redbones

Petter Solberg can do suspension work on his WRC car at the same speed, if not faster than his mechanics.

Afraid to say this hobby and the cars chooses its owners.

And I played with Lego as child. Fixed my bicycle as a grade schooler, and mod my own car for SCCA. Oh and I also work on my own RC car

Drifting101

iTrader: (8)

i am 14 and be in this hobby for 4 months and not only do i do my car but i also do my dads (not becuase he can't it is because i like it) from almost the begining of that period and that kid cant do his own and neighther can the dad do it that is not right!! There is a couple of guys at my track my age that leave it for their dads, they dont even know how to remove a turn buckle let alone what it is!! This is need to stuff people!!

ODB

iTrader: (2)

Great thread! Many good points by all. When I first joined this hobby in my middle school years, I thought the ability to replace broken parts was a major selling point, not to mention the increased performance and the quick charging batteries compared to that break-it-and-its-done Radio Shack crap.

ChefJayPeek

Everybody has a different idea of what their time is worth. I do think kids today are more of an "Instant gratification" type. Die in a video game? Restart. Break their car? Pay to have it fixed.

Then again, think about it this way... What do you pay to have done that you could do yourself? When the computer you read this on breaks, do you diagnose the problem down to the individual part and repair it, or do you take it to a shop? What about your car (1:1), DVD player, AC, faucet, roof, etc?

Do you cook your own food from scratch, or do you use pre packaged stuff, or eat out for everything?

Instead of watching a movie or listening to a CD do you film your own, or play an instrument?

For everything said here, there are correlations that are not RC that I am sure someone in that field would say "Why don't they just do that themselves?"

That said, I've been involved in this hobby off and on for 25 years, and I always enjoyed wrenching on my own cars, of course I enjoy driving it more

redbones

It is too bad that those "instant gratification" people cannot experience the joy of building the car. I don't know about you guys, but building the car gives me a special bond with it. You care for it more, and want to fix it on your own, instead of someone wrenching your creation. Some people may call me a freak for that, but hey, that's me.

How many of you can't stop staring at a car you just built or after doing a full maintenance, all shiny and clean? There's a huge difference in the committment to RC, if you have this quality or not.

mild seven

iTrader: (63)

We have a lot of people coming into the hobby shop i work at wanting repairs for the most simple things, like replacing a wheel on a buggy/car or the same person comes in over and over again to get there nitro car tuned even though we have shown them how to do it, people come in just to change the blades on the heli's its like 2 screws to replace them.
it is annoying espcially when they have the instruction manual. but hey we get some money out of it about $40 AUS an hour. i even had to build many kits for people.

ive always built and maintained my cars for the 8 years ive been in the hobby and really enjoy doing that kind of stuff. oh and i work on my dads car sometimes.

Desolas

iTrader: (2)

Personally when I fix something, for free I do it off the hobby shop's clock. I take it from the customer and take it home to work on, in my free time. Advising the customer, explaining how they should fix it or what needs to be done, yes that's on the clock as I am helping the hobby shop's customer. Also if I see something real obvious that is just going to take the turn of a screw I'm not so much of an asshole as to not help a guy. The owner of the store has set stipulations for when, and when not to work on a customers car while he is paying us and I follow them.

What you are ultimately saying is we're not running hobby shops anymore, we're running toy stores. The hobby is playing with the toy by itself? That's like someone who goes fly fishing taking all of their gear to get tied by the guy at the sports shop...Someone who is into shooting guns taking all of their stuff to the shop to get cleaned...I am calling it what it is: lazy ass syndrome. If you want to do it, fine you have that right...but I have an equal right to stand on my soap box and call you an idiot for doing so.

If a shop is going to offer repair they should do it for free, or a minimal charge....charging someone journeyman like wages to do a repair job on a R/C car that in many instances the customer can only devote a little bit of their income to is insane. Use it as a way to build rapport and hopefully turn them into a full time hobbyist. SO many people lose interest and leave before the first year.

Most examples are not generally "hobbies" or "entertainment." ... like the car argument. Yes, most people take their cars to a professional - unless it's the hobby car. My daily driver? Let a mechanic work on it...I'm too busy making money to do it myself..and I need that car to work to make more money. The project car in the garage? That's the hobby, I am going to do it myself....otherwise it would not be the hobby car. Anyone can argue semantics until they are blue in the face...

GreaseMonkey

iTrader: (4)

I'm an Automotive Technician by trade. In the build-up to the Sydney Olympics we had a lot of business from the construction worker trucks. Not big earth moving equipment, regular pick ups and such. These things were abused to no end and they would break down because of it. At one point we had a pick up driven in with a brake problem. I raised the truck up and it was so caked in mud that I couldn't see the frame of the truck and all of the suspension was full of mud. I smashed all the mud off with a hammer and put it into a cardboard box. I taped up the box, wrote "this is yours" and put it on the passenger seat.

The customer was pissed off and I was called into the service manager's office to explain it. I ripped into the customer about having some common courtesy for the people that have to work on their vehicle.

After that, whenever that guy had an issue he always took a hose to the underside of his truck before bringing it in for work to be done on it.

As fro RC cars, I got into this hobby because I can't afford to race real cars. I also don't let other people work on my real car and I'll be damned before I let somebody work on my toy car.

Gain Time

iTrader: (1)

When I got into this hobby I bought a ARTR where I had to install the radio equipment and the engine. I did this to be able to pick good equipment and NOT have to spend hours building it before I could race it. Racing is what attracted me to this hobby not building kits. Having said that I now love wrenching more than racing.

