Seat width V12 vs. V10 (current vs. old)

Did Epic change the seat in the regular V10 to be wider in the current generation (2010 and on)?

I hear not from various untrustworthy sources, I feel yes (based on my butt feeling)...

OK, solutions like "ask Epic" did come to my mind already, so if you suggest me to do that, you will not be the first - I've already asked, waiting for an answer...

So do *you* know for a fact? Share if you do...

I paddle the current gen V10 Sport (with the narrower seat compared to the previous generation). I fit fine with some room to spare towards the top of the seat but comfy towards the bottom.

Some months ago I demoed a regular V10 (not the Sport). The latest/current model in 2010. I remember that I fit rather well in it, even better (a bit snugger and less wobbly) than in the Sport.

Today I demoed a previous generation V10 ('08 or '09). To my surprise, the seat was sloped-in a lot. My hip bones made uncomfortable contact with the sides. Too narrow seat towards the bottom made for a poor fit and I would not be able to paddle that thing. But that's different from what I remember from last year when I demoed the 2010 model...

So, did my butt grow wider or did Epic change the seat in the regular V10 ski for 2010 and on, or is my memory fading ??? My butt is in the US, if that matters...

Thanks!

Oh, forgot to mention: along with the '09 V10 I also demoed a V12 - the seat in the V12 was wider towards the bottom than the one in the V10. Top width was similar. So I actually felt about fine in the V12 seat. And no, I did not mistakenly sit in a V10L - I do not fit in the L at all (leg length and seat width being way small). Unfortunately, the leg length in the V12 is about 1/2 inch too short for me barefoot, so that disqualifies it (the V10 and the V10 Sport have just enough leg length for me, any less would be too short).

So basically, the V12 has wider bucket (bottom at least) than the regular V10 from yesteryear ...

I've sat in my own new painted tip v10 as well as an older stripe up the seam line one.
No difference.

I find a v12 to have a flatter bottom to the seat, ie, it doesn't follow the line of the hull as much and is therefore a little bit higher in the middle, so higher overall position, and a little bit more flared out wider at the top.

I don't believe there has been any change in the seat of the v10.

Sometimes paddlers bow to the wish to be seen to be a better paddler and remove the sport stickers of their boats............

Hmm... It may be difficult to determine the difference unless your hip bones are touching the sides as mine are. Or without measuring precisely: you can check the width of the bucket at 3" above the bottom of the bucket (where my hip bones seem to be when I'm sitting on the floor). Do you think you can measure?

If you fit in both well, you might not feel the differene as the top of the seats is about the same width b/w the V10 and the V12 (and much wider on the V10 Sport)

And no, it was not a debadged V10 Sport that I paddled, if that's what you meant by people removing stickers. I can tell the differente b/w a Sport and a regular V10 myself, with or without stickers. Especially, if the V10 is laying on the grass next to a V12 or if I paddle the V10 Sport and then get in the non-sport and take a swim because it is so much tippier.

Anyway, all that paddling has been through Epic retailers, not private parties, so no mistakes on the models.

It could be I simply my memory from more than a year ago is vague as to how I fit in the seat, but I doubt it - my hip bones did press quite a bit to the sides of the V10 seat yesterday, so much so that I did not even take it for a spin as there was no point in trying it... I feel I would have remembered such a tight seat from the time I tried the other V10 before (and at that demo day I again tried it against a new Sport on the spot, so no mistake there either).

So, you're saying my butt has grown wider...

It can be the difference of only 5mm to feel the hip pinch if its close for you so perhaps they have been changed, I don't know. My hips pinch slightly in my SES but with the addition of a 5-10mm seat pad it lifts me enough so that my hips no longer pinch. They changed the seat in the Stellars slightly from the first ones to the later ones and I like the early ones as they are so close for me. A smaller person might not even notice the difference.

Through my local Epic rep I learned (from Epic in South Carolina, presumably) that the design of the V10 has not changed other than the decals from '09 to '10 models and newer... I'll believe it when I sit in one of the current V10 to confirm but no one has one around here, and I'm not about to drive 1000 miles to confirm for myself... Oh, well... wait for the next larger race, where hopefully someone will have a current model V10 to let me sit in it ...

So, you're saying my butt has grown wider... [/quote]

It's all that powerful leg drive building up the relevant muscle.

The only changes I'm aware of in the Epic boats are the introduction of extra bracing in the rear of the ski and the addition of floatation foam/bracing in the front of the ski as well as the obvious new breather and paddle leash.

I am a perfect fit in a V10 bucket to the point that it could easily have been custom made for me, I think I'd notice if the bucket was changed at all.

Well, that might very well be true and that both the old and the new V10 have the same ski.

That would be a pitty, because the V10 seat on the '09 I tried is definitely too narrow for me. The V12 seat is definitely contoured differently. I sat repeatedly in the two skis next to each other on the grass several times to make sure. The V12 is wider on the bottom wher emy hip bones are, so my hip bones have almost enough room where they are too restricted in the V10. I did not pay too much attention to the top of either seat as they were both a good fit for me there with very little wiggle room (where I have plenty in the V10 sport).

Do you find the seat in the V12 wider on the bottom compared to the V10 as I did? Perhaps it is the flatter bottom you mention that keeps me higher so my hip bones don't get pinched-in, and the seat is actually not wider at all...

Marieski wrote:

Kocho wrote: So, you're saying my butt has grown wider...

It's all that powerful leg drive building up the relevant muscle.

I wish...