Mirage Drive rubbing the boat

So I'm a taller guy (6'4") with lanky-long legs and am pedaling a new Revo 13. After a couple months, I am still trying to find the best position for the Mirage Drive.

I'd like for it to be at 7, but it rubs the side of the last molded-in foot braces on one side and smacks against the sail mast area at the end of the stroke. I'm still not entirely stretched out on the 7 setting, but it feels OK.

At 6, I feel a bit cramped and my fins flop the bottom of the yak on almost every stroke. But it doesn't rub as much and it doesn't hit the mast area at all.

I think I may be able to take a blow dryer, boiling water or heat gun to solve the slight rubbing on the foot brace, but what about the sail mast area?

Anyone else have experience with this?
(When demo-ing the Outback I found that it was even worse with the tapping)

I have a 2012 outback w/ turbo fins and i don't have any rubbing.  Being 6'3" i also use setting 7.  When i demoed the revo 13 i experienced both rubbing and hull slapping at full stride.

I have a 2012 outback w/ turbo fins and i don't have any rubbing.  Being 6'3" i also use setting 7.  When i demoed the revo 13 i experienced both rubbing and hull slapping at full stride.

Hmm. I actually demo'd the Outback with the turbo fins and the pedals tapped on the mast area pretty badly.

I haven't gotten the underwater hull slap at 7 on any of the models- just the rub and sail mast slap.
At 6 I just get the underwater slap. (and cramped feeling)

What  is the better of the two situations..? I dunno...

Funnier yet is that I found the Revo 11 had the most room in this department. I wonder if it is just slight variances of the plastic. Not a huge deal, more of an annoyance.

   I'll admit that I am new to using a mirage drive,but since I expirenced similar issues when 1st using the drive I would like to offer my 2 cents.
   Positioning---neither should be rubbing on your kayak.If you have the drive positioned properly,the fins shouldn't be hitting your hull,nor should your pedals be rubbing/hitting the area of the foot braces.Check that your drive is seated in the correct place and locked down.
   Even being slightly off will affect how your drive performs.Be sure it's in the right place.And secured correctly.

   Like I said-----I make no claim to be an expert.But doesn't it seem ridiculus for Hobie to make a flawed mirage drive and just expect folks to accept the flaws.
   

Younggun's 2012 Revo has a centering groove in the drive well and a corresponding centering pin in the drive. We found this out when he tried to stick his drive in my 2011 boat. The centering pin is removable, so we were able to make it work, but we had completely missed the centering feature in his boat. So Hobie has made a response. Unfortunately, the centering groove in the drive well is cast in, so no retrofits.

Younggun is 6'3", and has his pedals set at 7. He hasn't mentioned any issues yet - I'll look over on the Hobie forum to see if the problem is common. I do know that Turbo fins hit the bottom of the boat if you go full stroke.

That's a good point Mark, however I'm pretty sure the drive is in place correctly. The newer 2012 models also have a second plastic pin that makes it hard to not get the drive in there straight. I'd pointed this out while demoing and they said it was normal. I'm also not overly concerned just thought I'd see if any others have experienced the same.

It's only slightly rubbing/ touching the foot brace - At that extension there is just a slight clearance on either side. If I barely "massage" in the plastic of the brace in on the one side 1/32nd - I'll probably  be fine. I could probably shave a hair off the pedal as well but don't want to. (its the little nub that secures the foot strap)

With the fins slapping the bottom - I'm guessing that's what is happening and I may be completely off. At the end of my stroke it makes a bit of a noise if it's on the 6th position and I figured it's the fins coming up and tapping the bottom of the hull.

I'm 6'2 and leggy as well, and pretty sure I'm running my drive @ 6. The fins on my revo hit the bottom of the hull too if I'm at full extension. After a few outings I got the muscle memory down to stop just short of the slap, and now only have contact when going from dead stop to full sprint.  I don't get any chaffing on my foot braces, nor do I kick the sail mast though.

The thing I think everyone is doing is pushing too far. When you're legs are too bent or too extended you're at a point where your stroke is no longer effective. Look to make shorter pedal strokes and you'll feel the difference in efficiency. Hitting the end of the footwell or slapping fins on the bottom of the yak shouldn't happen.

Zee is most likely spot on.

For the most part, I wouldn't label this as a problem, flaw or defect from Hobie. More so with my style and why I asked if it were better to go with position 6 or 7.

I think I need to use number 7, but train myself to stop before it hits the end. I don't think I'm overextending - my legs are just too long.  (Most of my life I've felt like Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear in the world's smallest car - )

For the foot well rubbing - that should only take a few minutes with some heat as they barely touch. I just don't want to prematurely wear anything down.

I'm definitely glad to hear that I'm not the only one though.

I'll offer my .02 as well since I have the same yak, am 6' 3", have my pedals at 7 and have experienced the same concern. If I fully extend my legs, my drive will contact the front of the foot well area by the sail mast. At this time I don't have a fix and I am learning to just stop my stroke before I hit the mast area. I found though that fully extending my stroke is not as effective like Zee stated. I also found that I can cruise along quite well by just barely pedaling. If you watch the Hobie video one of the Pro Staff mentions that you can just barely push the pedals to go into shallow areas or over brush. If you do this very quickly you can get the boat moving along pretty fast. This is more like a 40 yard dash though as opposed to a full stroke that you can keep up for a long time. Not sure if that really helps you with your situation but it's working for me. As soon as I install the Turbo fins I'll check to see about the "slap" using the 6 and 7 positions and report back.

Listen to Zee.  He makes you 6' 2-4" guys look short.

Zee you are correct. I used my Turbo fins for the first time today. I found that when I pedal correctly (with out fully extending my legs) there are no clearance issues with the fins rubbing on the bottom of the boat, or hitting the bulkhead. I was able to pedal comfortably and moved around at a pretty good pace.

Ya, I've also found that if I use position #6 and don't extend I won't hit, but it doesn't feel as natural. I'm sure that after logging more hours I'll build finer muscle memory and be fine. Thanks for the update though.

I've got a rev 13 and no rubhing issues but I'm not leggy with a 32 inch inseam.  The rev does have kind of a cramped feel compared the my old OC  trident but it's a lot easier on long trips.  The mirage drive is really quite powerful and effective.  If it had  reverse it would be an almost perfect design.

My fins will slap the bottom if I use a full stroke but, I don't.  I short stroke the pedals when moving slow and use a longer stroke for speed.  I learned from mountain biking that you always want to leave a few degrees of bend at the knees to avoid knee stress.  Your legs should never straighten completly.

The rev is a fast yak and it's harder to go slow than fast.  Been thinking of setting a speed alarm on the ff when trolling.

... The mirage drive is really quite powerful and effective.  If it had  reverse it would be an almost perfect design...

You probably know this, and it is not convenient, but the drive can be pulled and reverse mounted.