Sunday, July 31, 2011

Good Stuff v. Crap
My old Romany has the original Yakima foot brace set up in which each petal has a clip that holds it on an aluminum track. It has lasted for years and still works fine. My Cetus MV (this is not about P&H who has done quality work on the boat) came with a generic (at least I cannot find a brand name on it) set of plastic braces like the ones I had on my first Cetus. I didn't like them then because they  occasionally let go and had to be readjusted. This, of course, could be a big problem in conditions and, to me, was not worth the convenience of being able to grab a handle for easy adjustments while under way. In fact, I am able to adjust the Yakima pedals without opening the skirt. I use one foot to compress the lever and move the pedal to where I want it.
A few days ago, just as I was completing a roll, the right pedal gave way. I assumed, of course, that it had unlocked and slid down the track. No such luck. The pedal had actually come off the track. I could not see anything broken and replaced it the next day. When I went out yesterday, it fell off with my first stroke...and will remain off.


Maybe it is because I come from a profession which used only the highest grade of everything and did not tolerate failure; but I am a bit pissed at this system breaking as it did. There was no abuse of the product. Now, I no longer trust this set up and want the old one back.

A little research showed that the Yakima design is now marketed by Werner Paddles. I have written Rutabaga to ask how far apart the mounting holes are (please say 14.5") to see if replacing the units would require new holes in the hull.


Paddle safe...
DS

4 comments:

JohnB said...

I have a spare pair of foot braces for my boats. 14.5 inches!

Solent Sea kayak said...

Really interesting to see you post this. My original Cetus has started doing the same thing on an annoyingly regular basis. The pedal 'falls' off the rails and is a pain to replace, having to unbolt the rails from the boat to do so.

Within 2 weeks of this starting to happen I've paddle with 2 other P&H owners suffering the same issue.

Whilst I had the rail removed I tried it up against a Valley boat fitted with Yakima foot rests and the bolt holes in the hull are in exactly the right spot so I'm heading down the route of retro-fitting some Yakima footrests to the Cetus.

Ron said...

The quality of parts and equipment in my line of work can mean life for death also. I work on aircraft every day. With the technology available today, we should be able to make things better, not just cheaper.

Silbs said...

Thanks, JB, you are amazing.

Solent: Same experience, huh? I don't even know what brand they are. There is nothing on them... generic, I guess.I will be putting in the Yamiha type...which is now sold by Werner Paddles here in the USA.

I hear you Ron. I can't trust them out in conditions.