I recently purchased a 2015 Ozone Frenzy 11m kite. I read online that the 2015 Frenzy kites needed a 2016 upgrade kit for the re-ride system. The upgrade consists of a couple of stainless steel rings that you attach with what appears to be paracord to the bridle attachment points closest to the holes where the re-ride lines come through the center cells of the kite. I just rolled the kite out for the first time and it appears to me that the kite already has the stock upgrade, since there's already two stainless steel rings in the approximate area that I would expect to see them. Does anyone in here know if some of the 2015 Frenzy kites came stock with the upgraded re-ride system? Or could the two stainless steel rings that I'm seeing be for something else?

Any chance you can confirm with the previous owner whether the did the retrofit prior to sale?

Assuming this is what you are seeing.
2016 Snowkite Re-Ride Upgrade

ATB,
Sam

Hi Sam. I sent an email to the prior owner but he didn't know. He bought the kite new but never used it. He never did the re-ride upgrade, but I'm thinking that after Ozone had a few complaints, they immediately changed the design to incorporate the 2016 upgrade and I'm guessing that some of the 2015 kites got that upgrade before Ozone sold them. It's called the 2016 re-ride upgrade but I'm guessing it actually occurred sometime in 2015. I sent an email to Ozone asking them about it, but I haven't heard back from them.

You're correct that the link you showed is the one that describes the upgrade I was referring to. I just want to make sure that what I'm seeing on the kite I bought is in fact the factory installed upgrade. I guess without the upgrade (factory or aftermarket), the kite can sometimes get damaged when releasing the kite onto the re-ride system. That was fixed with the upgrade.

Quote: Originally posted by Steve in Gypsum

Hi Sam. I sent an email to the prior owner but he didn't know. He bought the kite new but never used it. He never did the re-ride upgrade, but I'm thinking that after Ozone had a few complaints, they immediately changed the design to incorporate the 2016 upgrade and I'm guessing that some of the 2015 kites got that upgrade before Ozone sold them. It's called the 2016 re-ride upgrade but I'm guessing it actually occurred sometime in 2015. I sent an email to Ozone asking them about it, but I haven't heard back from them. You're correct that the link you showed is the one that describes the upgrade I was referring to. I just want to make sure that what I'm seeing on the kite I bought is in fact the factory installed upgrade. I guess without the upgrade (factory or aftermarket), the kite can sometimes get damaged when releasing the kite onto the re-ride system. That was fixed with the upgrade.

Steve - you've got this right. I used to own Ozone kites (Access, Frenzy, Summit) back during this transition and my earlier kites didn't have the upgrade but later kites did. The little metal rings offload the shearing tension of the reride cord going into the kite. The kite could rip where the line passed through the plastic grommet. The fix loads this shearing tension more on the metal ring and less in the plastic grommet and fixes the issue. IMHO it doesn't seem to matter who installed the rings (assuming they were put on correctly which is pretty simple to do - I did it twice) but rather the important thing is just having the rings. You should be all set.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I really appreciate the information that you've provided.

Best regards,
Steve

I have a 2015 Access. The steel rings are there but where the 5th lines enters the kite there was not a plastic gromet. I *believe* on the 2016 Ozone used the gromet but no metal rings. Realizing their mistake, they had people retrofit the rings.

I got Ozone to send me plastic gromets to prevent tearing where the 5th lines enter the kite; more on 2nd and 3rd page here:
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=30347

It was also recommended to me not to use the 5th line for landing the kite routinely as this tearing problem can occur. Land the kite with the brake bar, then pull in the 5th line if you want to do it that way.

I like to have the 5th line pulled in at landing because the kite rolls up quicker and next time out the kite doesn't need to be weighted at launch. Just lay the kite out flat, back up and unroll the lines, let the 5th line out and it's up without any twists almost every time. If you just skied down a hill, you can setup this way without removing your skis for some serious style points.

Thanks Skier. I checked my kite and it's exactly the same as your description and your picture in the prior thread. It has the stainless steel rings but it doesn't have the plastic grommets or eyelets around the holes where the 5th lines enter the kite canopy. It appears that they just put some extra kite tape around those holes, but as shown in the picture that you provided, the lines will eventually start to wear through the kite tape and the canopy. I sent an email to Hannes with Ozone with a copy of your previous posting and picture and I asked them if they would be so kind as to mail me some plastic eyelets or grommets. Hopefully, they'll do that for me. Thanks very much for your input and assistance.

How did you apply the plastic eyelets or grommets? Do they just press together from both sides of the canopy or is there some other method?

I'd really recommend getting this retrofit complete if possible. When I used to snow kite with my Re-Ride equipped Ozone kites I would routinely collapse the kite manually to give my legs a rest by simply pulling in the fifth line through the chicken loop until the kite crumpled up enough to fall from the sky. Once rested I would just feed the 5th line back out through the chicken loop, give the kite a few pops and shakes and it would spring back to life.

Windstruck, thanks very much for the advice. I'm pretty sure that's a feature that I'd like to be able to use for the reason that you've stated.

The gromets are easy to install. The other thing to look for is the holes inside the cells, between where the 5th lines enter the kite and each end. The 5th line continues through holes in the cells that fray in a similar manner -- but less so -- to where the 5th line enters the kite. These can be reinforced with a little tape as they will wear in one spot. No biggie; just something to keep an eye on.

I often land the kite just as Windstruck describes. There is a small loop/hole in the 5th line that is difficult to see when you pull the 5th line in that can be hooked onto the bar or clipped into something. Although doing so is what contributes to the minor tearing we're talking about, I think that popping the release is the bigger contributor to the tearing.

BTW, I don't believe any of this has any impact on how well the kites perform or how good the reride system is. I'd get the same kite again.
This video is a good tutorial on the re ride:
https://vimeo.com/107337946

Thanks Skier. I appreciate all your advice and input.