Hobie or keep my Malibu stealth 14

[jorluivil]

Originally Posted by Fish Taco

This has been an interesting thread for sure... and the debate continues... but, I have a question for all of you Hobie mirage drive users...

I water tested a Hobie Outback before I made a decision not to go with a Hobie mirage drive system... and this is why... My experience while testing this kayak was that while underway, feet in stirrups and pedaling away... I felt like I almost needed to grab the sides of the kayak seat to get the proper leverage while pedaling.

I think this might be a natural human reaction.....I experienced the same thing but only on my first kayak, never with my Outback. The minute your body goes sideways for a split second your first reaction is to hold onto something ......its what we all do regardless of whether we're sitting, standing, walking or running and we start to fall.

I'm thinking that the only reason you don't feel the same way in your Stealth is because your hands are holding onto something(paddle), your mind is telling you its OK because your hands aren't free. If you paddled as fast as possible, drop your paddle and a wake came your way what would be your first reaction? I'm betting the farm that your first reaction would be to grab onto something. Do the same thing but don't lay the paddle down and I guarantee you your first reaction will not be to hold on....why? because you can't.

[PapaDave]

^ what he said ^

While I have a Pro Angler, and it is very stable, I still find myself holding onto the rail when I am peddling. I don't do that when I am fishing though. As for the seat and peddles, the peddles are adjustable and on my PA I raised the seat up about an inch, initially not for comfort though. My hands are large and they kept getting stuck between the seat and the hull whenever I tried to retreive something that fell down there.

[Fish Taco]

Originally Posted by PapaDCh

While I have a Pro Angler, and it is very stable, I still find myself holding onto the rail when I am peddling. I don't do that when I am fishing though. As for the seat and peddles, the peddles are adjustable and on my PA I raised the seat up about an inch, initially not for comfort though. My hands are large and they kept getting stuck between the seat and the hull whenever I tried to retreive something that fell down there.

Hmm... interesting that you mention that your pedals are "adjustable"...

Does that mean in height or in the distance (length) between the pedals and the foot of the kayaker? If it is in the height, that would explain why I felt like they were too high in the air for me.

If they were adjustable on the 2011 Outback like the one I was testing, then shame on the owner of the store for not bringing the "adjustment option" to my attention - as he just lost a sale and a customer! I won't mention any names, but suffice it to say, he's basically the only major fishing kayak dealer on Long Island here in NY.

[PapaDave]

Originally Posted by Fish Taco

Hmm... interesting that you mention that your pedals are "adjustable"...

Does that mean in height or in the distance (length) between the pedals and the foot of the kayaker? If it is in the height, that would explain why I felt like they were too high in the air for me.

If they were adjustable on the 2011 Outback like the one I was testing, then shame on the owner of the store for not bringing the "adjustment option" to my attention - as he just lost a sale and a customer! I won't mention any names, but suffice it to say, he's basically the only major fishing kayak dealer on Long Island here in NY.

The peddles are adjustable in the X direction but that inadvertantly affects the Y as well. After raising the seat in the PA I noticed it was much more comfortable and easier to peddle. Note that I am refering to a Hobie Pro Angler and not an Outback. The PA has a regular seat in it.

[Podaker]

you should have had a rod in one hand and a beer in the other

[Mr Fishback]

The Outback has two sets of holes to choose from when attaching the seat. You can play around with those to see how they affect your posture. The seat straps can also be adjusted for comfort.

I have a friend who uses an inflatable seat cushion when he goes out in his Outback, but I don't think it elevates him all that much. Aside from that there isn't a built in way of raising the seat. All you have is what PapaDCh said, peddles have a length adjustment.

[WahooUSMA]

Had 'em all - Malibu, Tarpon, Ocean Kayak (inc the torque), multiple Hobies - revos - had 3 of them, PA - 2 of 'em, and 1 big waste of money Hobie Adventure Islander that I thought I could fish off of. Now I paddle a 30ft SeaRay, which by the way I damn near had to paddle home from Catalina on Saturday due to bad gas in Avalon.

Seriously, get a Hobie - Sorry paddler's. But when the wind kicks up or you have long distances to travel or need both hands, NOTHING beats a Hobie, especially a PA.

I will be in the market again for a yak, but I do not have space on the boat for a PA, so I'll be checkin' the 'for sale' section on BWE for a used Revo shortly. Hey Echo467 (Eric), you still thinking about selling my old Revo?

[Billy V]

Originally Posted by Podaker

you should have had a rod in one hand and a beer in the other

Hobie offers a Run and Gun service plan that will tow you to breaking fish.

[Fish Taco]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

I think this might be a natural human reaction.... The minute your body goes sideways for a split second your first reaction is to hold onto something...

I'm thinking that the only reason you don't feel the same way in your Stealth is because your hands are holding onto something(paddle), your mind is telling you its OK because your hands aren't free. If you peddled as fast as possible, drop your paddle and a wake came your way what would be your first reaction? I'm betting the farm that your first reaction would be to grab onto something. Do the same thing but don't lay the paddle down and I guarantee you your first reaction will not be to hold on....why? because you can't.

I do see your point... somewhat... but I'm not convinced my experience was this at all.

First of all, the Outback I water tested was rigged with a Torqueedo Trolling motor... and initially, I tried out the yak with just using the power of the motor. Then I went back to the dock, and asked that they put the mirage drive in, cause I wanted to test the yak just using the mirage drive as well. Upon first putting my feet in the stirrups on the pedals, I immediately realized that my feet were positioned much higher in the air than what I would have expected... in fact, it seemed to me too high. I don't feel that I had the urge to grab onto something because I felt unstable... the Outback felt like a very stable platform to me... it was instead almost as though by grabbing onto something it was giving me better leverage because I felt my legs were angled too high in the air... it was strange and not comfortable. I will say, that when I pedaled hard, that Outback really moved at a nice clip! But never felt like I could pedal comfortably while leaving my hands free... perhaps the pedals being so high is just the design of the mirage drive, and it just takes some getting used to... but initially, I wasn't diggin' it.

Has anyone ever heard of mirage drive users raising their seats to combat the angle of the pedals being so high... or was it just me?

As far as my Stealth... my hands aren't always on a paddle at all... remember... I have a Bassyaks motor installed on my Stealth... so yes, I do paddle sometimes... but certainly not always... and my hands are free and I don't necessarily feel like I always have to grab onto something if I take on a wake.

Not saying you don't have a point, just don't think in my case of what I experienced that was the reason I had the urge to grab a hold of something using the mirage drive. Do your feet feel like they are angled too high in your Hobie? I'm curious is all...

Thanks for your feedback...