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Again, as Rick rightly added, positioning, body size and amount of gear will ultimately determine who has the fastest scooter on a dive. There is no "Gavin is faster than an X" rule. Indeed, in terms of raw thrust, the X seems to be the winner.
I tend to be in the middle speed-wise of the two Gavins in our group, one driven by the WKPP diver amongst us with hundreds of hours on the trigger and the other by a guy with slightly less experience than myself who is still adjusting tow cords and otherwise getting comfortable. In addition, I weigh substantially more than both of them. And my body is no doubt "cutting" the water a bit more than theirs due to the smaller hull size of the X breaking through the water (as opposed to the massive Gavin body).
Who the hell knows what the results would be if we all weighed the same and rode in the same position?
I bought an X about 2 months ago. Been out with it only about 10 times with my buddies (who have Gavins). And while I am comfortable using both, in terms of prep time, after-use maintenance and weight, I have zero regrets with the X. It's simply incredible.
And while I'm a bit shocked to hear that the SS is "faster" than the X (was the X tuned to full pitch and in 5th gear?), it's practically meaningless. Unless everyone is on an SS, the team will always be varying pitch/speed to match the slowest diver of the group.
I'm one of the buddies Mike dives with. I don't have a scooter yet - but one of our buddies has two Gavins and he is nice enough to let me borrow one until I make my decision.
Trying to balance purchasing an X or a Gavin Short body. Weight is big factor as most of our dives here in Okinawa are shore dives - including one lovely place with 97 steps to the water.
After diving both scooters, I'll say that both are very high quality pieces of equipment. Both are also a LOT of fun! I'm going to order one or the other soon - I'll post which one after I order it.
Again, as Rick rightly added, positioning, body size and amount of gear will ultimately determine who has the fastest scooter on a dive. There is no "Gavin is faster than an X" rule. Indeed, in terms of raw thrust, the X seems to be the winner.
I tend to be in the middle speed-wise of the two Gavins in our group, one driven by the WKPP diver amongst us with hundreds of hours on the trigger and the other by a guy with slightly less experience than myself who is still adjusting tow cords and otherwise getting comfortable. In addition, I weigh substantially more than both of them. And my body is no doubt "cutting" the water a bit more than theirs due to the smaller hull size of the X breaking through the water (as opposed to the massive Gavin body).
Who the hell knows what the results would be if we all weighed the same and rode in the same position?
Mike, that is a nice avatar by the way!!!! Some professional photographer must have taken that one as nice as it is!!
Well, we should know more after the scooter tests in Tahoe this weekend!!
A good rider will make a medium speed scooter fast and a less than good rider will make the fast scooter slow any day of the week.
For peeps in our neck of the woods, there are X-scooter demo days coming up all summer, this weekend alone there will be one in Tacoma and one in Mukilteo... Come play with them in person...
Quote:
Originally Posted by OkiMike
Again, as Rick rightly added, positioning, body size and amount of gear will ultimately determine who has the fastest scooter on a dive. There is no "Gavin is faster than an X" rule. Indeed, in terms of raw thrust, the X seems to be the winner.
I tend to be in the middle speed-wise of the two Gavins in our group, one driven by the WKPP diver amongst us with hundreds of hours on the trigger and the other by a guy with slightly less experience than myself who is still adjusting tow cords and otherwise getting comfortable. In addition, I weigh substantially more than both of them. And my body is no doubt "cutting" the water a bit more than theirs due to the smaller hull size of the X breaking through the water (as opposed to the massive Gavin body).
Who the hell knows what the results would be if we all weighed the same and rode in the same position?
I'm one of the buddies Mike dives with. I don't have a scooter yet - but one of our buddies has two Gavins and he is nice enough to let me borrow one until I make my decision.
Trying to balance purchasing an X or a Gavin Short body. Weight is big factor as most of our dives here in Okinawa are shore dives - including one lovely place with 97 steps to the water.
After diving both scooters, I'll say that both are very high quality pieces of equipment. Both are also a LOT of fun! I'm going to order one or the other soon - I'll post which one after I order it.
I can understand your dilemna. Have you looked at the N-19? (Haven't read the entire thread) Given the same rider, it edges out a little faster than it's siblings (other SS models) because of the smaller diameter of the tube. Water is able to hit closer towards the axle on the blades. I've done a couple of long dives on one and it seems to have a bit more thrust. The N-19 has got great burn time. It's a nice scooter. I own an X-Scooter by the way. :-)
Another option is to get an X (great deals on used units) and the Li-ion battery from DSS. Don't know if you need the burn time or not.
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Had a Torpedo 2500, but just sold it to a friend of mine. Not a terrible scooter, just some things that annoyed me about it. The big one is I thought it was too negative, which is good because you can set it on the ground and it wont float away, but bad because once you set it down and let go, you suddenly have to readjust your buoyancy. I'd rather have a scooter that is completely neutral, or just slightly negative. I'd have it harnessed to me and wouldn't have to worry about it floating away if I want to let go of it for a moment to take a picture or whatever.
I didn't really like the hand position on it... it didn't feel very natural to me... the X-Scooter looks just perfect, though I can't really justify or afford a $3,600 scooter right now! :(
I think I will start keeping a close eye on eBay for used Makos.
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