I also had help setting up my first car from a neighbor. I would have never known about end points or how to set linkage, etc. without his help. I would have been lost as with most new comers. That is why they buy the RTR. As previously stated some go on to learn the innards of there cars while other do not.

I would venture to say the reason that some of them do not is different than just plain laziness or instant gratification. I would say it is fear. Fear that if they take it appart they wont get it back together. Fear that once a screw is removed a spring will pop out and they wont be able to figure out how to get it back in.....this happened to me once. If a person doesnt have someone to guide them they sometimes feel intimidated and would rather get someone else that knows to do it "Right" rather then possibly do it "Wrong" themselves.

Maybe if we had more "Clubs" (preferrably clubs where people get along with each other) that offer a place where a person can meet with more experienced racers or "RC guys/gals" then maybe more people would evolve into the hands on type. But then again alot of people are attracted to RC for reasons that go beyond building a kit.

Diversity is what will help this hobby grow. A long time ago the hobby was small because if you bought one you would have to wrench. No one was there to do it for you. Now the hobby has exploded because if you dont have the time, patience, or desire to wrench..it is ok.. because for $25 to $40 per hour someone will help you. I say the more the merrier. See ya at the track.

Scottrik

iTrader: (261)

DING!

A lot of people are not empowered to work on electrical or mechanical devices. Many of them get into the hobby lulled by the easy entry provided by RTR packages and have no idea how much wrenching it takes to keep 'em going. I'd venture the observation that some are ok paying to have their stuff fixed...for a while, and others aren't ok with it at all. Neither of these groups end up being in for the "long haul" (say, over a year). The remainder (and I'd guess FAR less than half) learn that they CAN work on 'em and do so.

I just looked up the formal definition of "hobby". According to Webster's the word first showed up in 1816 and describes "a pursuit outside one's regular occupation engaged in esp. for relaxation". There isn't ANY mention there about level of involvement, etc. If someone gets their relaxation just driving an RC car how is that different than someone who gets their relaxation going to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls? The golfer doesn't make his clubs. He doesn't tune up the tractor that picks up the balls. He just goes, smacks some balls with his bag of sticks, and goes home. Ostensibly relaxed and ready to deal with life's next challenge.

I'm a bit surprised to see people here sit in judgement about how others choose to spend THEIR time and/or money. If working on their stuff doesn't give them pleasure and they're willing to pay someone else to do it more power to 'em. Why call them names because they're choosing to spend their time differently than some of us would choose to? While I would tend to agree (though certainly in disagreement with Webster) that for someone to pay others to build and maintain their RC stuff they are more engaged in an activity than a hobby I'm just glad they're involved. As is, I'm very certain, every hobby shop and (hopefully) track owner out there. I could care less what their reason for not working on their stuff is--it doesn't affect me positively or negatively. What KILLS me is to see jaded hobby shop employees bitching about people willing to pay to have stuff fixed. In the case where it's available as sideline income, if you don't like it or don't want to do it...don't. If it's something where the shop has a set labor rate and repairs them as a part of their business, guess what...I'm betting your employer is DELIGHTED to see people in wanting to spend money that helps cover expenses.

Francis M.

iTrader: (2)

Everybody thinks that lazy people or people that don't build kits is a new thing but it really isn't. My friend used to put together cars for Hobby Masters in California and that was back in the 80's so essentially RTR's have been around for a long time. The only difference is that the current RTR's are cheaper since it's packaged from the manufacturer......

Itchy

iTrader: (1)

I agree with this view, and i actually use it on day-by-day basis to make decisions. I dont work on my 1/1 car because i dont have the tools and because i take way to much time compared to a experienced mechanic. I do however do all the work on my byke because i dont need heavy machinery. Same goes for general house repairs. Actually it's very convenient for me because i use it to negotiate homework distribution with mrs. itchy. And i rather repair the plumbing or fix the washing machine than ironing clothes.

Although i find this discussion interesting, im prety sure our grandfathers said the exact same thing about our generation. I pay a guy to bring me wood for the fire place when he would have collected himself. I dont plant my one vegetables as he did, etc, etc, etc. Its the modern society: you specialize in something and pay everybody else to do the rest.

Given this said, if somebody wants to pay a guy to build his car, he probably should try another hobby. The way i see it RC racing is all about the the mechanical preparation and setup.

Francis M.

iTrader: (2)

Given this said, if somebody wants to pay a guy to build his car, he probably should try another hobby. The way i see it RC racing is all about the the mechanical preparation and setup.[/QUOTE]



There is more to this hobby than racing .... I know most of the people in this chat room races but the majority of R/C cars is not purchased for racing....
The problem with this hobby is that everyone wants to dictate how others should enjoy R/C..........

redbones

At this point, who cares how you enjoy RC. If you want to pay to let ppl fix it for you, let it be. Whatever that makes you happy.
Only time will tell if they belong in this hobby or not. RTR is made for people like that, and a quick money getter for the companies.
It's just like a real car company. They make econo cars to sell quantities, and make specialized cars for the track. They hold races to showcase new technologies and feed it back to the econo boxes.

Itchy

iTrader: (1)

Dont get me wrong, i understand that perfectly. Actually i think it would be good for the hobby if there was more 'simplified' racing. Stuff like the Tamyia mini, or stock xray M18. Something without turnbucles to adjust for those that just want to plug and play.

What i meant is that most current RTRs are essencially plastified versions of the competion models. They are still fairly complex machines that require some mechanical skills and setup work. Hence i wouldnt advise it to someone that doesnt care about using a screw driver once in while.