What's the deal with the seat?

Wow.

I took the kayak on its maiden voyage yesterday, and I REALLY wish I had waited for one of these to reach my dealer's demo fleet before plunking down the cash.

I am 6'0" tall, and it's VERY VERY uncomfortable to pedal. Although the diagram for adjusting the seat in the owner's manual shows that you can lean the seat back past 90 degrees, the reality of the strap length does not seem to make that possible. Even with the pedal drive out as far as it will go, it's extremely uncomfortable to pedal. I did not have this problem when I demo'd a few other Hobie boats.

I'm going to try a different PFD, adjust my posture a bit, play around with the seat settings more, and maybe even try a seat cushion to get me up a bit higher on my next trip, but I have to say right off the bat that I'm not thrilled with the seat and lack of ability to adjust it for a taller person. I can't imagine anyone taller than 6'0" (about 15 percent of the population!) using this kayak with any degree of comfort.

Pedals adjusted all the way forward?

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Yes, for sure. All the way to 7.

It doesn't seem like you can upload images to the forum, and I'm not tech savvy enough to link them from web images, so I can't share the photos I took.

The owner's manual photo of the seat adjustment shows that the seat should go back past 90 degrees...that's not the reality of what happens with the strap length, though, at least on my seat.

It was a little better when I took my shoes off and used bare feet on the pedal, as that gave me about another 3/4" or so of play, but that's not practical for fall/winter fishing. In reality, the best bet would be for the seat clamps in the back to be located like an inch or two further back than where they are...or, as an alternative, if the straps for the seat adjustment were a little longer so you could lean a little further back.

Like I said, I'll play around with it more this weekend with a different PFD and a seat cushion, but I have a feeling it's not going to help that much. Looking at all the models in your literature for this kayak, they seem to top out at about 5'10" or so...

Our test guy is 6' 3", so surprised he did not report issues! I'll ask him what his experience was.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

On my two Lynx, the seats are pretty much limited to 90 degrees by the adjustment straps. That said, I'm 6'2" with a 34" inseam and am not cramped at all. Only been out once but pedals set at 5 or 6 was comfortable for me.

I just added a additional nylon loop to connect the seat clips to and I can now freely move my seat back to snooze mode if needed or upright as I ever wish to be. Pretty easy fix for more flexibility

Okay...update.

First of all, I have a really weirdly shaped body. My legs are very long and my torso is not...so despite the fact that I'm only 6'0, I wear the same sized trousers as my 6'7" nephew.


That said, I figured that I MUST be doing something wrong...so I messed around with the seat a bunch, and basically adjusted the seating angle out as far as it would would go (basically have the nylon straps pulled out to where the "loop" is what's in the plastic adjustment buckle) in order to give it an extra few degrees. This made a world of difference. I am able to comfortably sit in the kayak and my pedals are set to 5 or 6. 7 is not necessary.

I apologize for the confusion and I sincerely appreciate everyone's help/advice with this!

Rob

Just curious...how did you do that? I'm not very handy. Can you buy something like that?

Rob

I had my maiden voyage today with my Lynx. I too was disappointed with the non-existent recline past 90 degrees, and I'm only 5' 9" tall. I've already been thinking of a fix for the issue but it is sad that the design for this high-end kayak is lacking a bit. I also noticed quite a few cosmetic flaws in the finish that are bothersome for a Hobie product but I know they have been dealing with quality issues. If someone from Hobie has a solution for either of these issue I would appreciate it.

Work in a Hobie dealership here. The boss is 6'5" and he loves it so much he included one into his own personal fleet.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

_________________
Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au

I very simple way to address the seat strap issue would be to add a small string loop to the existing loop that the seat strap connects to. Simple cheap and effective

_________________
Kayak Fishing Specialist: SLH
https://slhobie.com.au