BradK wrote:
I'm looking forward to an independant review of the seats.
The seats were a major reason I waited for the '15 TI, I already knew from my Outback that I couldn't stand the stock Hobie seats (killed my back after just 10-15 minutes in it) but I couldn't do my Outback seat mod to the front seat of the tandem. I was originally going for the AI - where I could do the mod - but preferred the tandem.
Only been out once with the TI - I'm taking the day off today for a second run between arctic blasts - and I found the new seats wonderful. As in "didn't even think about them" wonderful!
Usually if I'm thinking about the seat it's because I have a problem or am uncomfortable.
There is one minor issue I had, and another potential one I noticed. First is steering. I like a reclined seat position so have the front of the seat raised, which puts the front of the seat more or less flush with the sides of the TI. That means the steering handle is down toward the bottom of my leg - and being rather beefy (read: way overweight) it can be a bit inconvenient to hang onto the steering handle, especially when the wind is to the right so the steering handle is now almost *under* my leg as the TI leans over. Hobie supplies some extenders to raise the handle a few inches, I'm going to try those today.
The potential issue is hiking out. I wonder if the cords that support the back of the seat may get in the way of easily sliding in/out of the seat to hike out or cross over when tacking. I'm nowhere near to doing that yet, though. I'm still well over the weight limit of the tramps at the moment and haven't built any hakas yet.
I did move between the front and rear seats a few times, no great issue there though the ease with which the seat moves around - between the seatback folding down and the whole seat pivoting forward on the front mount - was a bit disconcerting. The seat is the most convenient thing to grab hold of for a little support - but it provides none!
Had to keep reminding myself to grab the akas instead.