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Q lines vs. Regular lines

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 9:58 am
by dewey
Does anyone know if changing your lines from q lines to regular lines will help boosting. I just changed mine over and there seems to be a difference. Q lines are like cables with no flex or give, but I think that spectra lines have a little give to them. Does this make sense??I did lengthen my lines by 3 meters, but other than that they still feel different. The lines are softer and not as stiff.

Dewey

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:52 am
by sflinux
I suspect the 3M difference is what is making it feel different. I have a buddy that experiments a lot with different length kite lines. Something like shortening his lines in 5M increments equates to a kite size difference of 2M. It basically changes the size of the sphere of your wind window, which equates to more or less time in the power zone.
There is also the other theory of aerodynamics and if the regular line is of smaller diameter than qline, then qline would have more drag... but I don't buy into the aero theories much.
I have use both q and regular line on different bars and have never noticed a difference between the two.
-bric

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 1:45 pm
by dewey
What got me thinking about it was how stiff the q lines were. When I would do any kind or rotation the friction in the lines would make it hard to fly the kite. The sprectra seem to have more "spring" to them. I may be imagining it.

Dewey

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 2:05 pm
by OliverG
If anyone wants to switch over or play around with Q-Line, I've got a cherry, really long (like 30m or so) set of new lines for cheap. They're color-coded, too.

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 5:13 pm
by bdawg
BayAreaKite wrote:If anyone wants to switch over or play around with Q-Line, I've got a cherry, really long (like 30m or so) set of new lines for cheap. They're color-coded, too.
Ollie,

PM me about this. or give me a call. I am interested. Why you giving them up???

Blair

Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:28 pm
by OliverG
bdawg wrote:
BayAreaKite wrote:If anyone wants to switch over or play around with Q-Line, I've got a cherry, really long (like 30m or so) set of new lines for cheap. They're color-coded, too.
Ollie,

PM me about this. or give me a call. I am interested. Why you giving them up???

Blair
Blair,

I got them with a kite early last year and have never had a use for them. I have several bars all with stock lines, and I have a few sets of new regular as well, so they are just sitting in the garage.

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:29 am
by consumer
Dewey its definitely a length issue,

longer lines dramatically change the kite, even 3m will change it ALOT. i can easily tell the difference between a 25m lineset vs a 27m line set, huge difference.

The kites gonna be more grunty and seem like its less forgiving, just because its sitting farther back into the middle of the window, and when you edge, it has a longer arc to shoot forward(and generate power in).

I'm 99.9% sure by the feel of things(i have some physics inspired theories as well) that you get more air and hangtime with longer lines, but it's harder to time, SOMETIMES, especially harder to boost sometimes if the lines are super long and youre really powered, the kite has some ways to go before you can let go of your edge.

im probably just spewing stuff you've already read.

As far as spectra stretching some, thats a possibility, i can only give theories on how kite manners would change, but i will say that i think you should just ride out the qlines and get comfortable on them. Qlines are cool cuz you can adjust them easily without the need of sleeving.

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 9:45 am
by dewey
I keep the Q lines in my car as a backup. I'm thinking of making up another bar with a 5th line. Maybe I'll use the Q lines with that bar. I did find that they had a lot of friction when doing rotations. It made the kite harder to stear.

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 11:22 am
by consumer
yea dewey i had totally forgot about twisted lines,

it makes it harder to steer, but worst of all it makes this screeching noise that drives me nuts, sounds like a big rig without ABS, and grinding gears at the same time.

I heard they can rub together so much they eventually eat into each other and snap.

Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 7:26 am
by dewey
Everyone asks about the noise that q lines make. I've kited on them off an on for 2 years without noticing any noise.