Pedal Power- questions on Mirage Drive performance

Lots of good information. Thanks to all who replied. I think some of the feedback confirmed a developing idea, that my next hull would be a Revo. I’ve never tried the bicycle style pedal drive and sort of prefer the notion of sticking with a Hobie or converting to a paddle kayak with a real efficient hull design and enough deck space for all of my accessories I’ve become so fond of having.

Also confirmed a suspicion that I’ve let the muscle mass dwindle too far in my legs, need to bulk back up so 10-12 mile days feel like nothing again.

I’m not sure which outback you own, but I’ll throw in my thoughts of newer Revo (‘15 it hasn’t changed much since) last gen outback (‘17) and new outback (‘19).

UNLOADED
The revo is the most efficient “kayak” when empty or lightly loaded. The new hull outback is less efficient by a bit when empty. The older outback hull is absolute garbage for efficiency when empty.

LOADED
Who the hell goes out unloaded?  Throw some fishing rods, tackle, safety gear, food, water, ice, and of course fish into the mix and now you are talking. The new outback crushes the revo in efficiency when loaded. That includes paddling if the mirage drive fails (when not if  ) And again the old style outback is absolute garbage.

At any rate try before you buy and maybe bring a 5gal bucket to fill with water and put in the back to simulate weight because they will handle very differently loaded vs unloaded.

John dropping some wisdom! Makes perfect sense to consider the difference loaded vs unloaded. I’m in a 2015 Outback. When I start getting more serious about a new kayak, thorough demos will definitely be in order. Bringing along some weight for the demo is a great idea too...

I never would have guessed the Outback would be a more efficient hull than the Revo while bearing a full load. Thanks for the input 

If you're going to use your kayak for fishing, you should consider how well outfitted the kayak is for fishing.  I fish from a Revolution, and it's bit faster than an Outback, but the Revolution doesn't have any outfitting for fishing except for two behind-the-seat molded in rod holders, and it has narrow gunwales which make it hard to add fishing gear.  Things which are standard equipment on every other fishing kayak, like gear tracks, are missing from the Revolution. I've added all kinds of fishing gear, including gear tracks and a downrigger, but it took some creativity to outfit the kayak.  I don't think that there is any kayak on the market which is extensively used for fishing, but is so poorly designed and set up for fishing as the Revolution. It's hard for me to understand why Hobie has ignored the Revolution for years, while making repeated improvements to the outfitting on the Outback.  So if you'll be using the kayak for fishing, I think the Outback is the clear winner.  I wouldn't buy another Revolution.  The difficulty of outfitting the Revolution outweighs any small advantage it may have over the Outback in speed.

Yeah, if you want to add an ample supply of gear the Revos and Adventures, are spartan. I have a 2012 Adventure with nothing added like tracks, rails etc. FF attaches via a wingnut to a wood block secured with marine goop. Wood block, cause the plastic FF holder broke. Works good though. Rod sits in one molded hole, gaff in the other. A spare assortment of jigs, a bit of mono in the Hobie "tackle box" under the twist/seal hatch. Pliers/knife in the sagging mesh pocket with extra holes where hooks had to be cut out. 20 feet of cord in the other pocket with the days lunch. Water bottle in front of the drive. Relief bottle in the big molded hole. Same ol factory seat with a chunk of foam on top to relieve butt discomfort...partially. Keeps me from staying out too long.

I've added all kinds of fishing gear ...

Customization is half the fun. But, I do have to admit that it was a challenge to rig my Adventure/Revo 16 the way I wanted it. And even on my AI, I generally try to keep the actual fishing gear fairly sparse, so that I have more room to play with various combinations of sails and such...

"The new outback crushes the revo in efficiency when loaded."

So in other words, don't buy a Revo if you weigh 300 lbs.