I just got a mac bego 600 and I have read several reviews that say you should put on power rings, but I thought those pulley handles would work well. It seems to me that both of these do the same thing, I have never used either.
tell me what you all think.

On the Bego power rings and pulley handles will do slightly different things for the kite. I think that the power rings are essential for Bego's an they help tremendously with their low end performance. The power rings help reduce the drag on the rear lines and bridle by bringing them closer to the main lines.

Pulley handles will help with turning (and Bego's do like some brake input) but they won't help reduce the drag on the rear lines.

power rings are mounted at the bottom of the bridle, way up next to the kite, and have more affect on the shape of the canopy for additional grunt in low winds, or so my research tells me... They pull the brake lines closer to the power lines at the bottom of the bridles, thus giving the kite more camber (amount of curve from leading edge to trailing edge) for more power / lift...

pulley handles act only on the brake lines, and give you double the range of pull on the brakes for the trade-off of double the effort for the pull on the brakes, and will definitely help with turns, but won't increase the camber on the canopy and give you the extra edge of power in low winds.

that's all head knowledge from research, BTW, not from actual experience, somebody with the actual experience will be able to give you more specific info on how those two quite different mods will help your kite...

thanks for the input, so how do I make or where do I buy some power rings?

some kind of small light metal ring, tied to a couple feet of line. The ring goes around the brake lines, the end of the line goes to the bottom of the power bridle right above where you attach the power lines to the power bridle. fly and adjust until you find what you're looking for. the forces involved are not large, any line with 150# or a bit greater strength would do the trick. the knots...idk... tie a loop in the end of the line going to the ring, girth hitch it on, tighten up so it won't slip, then tie a loop on the other end and girth (larS-P-A-M-L-I-N-K-s head) that to the power bridle. Use a bowline for that knot so you can undo it even after it has been loaded up, the knot on the rings can be anything, even an overhand (with the doubled line to make a loop) would do as you won't need to undo it. There are bends that will do a better job, but my knot knowledge is rusty.

12 inches or so is what I've seen as good for other folks. shorter for low winds / more lift, longer for high winds / less lift.

the other mod not yet mentioned is a link line between the power bridles, simply a straight line with loops on each end running directly from one power bridle right across to the other. adds a bit of drag, also stability to the canopy in turns. eliminates bowties as well.

remember this is all book knowledge, not from actual experience, but I've tried both on my ace (my go-to mod kite) and they added stabillty and power, very nice, but the 5m ace is my low-wind gnat's fart gotta fly something or I go nuts kite and so I've taken them both off to lower the drag, as well as some of the brake lines and a few of the power lines as well so the bridle is 30% less than stock, no good for fine control in high winds but that's not what I keep it in my bag for...

a dead simple mod, really, fifteen minutes and you're trying it out...

edit: did a bit more searching around, trying to find photos / drawings, I remember seeing one, but prob on racekites b4 their big crash / data loss a while back... pulleys were mentioned as making the action smoother but not really needed... the biggie was 10-12 cm for low winds, 18-20 cm for high winds, a bit smaller than i mentioned above... also was reminded of the rings at the back corners of the kite enabling a tip-tuck for quicker turns off the brakes... and finally most sites mentioned that careful attention to brake line length / power ring combos was required to get the full power out of the kite!

have fun, I'd go for secondwind's bego myself if i didn't have the blade for power and the aces for low wind fun, sounds like quite the modder's kite!

I dug up this old thread. (Love the archives here.)

I picked up a Mac Bego 600. Kite looks great except pulleys were corroded.

Power rings or pulleys? Looks like rings will do just fine based on the posts above.

Can anyone recommend a supplier? Is ceramic the way to go?

My Firebee required power rings. I just used some small nylon rings from an outdoor store, MEC, REI. You a couple of short lines to attach the rings to the bridle where the power lines attach. You will have play with the length of those lines -too short they stall the wing; too long they do nothing.
S

Pulley handles: dont understand exactly how they work, but just got a few pairs w/kites. Understand they help turn, but shouldn't it take less pull and less effort?

Guess when I try it I'll get a better feel for what's actually happening

Quote:

Originally posted by thanson2001ok Can anyone recommend a supplier? Is ceramic the way to go?

Depending on what size you are looking for, West Marine and Bass Pro Shops sell both stainless and ceramic rings. They are used for kite fishing rigs.



ATB,
Sam

12" is WAAAAAAAAY too long for the ring leader. I' sold my 600 begos but still own my 400. From what I recall, the sweet spot was something like 2.5 - 3" long mounted at the spot where the power leader meets the power line. It does make a difference whether you mount them high and long or low and short or low and long and high and short. Play around with it but I experimented quite a bit and though I don't recall the actual length I know I liked it more with them shorter (per above) and lower and found that setting worked best in all most conditions.

Looks like we answered this question 5 years ago....
http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=3075

and here's some more
http://www.enrighthome.fsnet.co.uk/Mac%20Bego%20600.htm

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/g.carline1/tmp/bego_setup.htm

http://forum.kitecrowd.com/newcomers-q/bego-set-up-39544.htm...