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Topic: Rock Solid hobie pedal arm upgrade group buy .... UPDATED WITH ORDER INFO!!!  (Read 30676 times)

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Fungunnin

  • Sturgeon
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  • Date Registered: Aug 2010
  • Posts: 2548
Hey guys. This is a project I've been working on for a while and I'm in the final stages.
After having Mirage Drive arms fail on my boat and friends boats I decided I could build something better. Last year I made a few prototypes and have only gotten positive feedback. Since I am only an amateur fabricator I will be having custom solid aircraft grade aluminum arms for the Hobie Mirage drive machined to my specs. These will be sized exactly like the OEM arms and the same pedals will bolt on. The big difference will be THESE WONT BREAK! I guarantee that these arms will not break.

I have a few sets of my prototypes out there and I have been using a set for over a year .... Still rock solid.



Right now I'm trying to gauge an interest level of these and see if 10 or 20 guys are interested in a pair. Cost will be less than a set of new arms from Hobie but I don't have a definite price yet. I am opening this to my NWKA and NCKA brothers first.
What are your thoughts guys?

...........................
OK guys! I finally have a final design a shop and pricing!
These are going to kick ass! The arms are going to be made of solid aircraft grade aluminum hard anodized to military spec. Each arm will be taped for bicycle pedals. Each set will come with a set of arms and a set of custom set of stainless shafts that fit into the arms and will allow the use of the factory Hobie pedals.

The pretty buy price is going to be $85 and full retail will be $124.99

The PayPal account will be live next week. I have a list of everyone who said they were interested. Let me know if you are in or out.
SUPER EXCITED!!! :D
« Last Edit: July 18, 2014, 04:13:58 PM by Fungunnin »


Yaktrap

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Justin

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I'd be interested if the price is good.
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rawkfish

  • ORC
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I'm in for one, maybe two sets.  Let me know!
                
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1st Place 2011 PDX Bass Yakin' Classic
"Fishing relaxes me.  It's like yoga except I still get to kill something."  - Ron Swanson


INSAYN

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Bill, are you eliminating the drilled hole used for the leg adjustment? 
 

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Fungunnin

  • Sturgeon
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  • Date Registered: Aug 2010
  • Posts: 2548
No they will still be adjustable.
They will be made from a much stronger solid aluminum bar with a stainless axle and mil spec anodizing.


Lee

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Probably two pairs from me, can you give a ballpark range (max-min) ?
 


SteveHawk

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Count me in for 1 set.

Steve
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pmmpete

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  • Location: Missoula, Montana
  • Date Registered: Jul 2013
  • Posts: 1989
I'll buy a pair of arms if the price is acceptable.  I haven't broken any pedal arms, but all the stories of people who have broken multiple arms make me very paranoidical. 

But it irritates me that Hobie hasn't corrected and improved the design of its pedal arms so they don't break.  The arm breakage problem has been going on for a long time, and is simply unacceptably bad design and/or materials.  If a bicycle manufacturer made bikes with crank arms which tended to break, nobody would buy that company's bikes. 


micahgee

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  • Location: W. Seattle
  • Date Registered: May 2011
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I'm interested in a pair for sure. I have broke pedal arms before myself.
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

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rawkfish

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I'll buy a pair of arms if the price is acceptable.  I haven't broken any pedal arms, but all the stories of people who have broken multiple arms make me very paranoidical. 

But it irritates me that Hobie hasn't corrected and improved the design of its pedal arms so they don't break.  The arm breakage problem has been going on for a long time, and is simply unacceptably bad design and/or materials.  If a bicycle manufacturer made bikes with crank arms which tended to break, nobody would buy that company's bikes.

It's a matter of cost of materials and fabrication vs. acceptable level of reliability.  This thing isn't meant to safely carry people into the stratosphere and back.  Hobie is aware of this problem and others that people talk about on forums, such as NWKA.  They could fix this and every other issue users have complained about if consumers were just as willing to pay $300 more (random figure pulled out of my ___) for a mirage drive.  At that point it's pushing the same retail cost as the boat itself.  This piece of equipment is put through the ringer by people all over the world and routinely exposed to saltwater while experiencing many different forces.  I'd say it does pretty well considering how hard I push mine.  If the drive breaks, I pick up my paddle and go back to how I used to kayak fish.
                
