Hi all,
I have a small pyrhana fusion and am looking to move my thigh braces inward toward the center of the boat.
Background. My fusion is great except that my legs sit too far outward towards the outside of the boat, which is causing me pain in my bottom and legs and it’s intense enough that I can’t just ignore it and keep going…so, I was wondering if there was a thigh brace or some sort of guide out there or advice on how to move the thigh braces inward (not forward or backward as they are designed to move). I need my legs to be in less of a diamond shape in the boat.
Thanks in advance, Lily
Mini Cell Foam?
It sounds like you might want to glue some mini-cell foam to the sides of the boat to narrow the cockpit.
You can experiment with making some extensions for the existing thigh braces with fiberglass and cover them with minicell foam.
Fabrication
– Last Updated: Mar-03-15 11:34 AM EST –
I occasionally carry the Fusions in stock and have made modifications in the past. The thigh brace module is the same as used on the Venture kayaks so creating a spacer will bring the thigh braces inboard a bit. First try removing the braces and situate your knees to where you are comfortable. If the closer in position isn't much then the following will work.
Use the existing track holes to attach a .75" (approx.) square aluminum tube as a spacer. Drill and countersink for the bolts to sit flush both for the mounting to the cockpit rim and into the thighbrace module.
For greater extension a larger flange will need to be made. My hope is that you just need a little bit of tweaking.
See you on the water,
Marshall
The River Connection, Inc.
Hyde Park, NY
www.the-river-connection.com
hudsonriverpaddler.org
a few suggestions
moving the seat in my ww pyranha boat (shiva) was a bit of a pain for a couple of inches difference yet worth doing, less of a pain moving the bulkhead but both can change where your knees and thighs come in contact with the boat, so if you haven’t messed with those options-you might give that a shot, trying to get yourself more forward in the boat. At least there would be no new holes to drill for those changes assuming your seat is bracketted in like my shiva. I had to remove the brackets and slide the seat forward- aligning the next set of holes. If you’ve tried that then I guess its time to try something else.
Because the crossovers have bigger cockpits (I’m assuming the fusion does like the other brands I’ve paddled) its harder to get a proper fit. My liquid logic xp10 has a huge cockpit area with lots of volume so it actually puts more strain on my knees in whitewater situations than a regular whitewater boat. My knees are my only reliable source of contact in my crossover, rather than my hips and thighs. So I eventually bought a ww kayak to reduce the strain on my knees, a problem area for me. I also got better back support and a seat that encourages a more upright posture when I made the switch out of a crossover.
Everything is a trade off- my current boat is slightly harder to get into, I can’t fully extend my legs to rest them, the seat is a little harder, and the boat is certainly slower but overall its a better fit and puts less stress on my body in ww. I don’t know what environment your using the fusion in but perhaps you’d be happier with a narrower boat. You would probably give up some initial stability but feel more connected.
I’m sure the fusion is a very ww capable boat but you definately give something up- especially in terms of fit when you go with any crossover. I thought about adding a lot of closed cell foam to mine but ultimately I just bought another boat- lazy I guess. I still have the crossover for overnights but seldom use it now.
Overall, I’m not real impressed with how pyranha sets their boats to adjust to different paddler sizes. The bulkhead movement is okay, but the seat adjustment could use improvement and doesn’t match some other brands. If you do go with a different boat I’d avoid a boat like “the burn” which is also pretty wide.
We talk a lot about “hulls” but the truth is “the fit” is just as important. Especially if you have physical limitations- as I age I put more of a premium on comfort. Hope you get it sorted out. I got tired of sittin’ with my legs bowed out to have contact with the hull so I switched boats, probably not what you want to hear but that’s my take on your situation.
I’ve moved thigh braces inward or
outward on four ww or sea kayaks, but it is hard to know what to suggest without being able to see the boat being worked on. On one kayak where I moved the braces inward, I scavenges some curved boat hull material and attached it to the underside of the hull of the kayak I was working on. Then I padded the underside of the added extensions with minicell.
I was working on a “fiberglass” kayak, so that I could use epoxy to attach the extension pieces to the inside of the hull. You would have to attach the extensions to poly which is not glue-friendly. Pop rivets, and G-flex after torching, might be needed.
If you can post links to some pictures of the existing thigh braces, it might be helpful.
Pyranha Fusion S here
it is a great boat, and the thigh braces can sit too wide esp for smaller (often female) paddlers.
before you go about modding it, try this:
No law that says you must paddle with your lower body constantly in the diamond position. It was taught this way for a long time. I find it counter-productive unless you’re doing super fast twisty ww.
Straighten your legs a bit. A bit more.
You don’t need to be in diamond position for the forward stroke. In fact, your forward stroke efficiency (all other things equal) will improve when your legs are straight(er).
When you need/want to edge, carve, low brace, etc. just slide your thigh(s) under the braces then.
For quick recoveries, you’ll find your reflexes are plenty quick when you need to bring your thighs up under the thigh braces. It’s just a quick subtle move.
foam
I have a Fusion M, and am having what sound like similar problems. I’m 5’ 8", 160 lbs. I was about 175 lbs when I got the kayak, and I need to move around a lot to stay loose while paddling, hence the M.
I am experimenting with a couple of things: putting minicel foam under the seat (between the fabric and the pan) to raise it up a bit, putting some foam on the side of the boat where my knees hit, and extending the length of the seat with foam. I also put some 1/2 inch foam under my feet, which made a big difference. Hopefully these changes don’t affect my center of gravity too much! Or cut off any blood flows. I sculpted the seat extender to try to help with that.
We’re all so very different physically, but I know I need longer seat pans, in cars as well as kayaks, to help with that leg fatigue. I got spoiled by my Wilderness System Tsunami seat: that was just about perfect.
I really like my Fusion, and I hope these adjustments work as I don’t want to sell it! Good luck with your challenge.
yeah, that definately sums up how I
paddled my hybrid/crossover. Straight legged on the flats and bow legged on the ww.
I paddle more straightlegged
in all my kayaks now.
The diamond or froggy style was taught for years as an aid to stability. The downside is those positions put more tension on the inner thighs which bother some ppl more than others depending on their musculature and degree of flexibility. But, generally, holding any large muscle under tension for a prolonged time is not comfortable at all.
If ya don’t need that, it is really a lot more comfortable to straighten out. Personally I would try that first before fidgeting with foam, moving seats, thigh braces, etc. It might not solve every fit issue, but is something that can easily be tried.