Pedal kayaks

Daaamn, Annie bringing the heat!   

I forgot to mention... Not only are Old Town drives sealed but they also float. I was reminded about this yesterday when I saw my friend Andrew Julian lost his hobie drive in the surf. If you don't remember to tie down your drive and flip over, you have a really good chance of losing your hobie drive. This happened to my Nick in San Diego a couple years ago... He didn't flip but kinda surfed in and almost dumped getting a little sideways and the ocean gobbled up yet another hobie drive... The Old Town drives lock in so if the kayak is upside down they will stay locked in. If for whatever reason it wasn't locked in and you were to flip the drive would float. Just something to consider...

Damn Andrew Julian?

While I save penny’s for a pedal kayak. Are there any units that are comparable to a Hobie with a smaller price tag? A good all around boat, lakes and saltwater?

My brother is the ultimate cheapskate, and he spent a couple years trying to find a pedal kayak that is cheaper than a Hobie and will perform well. Ultimately, he couldn't find anything that he thought would compare, so he now plans to get a Compass.

Did he try anything by Old Town?
...

Thanks for the info. But, I'm a skeptical of the supposed "better warranty than Hobie". And, personally, I'm not a fan of sealed drive mechanisms. They might be nice until something goes wrong, but when (not "if") anything goes wrong, it's a problem. On my GT mirage drives, it's easy to completely disassemble and self-service any of the parts.

The 360 Mirage Drive is a terrific development, but the Pro Angler boats are too big for me.  I'm waiting to see (a) if Hobie starts producing a 360 Outback, or (b) if some other manufacturer of pedal kayaks develops a propeller drive which can be rotated 360 degrees.  Whichever happens first gets my money.

I have a Native Slayer 10. It is a great boat and the weight is like 68#. If u are doing the bay or nice calm days in ocean, you will love it.

While I save penny’s for a pedal kayak. Are there any units that are comparable to a Hobie with a smaller price tag? A good all around boat, lakes and saltwater?

My brother is the ultimate cheapskate, and he spent a couple years trying to find a pedal kayak that is cheaper than a Hobie and will perform well. Ultimately, he couldn't find anything that he thought would compare, so he now plans to get a Compass.

Did he try anything by Old Town?
...

Thanks for the info. But, I'm a skeptical of the supposed "better warranty than Hobie". And, personally, I'm not a fan of sealed drive mechanisms. They might be nice until something goes wrong, but when (not "if") anything goes wrong, it's a problem. On my GT mirage drives, it's easy to completely disassemble and self-service any of the parts.

We all agree anything mechanical Will have a problem at some point. As far as warranty goes, well customer satisfaction is a very high priority at Old Town. It is part of a large company, however it still has a small company feel to it, in my personal experience with them. The lifetime hull warranty is exceptional.

While I save penny’s for a pedal kayak. Are there any units that are comparable to a Hobie with a smaller price tag? A good all around boat, lakes and saltwater?

My brother is the ultimate cheapskate, and he spent a couple years trying to find a pedal kayak that is cheaper than a Hobie and will perform well. Ultimately, he couldn't find anything that he thought would compare, so he now plans to get a Compass.

Did he try anything by Old Town?
...

Thanks for the info. But, I'm a skeptical of the supposed "better warranty than Hobie". And, personally, I'm not a fan of sealed drive mechanisms. They might be nice until something goes wrong, but when (not "if") anything goes wrong, it's a problem. On my GT mirage drives, it's easy to completely disassemble and self-service any of the parts.

Hobie has a 2-3 year warranty with their boats and as others have commented on different threads- there are dealers who can refuse to do warranty work if you didn't buy the boat from them. A 2018 Hobie is only a half year away from having no protection by the company that produced it. Old town has an industry-leading 5 year warranty on their drives and a lifetime warranty with their hulls. Just give them the serial number- they don't need your receipt or bill of sale to help you out. You work directly with customer service for replacement parts and fixes and a dealer doesn't dictate whether your boat gets fixed at no cost or not and Old Town won't send you on a wild goose chase to get a fix. Even the first Old Town pedal drives that came out in Nov 2016 are still covered with almost a year and a half to go and the hull is covered for life. Sure- it's a matter of time when my drive has it's first issue, but being 3 years in with none so far is pretty dang good in my opinion (did I mention I rarely ever rinse it? ). We can say for certain the warranty for Old Town is longer and from my experience it is better. If it weren't for Nick's drives breaking and his kayak giving me anxiety every time we go out, I probably would just keep my mouth shut. Nick has broken the shafts in his fins to the arms of his pedals to snapping pins and random plastic pieces right in half. He has had his rudder cable snap within the first 2 years of buying his kayak brand new and the dealer deemed it was not a warranty fix and Nick paid $150 for them to tie a string to his rudder. The current issue is that his outback is taking on water if he catches two 20 lb salmon despite the 435 weight capacity rating (Nick and his gear do not weigh 395 lbs combined)... The dealer can't find a leak so he's just SOL and we just hope for the best each time we go out and always bring our bilge pump. LOL if we added up the money Nick has spent on his kayak (even with the pro staff discount), parts to fix his drive, upgrades, replacement drive for when he lost his drive in the surf since it didn't float and wasn't tied on, and hourly rate of having work done, he could have bought two Old Town PDL kayaks at full price!!! LOL maybe he just doesn't maintain it like he should or maybe he got unlucky with the drives he's had, but I definitely think it's worth noting the list of common issues we see with Hobies. I am just curious if your brother looked into Old Town's because as a cheapskate he should probably be warned of the costs that can be associated with Hobies. Old Towns are cheaper across the board and are just as good as Hobies. I think if he's going to go with a compass, he should at least look at the Old Town Salty PDLs. Plus he wouldn't have to spend extra for turbo fins or camouflage and I'd imagine he'd feel better knowing he's getting a longer warranty with Old Town. That is worth a lot in itself IMO. He should at least try one out

 I would make sure you keep your purchase receipt as well as register your boat with Old Town. It will help if you have any warranty issues in the future.

While I save penny’s for a pedal kayak. Are there any units that are comparable to a Hobie with a smaller price tag? A good all around boat, lakes and saltwater?

Big Fish 108 peddle drive $1799.00. Real heavy but stable

The 360 Mirage Drive is a terrific development, but the Pro Angler boats are too big for me.  I'm waiting to see (a) if Hobie starts producing a 360 Outback, or (b) if some other manufacturer of pedal kayaks develops a propeller drive which can be rotated 360 degrees.  Whichever happens first gets my money.

I have my doubts that a 360 drive (or similar) would be very practical on a normal kayak, as pedaling in any direction other than forwards or backwards would seem like a sure way to go for a swim.

The 360 Mirage Drive is a terrific development, but the Pro Angler boats are too big for me.  I'm waiting to see (a) if Hobie starts producing a 360 Outback, or (b) if some other manufacturer of pedal kayaks develops a propeller drive which can be rotated 360 degrees.  Whichever happens first gets my money.

I have my doubts that a 360 drive (or similar) would be very practical on a normal kayak, as pedaling in any direction other than forwards or backwards would seem like a sure way to go for a swim.

When I purchased my Outback, I asked the dealer if he envisioned a 360 drive for it in the future.  He said the current 360 drive configuration would have too much torque for the Outback and would probably flip it on its side. 

if they cant incorporate the 360 on an Outback, they should at least use that technology for the reverse control instead of pulling different levers from the Mirage drive.