PeteCress wrote:
tonystott wrote:
Pete, I am having trouble understanding your seeming fixation on pedal speed in relation to buying an AI2. The difference in speed between a Revo 16, AI1 and AI2 is marginal reaslly, until you unfurl the sail! You will soon find that pedalling becomes an option most of the time, and that the distsnces you can cover will hugely exceed anything possible by just pedalling.
If you fit in a Revo, you will fit in an AI2, and you won't be dsappointed in any aspect of an AI2
- You are being too tactful. It's not a seeming fixation, it's the real deal.
. - Some of it is just me: I tend to obsess before buying something. Witness this list.... -)
. - Some of it is experience. I blew the better part of two grand on a SUP board and paddle, only to discover that 3-4 mph and no glide simply didn't push any of my buttons. Other people I know love paddling their SUPs.... For me it was money down the drain. "Chug, Chug, Chug" doesn't cut it - I need the glide.
. - Pedaling might be a bigger deal for me than most because I do this stuff partially for exercise. Release .9 Beta of my little plan involved a 20-foot Hawaiian outrigger canoe that I paddled and sailed for two seasons. The fantasy was to sail upwind and paddle home. One fly in the ointment turned out to be a top paddling speed of about 2.5 mph.... (the others were sheer weight, and the inability to handle heavy air - well, at least, the inability for me to handle heavy air....)
. - One person's "marginal" speed diff may be another person's deal breaker. 4.5 mph vs 6.5 mph may sound trivial - but in a kayak I perceive it as a substantial diff and I would trust numbers more than anybody else's subjective judgement.
. - In tidal areas I would expect pedaling speed to be significant when trying to get home on a windless day.
. - Fit-wise, having had a lifetime of experience with a right-of-the-bell-curve body, I don't trust *anybody* until I try something on. It's not just height or leg length. The proportion of thigh to shin length makes a big diff. Even shoe size matters. The cruel and unusual things I've done to bicycles and surfskis to get a usable fit would make some people sick.
OK, I can do non tactful if you like!
Firstly there is no massive difference of 4.5 to 6.5mph between the Revo, AI1 and AI2. Please utterly ignore the Revo as being useless to you as if cannot go faster than you can pedal, unlike the AI (either flavour). You can of course improve the pedalling speed of an Island by partly divesting it of outriggers and mast, but in doing so, you remove a lot of the versatility of the vessel.
If you are generally in it for the exercise, the speed attainable is totally irrelevant, in fact it could be argued that a slower boat will give you more (longer) exercise. In any of the Islands, you can keep pedalling even if you are travelling quite fast under sail. In order to keep your heartrate in the zone, you will simply have to uprate your cadence.
Please be aware that the pedalling action of a Miragedrive is NOT the same as a bike etc, as it is a stepper action, rather than a fixed circle of rotary movement of your feet. This enables you to select a stroke length most suited to your anatomy, and regulate the power transmitted to the water (eg smaller length strokes at a higher cadence generate the same power as full strokes at a lower one). This is an absolute godsend for anybody who has limited knee flexibility or dare I say, is overly fussy in terms of "bike fit".
Looking forward to your observations when you have actually tried one on for size.
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