HELP ME Mad River Canoe Dealers

okay I am looking for a price on a MR Horizon 15 RX. I can’t seem to find the price online anywhere. it is about an hour to the nearest dealer in my area. (I am not planning on calling them because I don’t plan on shopping there. I don’t want to waste theie time while they try to sell me boats.)



I think that this boat is not in the price range i am looking for, but I think it might be worth saving up for (unless I have an onslaught of poor reviews for this post).



Thanks



Liveoutside



P.S. I am going the extra $250 for the IQ Gunwale system…unless I hear otherwise

My guess is $1400 before taxes, with
the IQ gunwale system. You might do better if you happen on a dealer willing to take less profit margin. Good luck.

Woodsman
After much discussion here, measurments, hull shape comparisons etc. I beleive that it was fairly conclusively determined that the boat Dick’s sporting goods sells as the Woodsman is in fact a factory 2nd Horizon 15 (at least that’s what they were selling as a woodsman last summer). These vary in price from ~500 to ~700 depending on the current deal. I bought one and it has been great…just somthing to think about.

Forget the IQ system
I have a MR Freedom Solo with IQ gunwales, and have been unable to get any IQ accessories except for some d-rings. The accessories are on terminal back order since Confluence bought MR.



Doc

agree with rgams
The IQ system is not so useful anymore since you can’t get any of the attachments very easily.

As I see it the IQ is designed to;

  1. Make it easy to move seats. But, its a lot cheaper to add a third seat that can take in and out with brass bolts and knurled knobs.
  2. Add spray skirts, but the ones I had were very heavy and bulky and just not worth the trouble.
  3. Add a “glove compartment” chine bag. Just as easy to carry a small dry bag either attached to the hull with D rings or to the thwart or seat frame.
  4. Comfortable seats that are adjustable up and down. Yes, the IQ seats are comfortable, but they are also black, and they hold water really well, like a bucket. A crazy creek strap-on chair is just as comfortable and supportive, and you can use it in camp for a seat or kneeling pad. And how many times do you acutally raise your seat up and down?
  5. Comfortablbe carry yoke. Yes, it is, but so is a wood yoke if you add a minicell pad to it.


  6. Fishing tackle box/work station. Yes, it’s a good set up, but you can accomplish the same thing with velcro straps for your tackle box.



    I used to own a Mad River Explorer 15 with the IQ system. It was interesting, but it weighs more than comparable rails and attachments, and it costs $250 more, and it is gimmicky-finicky. I lost one of the little rail tabs and finished a trip with a seat slipping back and forth constantly. Replacements are harder to find since Confluence bought Mad River.



    A while back I queried this list about the IQ seats. They seemed like a good idea so I bought a couple to retrofit into a Horizon 17. For the same price I could have bought 2 Crazy Creek chairs that would have been more useful.



    In my estimation the Horizon 15 is a darn fine canoe. There is a new one available at a dealer in Virginia for about $900. I don’t know much about Boy Thingy’s Woodsman, but its worth a look at the price quoted above.

online dealer
Here is an online dealer.



http://www.shopgetoutdoors.com/boats/canoes/mad_river_horizion_15_rx.html



Unless you must have the movable seats the IQ system is a waste of money. I have it on my Horizon 17 and like the movable seats, I managed to get a bow and middle spay shield and have had a stern spray shield on order for over 1.5 years. Also the black color of the IQ system gets very hot in the summer.



If you would like any info on Mad Rivers lack of customer support shoot me an email and I can tell you all about it.

Thanks So MUCH

– Last Updated: Feb-28-07 3:19 PM EST –

this Information has been pretty helpful. Lots of thisng to lok into. I am ESpecially thankful to hear so much abuot the IQ system.

I am helping a friend pick out a new boat and we thought that the IQ system might be helpful to her. I have now rethought that.

Liveoutside

P.S. check out this http://www.paddling.net/message/showThread.html?fid=advice&tid=501503
I remebered reading it last year about halfway down. It is pretty good, better by the end!

Just to be fair…
The IQ system, while very gimmicky, was developed by Mad River AFTER Confluence bought MRC.



So much for the wonders of the corporate influences on our beloved sport…

Yep, Confluene did it
I can’t imagine Jim Henry the founder of Mad River ever being involved in designing and developing the IQ system. I think he’s pretty traditional in his thinking, and now back in Vermont working with a couple of canoe builder there to pick up where he left off.



A couple years ago at Nantahala Outdoor Center in NC I met a fellow who had been one of the engineers on the IQ design and development. He was there through the whole of it and then left for other reasons. He had a few choice words for Confluence, not printable here.



It seems sad, really, that any corporation, whether they are canoeists or not, would pay so little attention to their business, especially the customer relations part which is critically important to success in any company. I still can’t believe Confluence hasn’t updated the Mad River Canoe web page since 2004. For that matter I still can’t believe they call that new Synergy a canoe. They’d probably get more sales if they called it what it is, a sit on top fishing kayak. I wonder if they call it a canoe because they don’t know any better?