ASK Cubby, Version- Here Come The Questions, There I Go Out The Door
“Council of purchase
Hi, who better than you can recommend buying a model? I want to buy my first model Buggy RTR 1/8. Robust, fast, fun. Without much setup to do for an inexperienced person. What you can recommend?
Thanks.
Luca”
Cubby- Ciao Luca (his email address was from Italy), thanks for the email and for reading ASK Cubby.
So… you are looking to get your first car and you want it to be an 8th scale buggy. On the upside- 8th scale buggies tend to handle really well and can typically take a good beating. On the downside- they aren’t cheap and might be a bit on the quick side for a noob to learn on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen noobs get a first car/truck that was wayyyyy too fast for them and all they ended up doing was breaking part after part. IMO the perfect starter vehicle is a 2wd brushed unit, easy to wrench on, cheap to fix, and a lot easier to train your brain how to drive than something that is crazy fast.
But… you want my recommendation so here it is- (insert drum roll sound effect here)… the ARRMA Typhon. It handles quite well, it is super easy to get up and running, and it is fairly durable. It also comes in at a relatively affordable price point. Get one, do a bunch of figure 8s to train your brain on how to drive, then go big.
And yes, you’re welcome.
“Interweb Forums
My dearest Cubby, I have never seen you on any of the forums, are you on them? Which one is the best? Better yet, what is your user name?
Best regards always,
Sharif H.”
Cubby- Ya know Sharif, myself along with a lot of other industry types are on the forums. The smarter of us are in stealth mode, not being seen outright, and use the forums to learn more about consumers and to get a general feel for where the industry is going. The dumber members of the industry either show up with their real name (just begging to get reamed by the faceless masses), or they go incognito to defame brands other than their own, or to make “anonymous” posts on how good their own products are.
Which is the best forum? Well, sadly pretty much all forums are getting their rears handed to them by Facebook Groups right now, so instead of me suggesting a forum, I would recommend finding your local group of rc’ers on FB (which I honestly hate to say with a passion). At least on FB you can get hooked up with real people that live in your area.
What name do I use on the forums? I won’t tell you, but I will hint that it is a character from a Quentin Tarantino film. Oh and… I never (as in Ever) post, so best of luck tracking me down.
One last note- you are probably wanting to get involved in forums to learn more about the hobby. Of course you probably already know that many (some say most) of the answers on a forum are just speculation or regurgitation of what someone else has said. If you truly want to learn more about the hobby I would highly encourage you to do it first hand. Want to know the best spring combo on your Granite? Try a bunch of different ones yourself and see how the handling on your truck changes. Want to know the best tires for your Halix? Try a few different sets yourself and see how they work out. What is the best gearing for your PRO-MT? That is simple and cheap to test in your own backyard by buying a half dozen pinions. Everything you learn first hand you will remember for the long haul, making life much easier down the road when you get a new car, and then you can be the one dishing out solid, honest advice to others on the “interweb”.
You guessed it, that’s it for this week. Want to give me an earful? Have a question? Just want to shoot the bull? My email box is always open- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com. Right now I’ve got a bunch of really good conversations going via email with both consumers and industry folks, hit me up if you’ve got something on your mind. Also, if I use your email in an ASK Cubby you’ll get a free BSRC sticker pack, if I proclaim yours as “Letter of the Month” we’ll even hook you up with a sweet BSRC t-shirt.
YOUR Cub Reporter
