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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2014 2:49 am 
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Location: Newcastle NSW Australia
Turbo unit knocking against hull. On AI On full pedal extension. Any ideas? Is it just a matter of bending the horizontal rod in the Top of the rubber fin section?
Ideas welcome.


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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2014 11:13 am 
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Sounds like you just dont have the pedals adjusted right. If its at the end of the stroke farthest away from you when it hits you need to go up a number on the pedal adjustment.


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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2014 12:13 pm 
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Simple answer. Taking a pedal stroke to the stop is to be avoided.

As noted above... adjust the pedals forward to reduce the chance of the full stroke hitting, then if needed, adjust your technique.

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Hobie Cat USA
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PostPosted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:50 pm 
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Further to the above, I should add that due to a hip injury (and probably old age!), I >never< use the full pedal stroke. The beautiful thing about the Miragedrive is that it still works efficiently with less travel, and speed can be identical by increasing cadence. "Bottoming out" by hitting the hull at the end of a pedal stroke is bad for the drive as it causes forces to be applied to components outside their design parameters.

Having said that, however, I felt cramped in the standard seat, with pedals set at full extension, so I fitted a "skipper seat" which raised my backside by 4" and moved me back more than 2". I now use the middle pedal setting.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2014 2:19 am 
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Wow what a great forum! Thank you guys for your very generous and prompt support on this knocking issue.
By full extension I meant the pedals at their furthest distance apart. They are actually still on the 4 setting. The knocking only started on about the fourth voyage.

I will apply your advice.
Thank you
Kieran


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PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2014 3:04 am 
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You need to get your hull up on sawhorses, or something, and get pictures or a video of what is happening. Something is not right.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2014 4:57 am 
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Kieran, The fins will hit the hull at the extreme of their travel (eg when the pedals are furthest apart). This is part of their design. If you move the pedal settings to 5, this should mean that when your leg is straightest, the fin will not quite reach the bottom of the hull.

However, it is possible to bang the fins against the hull with most pedal settings if you are too vigorous on the pedals! The thing to remember is that (as I mentioned earlier), the "stepper" style action of the Miragedrive works just as well with smaller steps, so as long as the fins don't bang on full stretch, there is no need to bring your knees up under your chin at the other end of travel.

I suspect the the problem showed up by about your fourth trip because your pedal stroke lengthened with familiarity, but you didn't notice. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it :D :D

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Fri May 16, 2014 2:49 pm 
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What a wealth of knowledge and valued varied perspectives on this wonderful forum. Thank you so much. I shall apply these pointers systematically.
Much appreciated.
Kieran


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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2014 6:58 am 
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Location: CT
Ciaran….

First of all …. Welcome! You are correct…. This is a GREAT Forum!

I own a TI and am 6'4" 250 and my one son is 6'6" 260 and plays hockey, soooo, as Matt Miller suggested - your pedal stroke can affect the Mirage Drive.
Trying to tell a college hockey player to limit his stride, …. well… Good Luck! Eventually stretched the cables where they couldn't be adjusted.

The symptoms - adjust both pedals to the same number, hold them together and see if the fins are aligned vertical??? Mine were skewed off to the side!

Went to dealer and we replaced the wire cables that have the nut clamped on the ends - back in business!


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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2014 6:57 pm 
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Thank you so much for sharing. I'm only 6' and 105kg but have strong cycling legs so this could be another factor. Now the wire did cross my mind and was hoping it wasn't bent. Tried the kayak yesterday and there seemed to be less knocking. The left of the two black levers which secure the turbo unit sometimes unlock and the unit rocks around a little. So I made sure to click it closed and the knocking seemed to disappear mostly. Would rather not have to repeatedly click it closed though.
Thanks again.
Cheers
Kieran


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PostPosted: Sat May 17, 2014 7:55 pm 
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Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
If either lever comes undone, you can jam the drive in its slot if you pedal vigorously in this condition. I noticed that the levers stick up a little more on the AI, whereas they are flush with the floor on the TI. A friend has modified his AI slightly by drilling a horizontal hole through the top of the levers, and then attaching some light bungee cord to the centre black ring, with small hooks which pass through the holes in the levers. He just has to undo these hooks before trying to remove the Miragedrive. Hope this helps.

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Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


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PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2014 1:46 am 
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Tony is correct--pedaling when the drive is not locked in place risks jamming it. If that happens, it becomes a real problem to get it unjammed; although, even that gets easier w/ practice. It is best to be aware that the drive latches can be accidentally opened and immediately correct them in that event.

Keith

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2015 AI 2, 2014 Tandem

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex ... It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." A. Einstein

"Less is more" Anon


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PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2014 4:35 am 
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Hi Kieran,

I'm 6' and I have my Mirage drive set to position 5 in the AI. In position 4 the fins strike the hull.

As others have said make sure you don't accidently unclick the click-n-go. Jamming the mirage drive is a PITA. Using a flat blade screwdriver to push down on the jammed locking lever is the easiest way to get your day back on track.

I really wish Hobie would fix this design fault on the Adventure / AI. I have almost been wiped out several times due to a jammed drive.

Cheers
Hoit


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PostPosted: Sun May 18, 2014 7:00 am 
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Location: Newcastle NSW Australia
Once again thanks for these pointers re design and redesign of the mirage drive. It is greatly appreciated.


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