2011 Angler Of The Year
1st Place 2011 PDX Bass Yakin' Classic
"Fishing relaxes me.  It's like yoga except I still get to kill something."  - Ron Swanson


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I'd probably be down for a set or two.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2014, 10:51:17 AM by Ling ling, Herro? »
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pmmpete

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It's a matter of cost of materials and fabrication vs. acceptable level of reliability.
I suspect that there isn't much difference between the cost of the hollow bar stock which Hobie is currently using for its pedal arms, and the solid bar stock which Funginnin is going to use.  And I suspect that the cost of fabrication is almost identical; you need to drill the same number of holes in the stock whether the stock is hollow or solid.  But the reliability of Hobie's current pedal arms doesn't seem acceptable to me.  I know that Hobie has manufactured thousands of Mirage Drives, and I know that no manufactured product is perfect.  There will be occasional failures in any product.  But look at how many NWKA members have had one or more pedal arms break, and/or know other kayakers who have had one or more pedal arms break.  That is an unacceptably high breakage rate. Hobie should have fixed this problem years ago.


Fungunnin

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It's a matter of cost of materials and fabrication vs. acceptable level of reliability.
I suspect that there isn't much difference between the cost of the hollow bar stock which Hobie is currently using for its pedal arms, and the solid bar stock which Funginnin is going to use.  And I suspect that the cost of fabrication is almost identical; you need to drill the same number of holes in the stock whether the stock is hollow or solid.  But the reliability of Hobie's current pedal arms doesn't seem acceptable to me.  I know that Hobie has manufactured thousands of Mirage Drives, and I know that no manufactured product is perfect.  There will be occasional failures in any product.  But look at how many NWKA members have had one or more pedal arms break, and/or know other kayakers who have had one or more pedal arms break.  That is an unacceptably high breakage rate. Hobie should have fixed this problem years ago.
The aluminum I am using is about 7-10 times more expensive than the metal I think Hobie is using.


rawkfish

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It's a matter of cost of materials and fabrication vs. acceptable level of reliability.
I suspect that there isn't much difference between the cost of the hollow bar stock which Hobie is currently using for its pedal arms, and the solid bar stock which Funginnin is going to use.  And I suspect that the cost of fabrication is almost identical; you need to drill the same number of holes in the stock whether the stock is hollow or solid.  But the reliability of Hobie's current pedal arms doesn't seem acceptable to me.  I know that Hobie has manufactured thousands of Mirage Drives, and I know that no manufactured product is perfect.  There will be occasional failures in any product.  But look at how many NWKA members have had one or more pedal arms break, and/or know other kayakers who have had one or more pedal arms break.  That is an unacceptably high breakage rate. Hobie should have fixed this problem years ago.

How many other companies make foot-pedal driven kayaks?  Native is the only other name in the game.  How come we don't see a lot of people griping about parts on the Native Propel system breaking?  Because the number of active members on this forum that use that product is probably much less than the number of fingers I have.  So naturally, Hobie is going to have more people complaining about their product since there are more people pushing it harder, which is a natural result of higher market penetration.  I guess they're the victim of developing such a tight patent.  ;D  It isn't as though they do not try to fix problems that come along.  You'll notice a dramatic difference in a mirage drive from ten years ago compared with one made today.

Of course, I know what people are thinking: "Of course he is going to be the one defending Hobie stuff.  He is on their fishing team."  And you know what, it's completely true.  Because I wouldn't be on Hobie's fishing team if I didn't think Hobie made a superior product.  But even superior products can have their faults. There are probably less than a dozen Hobie users on this forum that have broken as many mirage drive parts as me.  Just ask the people who submit the Hobie parts orders at Next Adventure.  ::)
« Last Edit: May 30, 2014, 04:42:33 PM by rawkfish »
                
2011 Angler Of The Year
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"Fishing relaxes me.  It's like yoga except I still get to kill something."  - Ron Swanson


 

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