by Slappy » Mon Aug 31, 2015 10:25 pm
I've logged about 70 sessions on my 2013 Blade Unibar over 2 years. Overall it's a pretty good bar but has a few things that I don't like.
Pros:
- Best lineset of any bar I've ever seen, 3 colours, top quality, beefier centers, best type of pigtails
- Great colours, yellow on the left, I just wish the left floater was yellow too
- North style ATB trim cleat that has proven to be the way to go unless you need super long bar throw
- Low Y for easy self landings
- Velcro on trim line to keep it out of the way
- Easily detatch steering lines from the bar to quickly fix lines that got messed up while using a line manager
Cons:
- The flagging line can get stuck in the swivel, recommended you bore it out further with a drill but even then I don't fully trust it to flag. I have learned to use my feet to kick it through though when it sticks.
- ATB swivel doesn't really work and having to flag through it reduces safety
- No below the bar swivel
- Non-rigid bar leaders can lead to bar wraps which lead to death loops
- Adjustable (but not on the fly) length, which never really worked for me. I would often forget to adjust it until I was on the water and I dislike how it flies on the inside setting as the float tend to wrap the center lines. Kept on the outside settings it was perfect for my 10m but too much for my 7m.
- EVA grip rips my hands up, but I have wussy hands and often do 5 hour sessions
- EVA grip split on one side, still usable but just feels akward
- Flagging line gets in the way of the clam cleat (there is no channel for it)
- No stopper (2014 added one)
- Does not include proper double ring for unhooked riding, instead they want you to clip your leash around the CL and the single ring. This is very dangerous and I ended up having it clip on to my spreader as well after hooking back in. This meant I was essentially hard tethered to my kite with 0 safety release and scared the shit out of me. It also meant using the low quality Blade leash or a LF leash as my preferred leash (North) has a small clip to avoid skewering your hand with.
I have since switched to a CrazyFly Sick Bar and am very happy with it. The only bad thing I can say about it is that the lines are all the same colour and there is no way to detach the steering lines from the bar ends.