Mirage Drive 180

[ultimatejay]

Originally Posted by taggermike

So Hobie has been selling "turbo" fin upgrades for years. But these odd looking strait fins are just as fast. And the Hobie kayaks were fine w/o reverse until several competitors came out with reversal peddle drives.
Mike

You obviously don't fish because if you did then you would see many reasons to use reverse like if the wind is pushing you towards weeds or a rock or dock. Before you would have to get the paddle out- now you just flip it in reverse. There's so many incidences where reverse is very helpful. If you have the wind at your back and you want to do a slow drift or stay in one spot- REVERSE
I use it all the time, I like it

[GTboosted]

I get his point though.

It is almost like Apple. They are leaders in their market and are obviously aware of all advancements. But they need to keep changes small so every year they have something to entice buyers to upgrade. Everyone has been asking for reverse and a skeg for years. Why did they add them in separate years?

I am happy to have got into it with reverse and vantage seat. More than likely though I will be pissed next year for the 2018 model to have something that they could've added for 2017....

[ultimatejay]

Originally Posted by GTboosted

I get his point though.

It is almost like Apple. They are leaders in their market and are obviously aware of all advancements. But they need to keep changes small so every year they have something to entice buyers to upgrade. Everyone has been asking for reverse and a skeg for years. Why did they add them in separate years?

I am happy to have got into it with reverse and vantage seat. More than likely though I will be pissed next year for the 2018 model to have something that they could've added for 2017....

You don't invent something and throw it on the market the next day. It takes years and years of R&D and then you have to test it over and over before releasing a new product. For instance when you se a new model car- that was 10+ years prior of R&D and testing before it's released. Reverse drive is no different. Takes a lot of time. A bike pedal with a chain or belt drive to a propeller is not rocket science. Mirage drive is a lot more complex and unique.

[monstahfish]

Originally Posted by ultimatejay

You don't invent something and throw it on the market the next day. It takes years and years of R&D and then you have to test it over and over before releasing a new product. For instance when you se a new model car- that was 10+ years prior of R&D and testing before it's released. Reverse drive is no different. Takes a lot of time. A bike pedal with a chain or belt drive to a propeller is not rocket science. Mirage drive is a lot more complex and unique.

I'm an industrial designer and he is correct. Companies are not holding back on things to screw the customer, it's a matter of development time and resource implementation. For example building an injection molding tool of moderate complexity takes about 6-10 weeks, followed by sampling usually 2 weeks to dial the tool in, followed by any needed redesign a week usually, then tooling rework 2-4 weeks then at least 6 months of field, UV, cycle and materials testing each of which can yield another design change and start the whole cycle over again. Then you have to schedule production and assemble. Now imagine this for every single new component of any product and things can still fail in unusual usage or with poor maintenance. Then the current and old products have to be serviced and maintained by the engineering team so they don't have as much time to develop new product.
Just a quick glimpse into how it works and that doesn't even include the concept, design, prototype and approval phases which can be significantly longer than the build phase.

[2-Stix]

Originally Posted by ultimatejay

You obviously don't fish because if you did then you would see many reasons to use reverse like if the wind is pushing you towards weeds or a rock or dock. Before you would have to get the paddle out- now you just flip it in reverse. There's so many incidences where reverse is very helpful. If you have the wind at your back and you want to do a slow drift or stay in one spot- REVERSE
I use it all the time, I like it

Mikes too nice of a guy to comment back. He's been yak finishing LJ for almost 20 years. The roof on his car is almost completely rusted threw because of the amounts of days he puts int. I been in the riper currents and wind with him. Mikes one of the best guys out there.

[ultimatejay]

Originally Posted by 2-Stix

Mikes too nice of a guy to comment back. He's been yak finishing LJ for almost 20 years. The roof on his car is almost completely rusted threw because of the amounts of days he puts int. I been in the riper currents and wind with him. Mikes one of the best guys out there.

So 20 years of kayak fishing and he has never needed to back up? lol I've only been kayak fishing for 2 weeks and I already saw the need right away. It just seemed an arrogant response from him..... at least that's how I read it.

[ful-rac]

Originally Posted by ultimatejay

So 20 years of kayak fishing and he has never needed to back up? lol I've only been kayak fishing for 2 weeks and I already saw the need right away. It just seemed an arrogant response from him..... at least that's how I read it.

It's a pedal paddle thing...die hard paddle guys don't particularly like hobies or the people that own them...

So any chance they get to knock hobie down a notch, they don't waste it

Another thing you gotta watch out for is spelling...Pedal, peddle...you gotta get that right...otherwise your just askn for it!

[King Saba]

Originally Posted by ful-rac

It's a pedal paddle thing...die hard paddle guys don't particularly like hobies or the people that own them...

So any chance they get to knock hobie down a notch, they don't waste it

Another thing you gotta watch out for is spelling...Pedal, peddle...you gotta get that right...otherwise your just askn for it!

I mean you could peddle your new 180 drive to me. I'll take it for a discount.

[GTboosted]

Hey fulrac did you have green "grease" coming out the drive after your first use?

A few dudes on fb said it was normal for new drives but just checking again. On saturday I was pushing the drive at 5mph throughout the day with 15mph headwinds.

[ful-rac]

Dont worry about it, it's normal. Your gonna have to eventually tear the drive down and clean and re-grease everything, just like any other mechanical device.

[ultimatejay]

Originally Posted by ful-rac

It's a pedal paddle thing...die hard paddle guys don't particularly like hobies or the people that own them...

So any chance they get to knock hobie down a notch, they don't waste it

Another thing you gotta watch out for is spelling...Pedal, peddle...you gotta get that right...otherwise your just askn for it!

Really? What, are we in high school? Who gives a rats ass if someone has a pedal or paddle kayak? You're not going to like someone because they pedal? LMAO- that's the most stupid thing I ever heard! If you're like that, get over yourselves Geez. I have the upmost respect for all kayakers pedal or paddle!

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Originally Posted by ultimatejay

Really? What, are we in high school? Who gives a rats ass if someone has a pedal or paddle kayak? You're not going to like someone because they pedal? LMAO- that's the most stupid thing I ever heard! If you're like that, get over yourselves Geez. I have the upmost respect for all kayakers pedal or paddle!

LOL. Sad, but true.

In any case I'm still going to vote for Donald Trump, no matter what they say :P

[cabojohn]

Paddle or peddle...ITS ALL GOOD!
Both are here to stay.
Personal preference...use whatever you like.
NO disrespect here.

[paddle man]

Originally Posted by ultimatejay

Really? What, are we in high school? Who gives a rats ass if someone has a pedal or paddle kayak? You're not going to like someone because they pedal? LMAO- that's the most stupid thing I ever heard! If you're like that, get over yourselves Geez. I have the upmost respect for all kayakers pedal or paddle!

WELL SAID

[makobob]

Some pedal, some paddle, some do both but we all piddle. Tight Lines.

[Dave Legacy]

Originally Posted by ultimatejay

I have the upmost respect for all kayakers pedal or paddle!

With all due respect I'm having a hard time believing that you respect anyone (possibly including yourself) based on your comments in this thread.

[ultimatejay]

Originally Posted by Dave Legacy

With all due respect I'm having a hard time believing that you respect anyone (possibly including yourself) based on your comments in this thread.

lol, like what comments?