Best of the bars...

So a recent discussion on Seabreeze got me thinking about my current bar setup (Core bar 2S) and it's shortcomings.

I am now on the hunt for a bar and lines that has high Y capabilities and looking for recommendations for my Core/Duotone kites.

My research so far:
Core 2S - twisty crap safety release. A PITA and unsafe especially when being used on a rope slider. I like the simplicity of the bar and the standard lines seem to be fine. Love the ability of the centre lines to immediately unwind after looping the kite so really like the ceramic bearing setup.

Core 3S - looks like it may have ironed out the above issue but I don't want to be spending close to $1k on bar and lines.

Duotone Trust - my son uses this setup and I like the bar and the lines, but resetting the chicken loop is a bit of a fiddle by having to pull back the plastic housing to click the loop back in. The other issue is unwinding the centre lines after looping the kite. The bit you have to grab is not particularly easy to hold (limited grip) and it is not a smooth unwinding action and hence tends to stick a bit). Price is fine.

Duotone Click - although I haven't owned this bar, I have used one a fair bit. Seems like there is a few complaints from a previous post about centre line wear. Unwinds automatically after looping.. Don't know much else about it but those that have it tend to really like the click ability of the bar. Personally I rarely ever trim a kite (maybe only a handful of times per season). I do not like trimming a kite much as it always impacts on the flying ability of the kite and I don't like that change. I will fly a kite till it is at its max and then would rather change kites than trim. From this perspective I find the additional cost of buying this bar not worth it. Also has the fiddly reset with the chicken loop, much the same as the Trust. Cost $$$$$$$ - much like the new Core bar.

Switch CX5 - know nothing about it, but the price looks good, has a high Y ability, and chicken loop clicks in (Ozone style). It doesn't seem to have the same instant unwind mechanism of the Core and Duotone Click. Might be heavy??

Anyway, maybe I am chasing too much from a bar but this is the features I'm looking for:
- price competitive (around the $600 - $700)
-click reset for chicken loop
-push away safety
- high Y capability
- quality lines
- automatic unwind of centre lines
- not too heavy


Any ideas out there??

I know right.....ticks all the boxes, just can not justify $900 for the standard bar!!

I'm really hoping so.

wouldnt be surprised if duotone upgrade the trust bar for 2021 to include the click-back-in chicken loop. apprently they are upgrading their lines for 2021. price will probably increase though. its a good bar, can usually pick them up for <$500.
The untwist mechanism certainly has nothing on the core one, i just make sure i try to loop kite both ways and never bother untwisting. the centre lines beneath the split just twist up and hasnt caused me any problems yet, but unsure about how the QR will work if those lines are all twisted. if you could just retrofit the ceramic untwist it would be a great bit of gear

I have among other bars Core Sensor 2 Pro, and otherwise it would be perfect, BUT I really don't dig the flag out system; how the front lines go when released. If the s hits the fan, you really want the setup to flag out on one line. With their system, there will be some pull for both front lines, especially so if you use kites with longer bridles, or bigger sized kites, so this bar isn't truly universal. I guess for the model 3 this is still the same, unfortunately, with the price tag :)

The OR bar' I had a close checkout' made the north one look cheap in comparison ' not sure high /low Y position' though' the tap depower is very clever' ive heard of no issues compared to the others as its fully open mechanism to flush clean

I am loving my Cabrinha trimlite bars. The North Navigator bar is almost identical (funny about that).

Everything works really well.
The components are very good (work well and last. My current bar has 380 hours on it and now doing some rework on it).
The bars can be bought quite cheaply (buy last years model. Upgrade with new components over time).
All the parts are easily replaceable and fairly cheap (bungies, leaders, centrelines, trimmer fittings)
It's easy to swap in parts from other manufacturers without too much effort.
Very easy to customise (I made a super long trimmer bar for foiling. Now working on a trimless bar with a 70cm bar throw)

I think it's easy to splice in a ring to make a bar high-Y. Some manufacturers sell high-Y kits for their bars. Not sure why you would deliberately want a high-Y. It hugely overcomplicates everything, unless you have a high-Y kite that doesn't work with a low-Y.

My kite mate has an OR Shift bar and likes it very much. He does covet my 90cm of bar and trim travel. I always rig to oversheet then just pull in a shedload of trimmer as the wind rises.

One of the guys has just bought a Switch CX5 bar - I'll let yous know what the real deal is when I see it.

Can't beat the ozone ones. You don't get auto unwind but what's the issue takes to seconds to manually untwist it or just do your tricks both directions. The bigger handle on the ozone absorbs more vibration from the kite so smoother riding and less tennis elbow chance. Don't get hung up on the high y thing. The core kites fly Fine on a low y despite what core would have you believe so they can continue to sell their bars. Sold my pro 2 bar cause the lines were the same colour and harder to self land, way more vibration through the bar especially in gusty conditions so more fidgety feeling. Also smaller kites flew better on the low y as opens the wing out a little so makes them more stable. Try it!

new slingshot bar is worth a look as well. we tried it back to back with reedin and the only diference is the slingshot is much thicker and is black to help with discoloration of the reedin pristine white (core will suffer aswell). some may prefer the fat stick...i didnt though but probably because im used to newer skinny naish bars. side note, ive also ordered some parts for me dreamstick bar, flag out and a depower line to replace eventual, both came to half the usual price from naish. would definately factor this in to your decision...
as for the bar itself its held up fairly well, ive used the saftey a few times and its worked fine, bit of scratchs/wear on the PU line (bar centre is fine) but its to be expected i guess, pig tail and the lines themselves are fine. bar still auto twists as good as it did when i first got it...