Background
Looking for a lightweight pedal kayak.
I am 6 2 and 225 lbs.
I had a feel free lure 11.5 and sold it. Too heavy for my needs and could not find a pedal drive in Canada (and no ability at the time to ship to Canada.
Lure was comfortable to fish out of but somewhat ungainly and tiring to paddle for more than 2 hours.
Requirements
Under 65 lbs without seat or drive. I typically will drive over 2 hours to a spot so ease of loading, unloading is paramount. With the Lure it was a PITA to get it out of garage, onto truck, launch, reload and unload.
primarily used for small to medium sized lakes in Ontario (maybe the odd river)
Fine w prop or flipper drive but flipper preferred.
Length not an issue as I have a F150 truck but I am assuming it will be 11 feet or under for weight.
Boats I am interested in
Hobie Mirage Lynx
Hobie Passport 10.5
Hobie I trek 11
Vibe Makana 100.
As of today would choose either passport or Makana for price.
In Canada Lynx and Itrek are over $4000 which is more than I want to spend. Also have never seen any of the smaller hobies used (lots of PAs and a few outbacks)
Itrek (or uptown) are interesting but not cheap and worry about comfort and durability at price point.
So far I have seen varied feedback on the Vibe. Mainly about issues with the x drive not being reliable (have also noticed threads saying it’s been fixed?)
Love others options on the choices above or if there is anything I have missed
TIA
Posted by Gordanio