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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:16 pm 
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We've had a SeaCycle for a while (that we just sold to help fund the T.I.) and a couple nice things about it was:

Instant Reverse: You just start pedaling backwards and you can stop the boat on a dime.
The ONE time I tried reverse on the Mirage 180 it took a few tries to get into reverse. Not sure if I was pulling hard enough or needed to paddle a little while I pulled.
Any way. I was worried I was gonna break it or something and wasn't sure of the exact procedure. I'm sure I'll get better at it for a smooth reverse. My wife had no issue on her test drive.

But that leads me to a question, how fast and hard can you throw it into reverse and can you damage it, if you try to do it too fast or "wrong" or something?

One other thing that was cool about the SeaCycle (which was also a Tandem [Side by Side]) was you could spin it on a Dime by one person going forward and the other going backwards.

Guess that won't work with Tandem Mirage drives. But are there other maneuvering tricks with Tandem 180 Drives?

P.S. What's your top Tandem speed, with no AMA's or Sail?

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 12:26 pm 
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Location: Blacklick, Ohio
I don't have a MD180 since my TI is a 2015. So, I just pull the drive and stick it in backwards for reverse :lol:

As far as top tandem speed without sails and amas...My wife and I were able to hit 5.7 knots (gps measured) from a dead stop. We couldn't hold that speed for more than 30 seconds or so. However, we were able to comfortably hold 3.5 - 4 knots for quite a while.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 1:15 pm 
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TI_Tom wrote:
I don't have a MD180 since my TI is a 2015. So, I just pull the drive and stick it in backwards for reverse :lol:

As far as top tandem speed without sails and amas...My wife and I were able to hit 5.7 knots (gps measured) from a dead stop. We couldn't hold that speed for more than 30 seconds or so. However, we were able to comfortably hold 3.5 - 4 knots for quite a while.


Thanks. That’s very close to our short burst speed on the SeaCycle which was 6mph on phone GPS.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 1:18 pm 
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Location: Colorado
I somewhat felt like Hobie developed the reversing drives for someone who uses the boat to fish. Exactly how that benefits fishing.. I dont know since I dont fish. After owning these sailing/ pedal tri kayaks for about 8 years now, I dont get the need for the reverse. I would pretty much never use it. Maybe it was a marketing response to the pedal drive options where you can reverse.. dont know. I kind of prefer the simplicity of the "old" drive system and that you can just put one pedal forward so that both flippers are next to the hull. Ive sailed the last two weekends in a area where you can come up on sudden shallow spots and its nice to just put a pedal forward and immediately and easily get the drive out of the way. Being able to sail in the really awesome location below made possible by the Hobie Mirrage drive.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 2:18 pm 
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walt wrote:
I somewhat felt like Hobie developed the reversing drives for someone who uses the boat to fish. Exactly how that benefits fishing.. I dont know since I dont fish. After owning these sailing/ pedal tri kayaks for about 8 years now, I dont get the need for the reverse. I would pretty much never use it. Maybe it was a marketing response to the pedal drive options where you can reverse.. dont know. I kind of prefer the simplicity of the "old" drive system and that you can just put one pedal forward so that both flippers are next to the hull. Ive sailed the last two weekends in a area where you can come up on sudden shallow spots and its nice to just put a pedal forward and immediately and easily get the drive out of the way. Being able to sail in the really awesome location below made possible by the Hobie Mirrage drive.


You can still tuck the fins up to the bottom with the pedals.

We waited until 2017 once we found out Reverse was coming and really didn't want to lose the reverse we had. We used it all the time on the SeaCycle (as well has turning on a dime).
SeaCycle couldn't tuck up the drive quickly though. And wasn't pretty when it went into emergency kick up.

There are some instances where it may be too shallow, like a rock just under the surface because the water was lower than expected or new area to us, but even with fins up and we want to power down/reverse quickly because the hull may hit something hard.

As long as it's smooth and reliable I'll take the option to go into reverse any day.

I for one think having the reverse option in the location of your photo would be great and I probably would never have the sail up or dagger board down there.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 2:46 pm 
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We've used "reverse" on occasion. Mostly just pulling away from the launch. But typically in that situation we would have one in normal and one in backwards until we were underway.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 3:41 pm 
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TI_Tom wrote:
We've used "reverse" on occasion. Mostly just pulling away from the launch. But typically in that situation we would have one in normal and one in backwards until we were underway.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


That’s a great idea!

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:26 pm 
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TI_Tom wrote:
We've used "reverse" on occasion. Mostly just pulling away from the launch. But typically in that situation we would have one in normal and one in backwards until we were underway.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Do that all the time on the PA 17T but the front one stays reversed cause my wife doesn't pedal much (she normally is making sure the kids don't get a fishing hook in the eye)

But now with my TI i don't trust her to keep the fins up so she gets on of the old drives and i use the new 180 drive. The reverse is handy and i found leveling the pedals before switching is easiest.


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:15 pm 
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What do you mean by "Leveling the Pedals"? You mean hold them next to each other (same as under sail)?

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:15 am 
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Yes both pedals next to each other.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 5:07 am 
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Location: England, UK
Hi - new owner here - we have the 180 drives and found them useful several times in the strong tides out on the Helford River (UK).
Good for holding position, but also for an emergency back-up once when we were busy preparing the sail and hadn't noticed we were drifting rapidly bow-first towards a moored yacht (a lesson learned)!
If the drives had not been 180s, I suppose I would have grabbed the paddle, but reverse was very effective & saved our embarrassment.

I was shown by my dealer to 'level' the pedals before pulling the cord (as Defy says), but also if you take any pressure off the pedals (i.e. take the weight of your legs off), this also helps.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 31, 2017 12:08 pm 
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RedKite wrote:
Hi - new owner here - we have the 180 drives and found them useful several times in the strong tides out on the Helford River (UK).
Good for holding position, but also for an emergency back-up once when we were busy preparing the sail and hadn't noticed we were drifting rapidly bow-first towards a moored yacht (a lesson learned)!
If the drives had not been 180s, I suppose I would have grabbed the paddle, but reverse was very effective & saved our embarrassment.

I was shown by my dealer to 'level' the pedals before pulling the cord (as Defy says), but also if you take any pressure off the pedals (i.e. take the weight of your legs off), this also helps.


Thanks I think the lack of "weight off" might have been my issue with my getting it in reverse.

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