With a traditional small ring reduction train, line passes along the body of the rod more smoothly, however, the small butt guide can cause the line to overchoke, or bunch up. The standard height of the small guide frames also allows the line to slap into the rod, creating undue friction and vibration.
A traditional large ring reduction train of six guides would be something like diameters of 30mm, 20mm, 16mm, 12mm, and 10mm, 8mm, and 7mm.
A traditional small ring reduction train would be seven guides with diameters of 10mm, 8mm, 6mm, 5mm, and three guides of 4mm.
With the goal of creating the best possible ring design and layout, it was
clear that the size and height of the butt guides was critical. Their job is to quickly bring the coils of line under control.
The new K-R design concept uses a reduction train of 20mm, 10mm, and 5.5mm on tall frames and then four rings of 4mm each on standard height frames.
By reducing the size of the first ring down from the traditional large rings, and moving it farther away from the rod with a taller frame height, the line is more quickly brought into control and rod slap is eliminated.
The rapid choke of the compact three ring reduction train creates a smoother line flow that allows all the remaining runner guides to be the same size small ring.
The K-R design results in what we all want, a measurably better casting distance. The high speed video is amazing to watch and clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of this improved design.