C-Forum

gidday, gidday ! i'm new here but have watched from the outside for awhile now. lots of good tips can any one offer me advice on the mohawk rodeo? i have seen very little written here about the boat which leaves me wondering i've seen one for sale and could use some help in rationalizing. thanks

I've never paddled one, but it looks to me like a chopped viper 11. I'd love to take one for a spin.

-phil

I think the Rodeo lacks the harder chines of the Vipers. Closer to a chopped Probe(I think).

A bunch of cowboys with really bad haircuts!

Anyway... there have been loads of advancements in open canoes since that boat came out. What kind of paddling do you intend to do with it?.... and have you looked at any of the modern stuff yet? Glad to help with some info.

Craig

Is a shortened Mohawk Edge. Narrow with hard edges and lots of rocker. Rocker is straight line (not curved) from flat center section to ends. Edge was 14' ABS Mohawk version and maybe Frankie Hubbard's first design. Glass Edges were very good slalom OC-1s.

this would be my first short whitewater boat. i am a strong paddler technique wise but i've not done any short boat whitewater . cost is a big consideration as well . will it paddle like a tank on the flat stuff ? i'm 5' 8" and 165 lbs.

If your not in a hurry I know Martin has a fleet of boats to for anyone to test in Canada.

Not knowing what your planning on doing with it I would hold off until you compare it to other boats on the market. Then decide... unless of course someone is giving one away. In it's day the boat was ok... now there are a lot of better options.

Craig

I had one prior to my Prelude. I liked it a lot, but the plastic did not last too long. It is closer to a short viper than a short probe. It is a little slow on the flat stuff. It is great at catching eddies, and is very light. I like my prelude much better as I find it much more stable sideways in holes, and the plastic is a whole lot tougher. I had to put a lot of patches on the edge of my rodeo. Still a very fun boat.

Craig Smerda wrote:If your not in a hurry I know Martin has a fleet of boats to for anyone to test in Canada.

Craig

Yep, I guess I am the unofficial Ontario Test Center for C1 and OC1...

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

I agree with .kmcinturff... it's closer to a chopped Viper, not near as fast, but it does enders great....

On bigger water, it's wet, but easier to control loaded with water than an ocoee (my current boat, which in my opinion, you can not beat, even though I do miss doing enders )...

Also, Rodeo's pretty manueverable..but dang slow...BUT, with me in the ocoee, the ocoee for my size is even slower...gotta paddle the ocoee harder to get up the same speed as the Rodeo.

Big consideration is weight (I weigh 110#)...Steve had one (185#) and it tore up in a year for him ...of course he's boofing off everything possible....As for me, it was still in good shape after a year (sold it and got an ocoee)...You're 165#; if you don't boof everything in sight you should do ok with the durability....though it's NOT a boat you can put thru a gauntlet and have it last.

The Rodeo is pretty quick with the flipping... you need to be loose in the hips, and keep your top half balanced and upright-- - if you're stiff, you will flip...
and it happens FAST....If you're flexible and can let your hips go with the boat, and your top half stays upright, you'll be fine. This boat can not handle the bell-buoy effect

Since you are a "technical" type paddler..you would enjoy. But you would enjoy an Ocoee even more, for the finesse type paddling, since it responds so well...

Easy to roll, not as durable as others, but the R84 (or whatever it's called) keeps it light, which aids in it's performance.

I agree with the other posts ---what are you wanting to paddle the most?

Something like the Ocoee River? I would go for an Outrage (very dry, pretty manneverable and fast)..or an Ocoee (I LOVE the ocoee)...it's the most manuerable boat I have ever been in. It's slow though, and not as dry as the Outrage...harder to control with water in it. But the manuerability definitely outweighs the cons, in my opinion.

Others with just as good of reasons, love the Outrage...either boat I think you would be happy with. The Outrage is pretty soft chined...I would miss the surfing capabilities the Ocoee offers...Ocoee hard chined - I have forgotten how to use a paddle to eddy out...you don't even need the paddle in the water to eddy out with an Ocoee
Hmmm, knowing you are a "technical, finesse" type paddler, I really do believe you would like the Ocoee over the Outrage.

SO, do you mainly want to playboat? Then it's the Rodeo, hands down.......

Do you want to do bigger water more and playboat occasionally?
I would suggest the Ocoee over the Outrage. Ocoee's very manuerable, hard chined, surfs great, does 360's, CAN NOT ender well......The outrage doesn't surf as well, w/o hard chines...it doesn't "snap" into an eddy like the ocoee does...I LOVE doing that....


Do you want to do just bigger water, and playboating is only a small portion of what you want to do? I would get an Outrage, and an old Rodeo to take when you want to playboat.

Hope this helps.

Nancy