Is the hobby really going down?
08-08-2007, 01:51 PM
#47
08-08-2007, 01:52 PM
#48
Tech Master
I don't really recall insulting you anywhere. I don't think calling people liars, amateurs and failures at racing is called for when people are simply disagreeing with you.
Good for you that you are still winning with old batteries however it seems a good portion of NiMH users and most if not all lipo users disagree with your assessment of equipment needed to keep NiMH batteries running well. Maybe your local fast guys aren't quite as fast as other people's local fast guys.
You posted up a cheap kit idea to save RC. Most other racers think they require more than you obviously on the motor and battery maintenance equipment. We gave examples of why we felt you were lowballing that price. We are not wrong simply because we disagree with you.
Good for you that you are still winning with old batteries however it seems a good portion of NiMH users and most if not all lipo users disagree with your assessment of equipment needed to keep NiMH batteries running well. Maybe your local fast guys aren't quite as fast as other people's local fast guys.
You posted up a cheap kit idea to save RC. Most other racers think they require more than you obviously on the motor and battery maintenance equipment. We gave examples of why we felt you were lowballing that price. We are not wrong simply because we disagree with you.
08-08-2007, 01:55 PM
#49
Craps, your so ignorant, I run brushed and brushless, I had the 8000mah lipo and sold it off to a freind already. I'll race whatever is legal - because I am a racer. I've been racing electric off-road for 23 years, I really don't care if Lipo is made legal to race, I'll race it, just like I've raced with all the previous batteries. I'll be successful with the Lipo's too because I still enjoy playing with R/C cars after all this time.
Your just another RCTech complainer that will need to find something new to complain about when Lipo is made legal. Common, Craps, tell us whats on your agenda next?
Your just another RCTech complainer that will need to find something new to complain about when Lipo is made legal. Common, Craps, tell us whats on your agenda next?
08-08-2007, 01:56 PM
#50
Tech Master
08-08-2007, 01:59 PM
#51
I'm glad to see brushless motors and Lithium-Ion batteries coming to the mainstream. It will make what was already a much simpler class to run than gas even easier.
I speak from experience, too. I ran electric off-road for 18 years before being forced into running gas off-road last year if I wanted to keep racing. While gas is fun in its ways, it's murderously expensive and requires WAY more time to keep maintained than an electric car. I feel bad for first time RC car owners who have chosen the gas route. It's freakin hard to do!
Brushless and Li-Ion should be a very good way to bring novices into the sport even easier than in the past with brushed motors and NiMH batteries. I think you'll start seeing some gas heads going back to electric as well in the not-too-distant future.
There needs to be some direction (and agreement) from ROAR, RC Pro Series and the local tracks as to what technologies will be allowed and in what classes so that people have a framework for making their equipment and racing choices, but once that's in place, I think you'll see a (slow) re-birth of electric.
I speak from experience, too. I ran electric off-road for 18 years before being forced into running gas off-road last year if I wanted to keep racing. While gas is fun in its ways, it's murderously expensive and requires WAY more time to keep maintained than an electric car. I feel bad for first time RC car owners who have chosen the gas route. It's freakin hard to do!
Brushless and Li-Ion should be a very good way to bring novices into the sport even easier than in the past with brushed motors and NiMH batteries. I think you'll start seeing some gas heads going back to electric as well in the not-too-distant future.
There needs to be some direction (and agreement) from ROAR, RC Pro Series and the local tracks as to what technologies will be allowed and in what classes so that people have a framework for making their equipment and racing choices, but once that's in place, I think you'll see a (slow) re-birth of electric.
08-08-2007, 02:01 PM
#52
Tech Master
From what I've gathered, Craps seems to be really involved in the concept of long offroad mains. That may be what he perceives will help racing become more popular. In my book that's not a rctech complainer as at least he's DOING SOMETHING about it. I don't even agree with him on his take on lipo safety but I do respect what he is doing.
08-08-2007, 02:18 PM
#53
portraying brushed motor and Nimh racing to be more expensive and more work than they are is lying , Craps, and thats not respectable either. I guess we have something in common after all.
08-08-2007, 02:32 PM
#54
Tech Master
Making personal attacks, name calling and calling somebody a liar not only makes your post not very creditable, it is breaking the rules of this forum!
08-08-2007, 02:33 PM
#55
i run with a 40 dollar duratrax charger and i beat people who use a turbo 30-35...i have my own lathe i use once every 3 months or so lol (i run more nitro) but if a new racer needs a com cut ill be darned if i leave them hang. really EERKS me when i see guys with 4 grand worth of equipment and they brush off people who are new or need help. if you REALLY enjoy racing you give back to it by helping others. telling someone they bought or have the wrong stuff isnt helping unless they have the funds to do what you say. personally im all for people getting into the hobby for as little as possible then seeing if they like it or not! nothing is worse than someone spending a grand only to find out that they dont like it or that they spent twice as much to be in the same place they would have been going the cheaper route.i might recomend a "race" type of car but just because they dont have it doesnt mean i wont help
08-08-2007, 02:38 PM
#56
Tech Addict
I'm not really sure KIDS should be the target market. $500 cost of entry minimum (vehicle, radio, charger, batteries,..), and the need to travel to race, and the need to tinker and repair. I don't think this is a kids' hobby. (By the way, my 12 year old son and I are in this hobby together, but if I wasn't interested, he sure wouldn't be allowed to spend my money and time on it the way we do).
Maybe instead of having demonstrations at shopping malls, we all have demonstrations at the local (full size) dirt track, or the local car show, Jeep rally, etc.
Maybe instead of having demonstrations at shopping malls, we all have demonstrations at the local (full size) dirt track, or the local car show, Jeep rally, etc.
A lot of comments coming up about cost. I'm pretty sure that any organized sport a kid might get into is going to cost a lot of money. Not to mention a lot of time. But the perception there is that the kid is actually getting something out of it. So the problem is still the common belief that we're 'playing with toys'. And apparently it is held by people actually involved in the sport.
I quit racing R/C competitively in '95, and raced karts for a number of years. All the lessons I learned in R/C were directly applicable to karting. And I'm sure they would be to any other motor sport.
I believe that if people recognized R/C as a legitimate motor sport they would then realize that it is a relatively cheap and effective way to find out if their kid has what it takes, wether or not they might have the next Schumacher on their hands.
08-08-2007, 02:48 PM
#57
I'm not really sure KIDS should be the target market. $500 cost of entry minimum (vehicle, radio, charger, batteries,..), and the need to travel to race, and the need to tinker and repair. I don't think this is a kids' hobby. (By the way, my 12 year old son and I are in this hobby together, but if I wasn't interested, he sure wouldn't be allowed to spend my money and time on it the way we do).
With today's technology, it's even cheaper to get into racing if you adjust for inflation and it's even cheaper to continue racing than it was back in the sub c/brushed days. My advice to all the kids starting out is to buy used and upgrade your gear piece by piece. There's lots of good used gear out there at great prices. Don't feel like you can't have fun without having a $2,000 set-up. It just isn't true.
Kids these days don't have as much of an attention span and they tend to get interested in things that give them instant gratification. There's no easy answer to get kids back into racing, but if/when they come back, that will be a sign that the hobby is doing something right.
08-08-2007, 02:59 PM
#59
Perhaps the rules of RCTech need to be changed to suit my needs just like you feel the ROAR's rules need to be changed to suit yours.
08-08-2007, 03:02 PM
#60