and provide North with this awesome FREE publicity ???

Alvey was really pissed off when Shimano showed up! lol

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dachopper said...
oceanrodeo.com/kiteboarding/bars/stick-shift/

Game changing, yet these guys already have it cheaper ?

Grab the new north bar and give the chickenloop a spin around. The ceramic bearings are something else, even compared to the trust. If they made the north clicker bar without the clicker and just a standard lightweight cleat system I would have bought a few.

Dazza's demo :) North Click Bar

So I finally got to demo this puppy today. There's a lot of posts and all I want to concentrate on is my personal experience with the bar on a demo session. I was also a little skeptical of why such a new system would be necessary from the tried and tested depower rope and cleat bar, and how refined the system would be. So FSR Industries in SA had a demo day today and we actually had some serious wind of around the 30 knots mark. My thoughts on the bar:

- its a really clean set up and you cant help but realize normal bars do have a lot of bits, the clean lines and lack of floppy bits is nice
- the bar has a very long throw for full depower that would suit various kites from short to long throws. for wave riding the deep throw is nice
- plastic covered rope though the bar, no rope wear
- the click mechanism for depower is handy on the bar end, I was not sure how that would work but it is actually handier than reaching for depower ropes when in need of depower on strong winds. When wanting a quick depower it is definitely quicker and easier than rope.
- power up the same handy spot - both on the right hand bar side
- it definitely worked well clicking and un-clicking the power on the ride
- depowered the centre lines and safety line are still under a neat tension with no floppy hanging lines - (that cant be avoided with a central depower strap and cleat, once you depower other lines flop away. unless your safety is on the steering line but thats another debate)
- also no matter the bar when you do a big depower you will have a big long flapping strap swinging about the place, I find that annoying, this bar does not have that at all.

some thoughts on advantages:
- on the fly it works as promised and I think is handier than reaching for straps especially in lighter winds
- the depower works when you are getting launched on the beach and there is only a little bit of tension in the lines (when tuning on the launch for different winds). Normally with a rope and cleat and you have your launcher holding the kite the tension is not there to quickly adjust it, the click bar is better for this prelaunch tune up. the same is important for depower with slacker lines, something that a rope does not provide. (note you still need a little tension for it to pull out - but rope and cleat system does rely on tension on the ride and a powered kite.
- it is a nice tight and well built system
- a bit of occasional maintenance seems reasonable to me, but surely so does you normal bar


Any down sides?
- more expensive than rope and cleat
- maybe a bit harder on the bar ends for board knocks (but nothing compared to the steel hook most are sporting on their harness)

Summary advice:
a lot of thought on this long thread seem to be a bit over critical. Its just a bar for goodness sake (its not a new car or a house) and it does work well and does have great advantages. I did not get one this year but after demoing it today I am now thinking about it. Just because its so much cleaner and free of floppy bits and hanging depowered ropes etc. If you want a higher end bar and have the cash then I think its great.

for disclaimer see my Profile as usual

Dazza

The unspin is sick and puts even the core and flysurfer ones to shame.
The stopper ball is so good just on a single rope .
The click mechanism feels really sturdy, after using it i really don't think its going to break.
I bought one straight after demoing its kind of like having an automatic car - lots of people will hate on it until they try one in peak hour (or with the bar, have trim thats so accurate and effortless, good unspinning, good stopper ball.). Time will tell if it breaks too quickly but i think it should be ok.

*it took me a little while to understand how it unspins the centre lines- when you spin the bar to fix the outside lines the inside lines also get fixed without doing anything (no sheet in even )

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wishy said..
The unspin is sick and puts even the core and flysurfer ones to shame.
The stopper ball is so good just on a single rope .
The click mechanism feels really sturdy, after using it i really don't think its going to break.
I bought one straight after demoing its kind of like having an automatic car - lots of people will hate on it until they try one in peak hour (or with the bar, have trim thats so accurate and effortless, good unspinning, good stopper ball.). Time will tell if it breaks too quickly but i think it should be ok.

*it took me a little while to understand how it unspins the centre lines- when you spin the bar to fix the outside lines the inside lines also get fixed without doing anything (no sheet in even )

Definitely the key here is to have a try on a demo, like wishy this is the difference in really knowing what this system is like! After riding it you will know if its for you.

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dazza5172 said..
Dazza's demo :) North Click Bar



for disclaimer see my Profile as usual

Dazza

Maybe the North Team rider bit tucked away in your profile should have been upfront...

Tried it. Exactly as I imagined it would be.

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Kamikuza said..
Tried it. Exactly as I imagined it would be.

I missed the part where you Imagined it... let us know your thoughts please.

Ah you guys just aren't in the clicky group...

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Smithy said..

dazza5172 said..
Dazza's demo :) North Click Bar



for disclaimer see my Profile as usual

Dazza

Maybe the North Team rider bit tucked away in your profile should have been upfront...

About Me: Kitesurfing since 2004 - Love the sport and the people, kitesurfers are the best social crew around and in SA we have a brilliant group of people. My passion is wave riding, but I also like to mix it up with bit of low DD freestyle.
I am a Team Rider for North and our local distributor is FSR Industries.........


sorry how is that tucked away?? seriously!

Tried a friend's click bar. Have to say I was impressed for same reasons as mentioned above.

Mainly... Nice and very clean setup on front lines, easy Depower at press of button, relatively easy power up again, easy to see power setting by indicator on bar, should have no trim line wear, great single line stopper on trim line.

Still a bit skeptical about longevity of inner bits otherwise a very nice feeling bar. Was surprised and suitably impressed ... price is above my pay scale though.

Pretty sure it was tested for longer than their 2013 bar.

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EternalNoob said...

Kamikuza said..
Tried it. Exactly as I imagined it would be.

I missed the part where you Imagined it... let us know your thoughts please.

Overly complicated and clunky.
Too heavy, especially at the bar ends.
Trimming it takes too much attention.
Lots of little gaps to catch lines in a tumble.
No part could be repaired without OEM parts.

In short, nothing to recommend it over a "regular" bar except for the hype. Exactly as I thought it would be, before I used it.

This thread is like a bunch of commodore fans hating on a Ferrari.
Is it even strong enough in Queensland to use trim? You guys could just use a broomstick!

Having no trim & long throw, has been a game changer for me

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wishy said..
This thread is like a bunch of commodore fans hating on a Ferrari.
Is it even strong enough in Queensland to use trim? You guys could just use a broomstick!

Welcome to world of using north gear....haters will hate..lol... The earth really is flat, didn't you know.

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wishy said..
This thread is like a bunch of commodore fans hating on a Ferrari.
Is it even strong enough in Queensland to use trim? You guys could just use a broomstick!

It is in Queensland, Japan. I tend to trim once and be done with it though.

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toppleover said..
Having no trim & long throw, has been a game changer for me

Cloud rider?

I hate Holdens.