gijoe64

iTrader: (30)

I don't want to start a fight in this fourm, but hearing this form several top drivers "US Drivers are just lazy" it has got me thinking about all the Lipo, BL motors and car setup.

At one time we were so stoked to work on and setup our TC's even motor maintenance was fun. Now it seems we don't want to know how it works and don't realize that the fast guys are fast because they understand the concept of how it work and how to make it work correctly.

I love brushless motors, but I hate how we put such a bad stigma on brushed motors. I love no maintenance, but still the fast guys will know how to make a brushless motor faster, I goto the Oval racers they already figured it out.

Lipos, not sold yet my lap time are still the same. And we don't think there more work but you still have to balance them buy a lipo sack to charge and add more weight to the car that you want to.

My opinion is the reason TC is on the decline is we are not hobbiest anymore, we are the "Click and Paste" hobbiest now. I see more complaining about rubber tire racing because it is hard to setup, don't we want to challenge ourself, and make it fun to learn and become fast instead of putting more money into a chassis and hope it works? Are we lazy? Are we going to be the RTR nation? This is a hobby and when I started you had to be creative and know your stuff to be fast, now we got speed and run time don't we need to go back to the basics.

Johnny Wishbone

iTrader: (6)

YES!

rctouringracer

iTrader: (5)

It's not that US drivers that are lazy! I think it more because there are so many new faces & they don't know how to make their new cars work!
The hobbyist are few and far between. Remember it take several years of being involved to become a hobbyist! You can't just buy some equipment & declare yourself a hobbyist... Well Guess you could but you really wouldn't be...
Somebody has to be shown how to understand the dynamics of the car, trouble shoot & come up with a way to solve a problem. Without proper education on the subject the person is lost and losses interest quickly. People start looking for quick solutions & end up on forums like this one to find a solution which may or not be exactly what they needed but someone's possible solution/opinion sounded good so they roll with it.
People rarely explain how they came up with a solution, usually they just offer the solution, which in the end doesn't really help an individual because the has no idea why their doing the modification to their vehicle...
The United States is a fast paced society, the hobbyist here in this country are few and far between. Most are not teachers and have no interest or no time to sharing what they have learned. IMO for the electric touring to grow in the US, the RC Industry as a whole needs to figure out a way to better educate the new faces in a way that won't be confusing to create more hobbyists.

TwoTone

iTrader: (12)

I think it's the opposite, too many people forgot it's a hobby, not a second job.

I like tweaking my car, but to a point. I have a full time job already. I left the 'hobby' over 8 years ago because it became too much and not fun.

Watching everyone turn comms every run, have turbo dynos so they could see what each little change did to the power.

It was supposed to be a fun hobby, not a money pit.

Reading this and other forums, why do you think the USVTA and Slash class are taking off? They are simple, cheap and FUN. Those two classes got me back into it. The part that's nuts- For my son and I, I'm spending less on those 2 classes then I did trying to run TC years ago.

It's a hobby, thats what too many people forgot.

rustyw

iTrader: (6)

I am in the US and yes I am lazy, your correct there. As for TC on the decline because of this you are not even close. Other factors including cost of parts, Speed and the ease of breaking said TC is why its on a decline. And that is just a few I can think of right now I am sure others can chime in... I am just too lazy to think now.

hanzo3

iTrader: (55)

I am new to TC and think this is a huge money pit to reach the level of some of these "hobbyists". 5 minutes of use on a tire? How about people that want to buy a Blue tamiya branded pit towel versus getting a cheap towel that does the same thing?

imprsme

iTrader: (91)

WE (myself included) as a society are LAZY!

Its the "instant gratifacation" age, if someone spends hundreds or thousands on RC and they goto the local track and do not finish first on the first few days...they give up. Or they go find another form of RC or start another "slower" class until they either find a class they can be competitive in or they leave the hobby all together.

I have raced, been involved in RC off and on for almost 20yrs. one of the biggest problems I see locally is the lack of "novice/beginners" class on the local level.

But that is two fold, you must have enough "new" ppl to have a class.

Catalyst

iTrader: (5)

Blanket statements like your thread title are ridiculous. My personal experience is just one experience contrary to your depictions of hobbyists in the states, but I'm sure not the only one. I can't comment on the decline of popularity of R/C in general in the last decade because I had taken a really long break from any R/C since the 80s.

That being said I guess I'm unusual. I am very passionate about racing R/C and got back into it at the beginning of this year. I absorb information about tuning like a sponge. I used to race offroad electric long ago and my new found passion started off by rebuilding a stadium truck and spending the time necessary to research the new trends of brushless and LiPo.

Fast forward to now and I own 2 TCs, 2 stadium trucks, a 4WD buggy, a Slash, and an 18th scale rally car. I run brushless and LiPo in them all since I was purchasing most of my stuff new and didn't have a ton of NiMh equipment to worry about (my old stuff was NiCd).

I enjoy the fact I don't have to cut comms and worry about brushes and battery maintenance not because I'm lazy...it's because I get a chance to do the tuning and tweaking of my suspension and get the desired characteristics I want. I'm racing almost every weekend and spend a few nights a week wrenching. This is because I love the hobby. That's also on top of a full time job so I definitely don't classify myself as lazy.

I also am involved in a new club who is drumming up interest in our hobby and getting new people involved regularly. I am always helping other understand cause and effect of different tuning aspects both within our group and on forums such as this. I've moved from rookie classes to winning A mains in stock classes because of my efforts and in my area of California we are still getting good turnouts in both onroad and offroad. Sure attendance is down due to the economy and other factors but neither are dead in this area at all.

Jerry P

iTrader: (44)

We may appear lazy but that laziness is helping the hobby where i race. It has put TC back on the map. Most people at 360 are getting into Rubber Tire touring car and guess what they are all running lipo and brushless. Our season just started and we had 25 in rubber TC and 29 in Foam TC. This has been a great addition to the hobby.

MikeXray

iTrader: (73)

What's lazy about it? you can cut breaks between heats in half because you don't need an hour to discharge, equalize and recharge you Nimh's and cut and rebrush your motor while replacing your c-hub.

Brushless motors seem to be a lot closer power wise than brushed motors, this has allowed those of us who didn't buy a dyno a figure out the best combo for brushed to actually keep up with the other guys and let the driving be the real factor.

crazy4wdracer

iTrader: (25)

I like to do some maintenance like cutting motors, tinkering with setup changes, tire changes, etc. I don't have a whole lot of money to put into my car either (I'm still running a TC4) but I still have fun.

Foxxrocket

It's a hobby. I don't come to the track to show how well I can clean and maintane my car. I come to race dammit!

hanzo3

iTrader: (55)

I think the economy is a good reason to the decline in newcomers to the hobby. Those that don't believe so do not have rent, or mortgages, or retirement plans. $40 for a set of TC rubber tires or filing up your gas tank?

timmay70

iTrader: (5)

Why do you all insist on feeding the trolls? People like this put crap on the net just to get an argument going. We all agree that we have fun doing what we do at the track, spending as much of our disposable income as we see fit to suit our purposes. Spending as much of our time as we need to to unwind from life's other activities... Why do we need someone like this to tear apart what we like to do... Posts like this is what the trolls like to do.

mini_mac

it is that the rc environment and new people that have come to the hobby has changed since the advent of TC cars. when they first came out every car on the market was in kit form to some extent or another, so the people in the hobby or coming into the hobby were used to all the building wrenching. now almost all the cars you can buy are RTRs, so people come into the sport being lazy because they don't have to do anything other than plug&play and many most likely subconciously resent the work involved in TC racing.