Jump to content

US Gear Rope Loops - Cool Stuff


Horton
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Supporting Member

That is a really cool design innovation! That could possibly tempt me to change rope suppliers.

 

Especially relevant because I often have kids in the boat and (while it's never actually happened), I'm always just a hair paranoid that the rope will come off. Because of that I insist that no kids touch, hold, or have their feet in the spare rope that's in the boat. But that design would really put me at ease. That ain't comin' off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller
Is that a patented design or can other manufacturer's copy that? Just curious. It will be interesting to see if other rope suppliers try this. I have fidded ropes before and it seems like such a simple idea. I am surprised it has not been done before. Kudos to US Gear. I love my US Gear handle and when I need a new rope next year; this will be my purchase.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

Tremendous innovation and great idea. One note though, People might be experiencing ropes coming off their pylons because they may be putting them on in a way, in MHO, that is flawed.

 

I was always taught during my tournament boat driver days, that you take the part of the rope on the skier side of the loop and push that into the loop forming another loop and put that onto the pylon. Putting the loop simply over the pylon seems always to me to be quite loose and prone to come off.

 

The ultimate though is a system that Brent and Julien use where a fixed portion or length of the rope is attached to the pylon and that section has at its attachment end a strong carabiner. That will never come off.

 

I must say though that the rope design above is cool and I bet effective in preventing nasty skier injuries. And... not to mention injuries to judges, watchers etc that experience the "too unpleasant to think of" injury resulting from a rope coming off the pylon and possible under their feet or worse.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

We are in need of a couple new ropes so, I showed the video to my #1 rope changer, boat driver, support team etc. and she (the wife) has a question. Well her first question was, "why did he cut the video short by not showing how to get the rope off the pylon and change line lengths?" So that's her question. She wants to be as efficient as possible when she's the only one in the boat doing all the tasks.

 

I suspect, and told her, you probably just pull on the previous line length (28 off in your video) to loosen. And I also I tried to reassure her we could figure it out once we got the rope. However... & apparently... my 20+ year track record of trying to explain these type of things to her, has her convinced the rope will never be able to be removed from the pylon. Go figure.

 

So, a brief explaination please. For me. Please.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller_
@edjohnson , it's a regular rope, I've skied it at -15 and it feels great, I've gotten rid of all my "switch" ropes, too much confusion issues, had a rough Feb/March and then finally figured out I was skiing on a "short" rope, that .5 meter makes a difference - duh!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

Hey Ballers, Randy Dyar / US Gear here to answer some of your questions. Never done this before but sure this will help...

I will answer in several segments so will not get too lengthily.

#1- you should never need to re-adjust any US Gear Mainline unless you are a Pro that needs every inch. That being said, we can fine tune any mainline to suit any needs.

Our Mainline jig is set up to AWSA Specs from the negative end @ 44 lbs of pressure. Each Mainline is fabricated from this Jig and after the break in period should be center to AWSA Specs.

So many people has told me that our mainlines are approx 4" Short compared to others. This was measured well before any break in took placed. When any mainline leaves the factory, it is in tolerance to AWSA Specs and will remain in tolerance guaranteed for 1 year.

Now if any one does have an issue with any of our products, we need to hear from you.... The only way we can produce the best is listening to you...

Ski ya

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller

I just got my US Gear mainline (standard) this week. I put a good stretch on it for 25-30 minutes (~300lbs). Let is relax for 10 mins or so. Then put another good stretch on it and let it relax. Put the 44lbs on it and it measured within 1/2-1" short of actual at all loops. At this point I presume with a little skiing it will settle in and end up near actual. I'm pretty happy right now.

 

Truthfully I've been buying my mainlines from Brenda for quite a few years and they've been great. I thought I'd try/test this mainline because of the way the loops are mfr'd and it will be used in a "club" boat. If something ends up wacky in the next month I'll report back. It's appears to be a good quailty mainline.

 

@richarddoane I'm guessing your rope is long?

 

@skierjp If you took the loops on any mfrs rope and lengthend them you would have a long rope. I'm confused. Want to clarify what you're thinking?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Baller
I recieved the US Gear rope; measured it before stretching or skiing on it and it was within spec (a bit on the short side of spec at each length as stated above). Hooked it up to the hitch, put it under load for about 30 mins, now it measures true to spec. The loop construction is a great innovation.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Supporting Member
@randydyar - I have only ever adjusted the mainline. Because of the long length, a small % stretch or contract can be enough that I want to correct it. Its hard to imagine ever adjusting the red/orange/yellow sections because those tolerances are pretty large. Then the remaining loops are so short that they should never drift off (unless they were just made the wrong length in the first place).
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...