Comparing and combining paddles and pedals for sit-on-top kayak speed and endurance
Sit-on-top kayaks are a popular alternative to traditional sit-inside kayaks. One advantage is that they sometimes come with a foot pedals for propulsion. The foot pedals are linked, via gears, either to a propeller or to flippers. This leaves the hands free for activities like fishing or photography. Of course, such kayaks can also be "arm powered" via paddles in the conventional sense.
Given the same boat (for a fair comparison), how does pedal-power compare with paddle-power, for speed and endurance? Also, how feasible is it to combine both means of propulsion, simultaneously.
There are many videos out there comparing pedal kayak and paddle kayak regarding price, weight, maneuverability and draft (and this is not about those aspects), but those comparing speed and endurance are few and contradictory.
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Apples and Oranges
Disclaimer, I'm a kayaker, I've never used a pedal powered sit on top
Paddling requires skill, technique, practice and endurance. If you have these things, along with the right paddle, then it would probably be better than an average pedal setup. On the other hand a cyclist with a top spec pedal setup would be far better off than with a cheap paddle.
If you come under neither classification then you'll end up with contradictory information about which is better.
I would anticipate that an average person with no particular skill in either field but otherwise physically active would have better endurance with a pedal setup. Larger leg muscles which generally get used more, along with less wasted energy correcting inefficient or incorrect paddle technique, would easily swing the balance.
Using both at the same time would be interesting. When kayaking the power transfer from paddle to boat passes through your feet, so they're not theoretically exclusive. But (there's always a but) pedal strokes are normally shorter than paddlestrokes, the timing would be far enough out that you'd either suffer more for the drag of the pedal system in the water than you'd gain from having it as a reasonable paddler, or wouldn't really gain from having the paddle as an effective pedaller.
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Here are some articles that claim that pedal beats paddle, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak:
- paddlecraft.com.au: What-Everybody-should-know-about-Pedal-Powered-Kayaks
- yakgear.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-paddling-and-pedaling-a-kayak
- yakangler.com/pedal-vs-paddle-kayaks-for-angling
- austinkayak.com/kayak-fishing-pedal-vs-paddle
- paddlecamp.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-kayak-a-mile
- trykayak.com/best-pedal-kayak
And some videos supporting the same claim:
- youtube.com/watch?v=VAqMIeXnvZk Harry's Yaks
- youtube.com/watch?v=jxW9Ph27EJs Canoe Shops Group
- youtube.com/watch?v=D0rvFdLdplA Hobie
I found only one video, very subjective, claiming paddle beats pedal, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak:
- youtube.com/watch?v=coNPOFYxCqc&t=330s River Rat
There’s very little to find on combining pedal and paddle power. In two hobie.com discussions, topic2941 and topic2879, there’s some agreement that while it is possible to go faster/further by combining pedaling and paddling concurrently, there are two difficulties to overcome:
- As pedaling has a much higher cadence than paddling, how to synchronize to optimize the two?
- As pedaling brings knees up higher compared to when paddling, how to synchronize to avoid bumping paddle on knee?
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Another difficulty (or at least downside) of a combined system is that while combining pedalling and paddling uses more muscles, they're still only supplied by one heart and pair of lungs. Either method of propulsion alone can use your aerobic ability, so the combination won't be able to sustain a higher power output.
Alternating drive methods could help against muscle fatigue, but in endurance sports (cycling and running, presumably others) even that's only part of the tiredness. Push it for days and you reach a metabolic limit to total power output. So the niche in which this combination would help is a very small one - fit but untrained individuals perhaps, while you add weight, drag, and complexity to your craft.
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