Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Comparing and combining paddles and pedals for sit-on-top kayak speed and endurance

+0
−0

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.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/24403. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

3 answers

+1
−0

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.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24409. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

+0
−0

Here are some articles that claim that pedal beats paddle, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak:

And some videos supporting the same claim:

I found only one video, very subjective, claiming paddle beats pedal, for speed/endurance on a SoT kayak:

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?
History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24413. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

+0
−0

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.

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/24441. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »