ASK Cubby – You Ask, I Reply

“Aftermarket for the ECX

Hiya Cubby,

A bit before the Traxxas trailer came along and stole your hearts with its scale good looks, well thought out design, 2 speed tranny, remote locking diffs and portal axles (drool) another scaler had caught your eye, the ECX Barrage.

While the Traxxas trailer represents the higher end of the market, the ECX offering won your hearts because it showed just how good a well thought out entry level scaler could be. The consensus was it definitely punched way above its weight class in performance. And that for such a low price everyone should get one. It’s small enough to be very portable, and it’s performance means once you’ve taken it out to the trail you won’t find it can’t get over and or around the obstacles that made the trail worth it to hike to in the first place (I’m paraphrasing, but that’s what I got out of the reviews).

So tell me, have Barrage sales been good enough to make the aftermarket sit up and take notice of the pint sized powerhouse? The aftermarket helps give a product legs and increases its popularity by being able to make it “yours”. Is the Barrage getting the love?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Kenny K.”

Cubby- Yo Ken, nice to hear from ya again. I dig your letter, so up it goes.

First, about the Traxxas TRX-4. Yup, it is the real deal. Now think about that. It wasn’t many years ago that a brand new Traxxas crawler probably would not have been that good of a truck, and the public knew it. But this is a different era for Traxxas. When we first posted our review, there were a whole lot of people saying, or at least thinking, “OMG, they are so bought off by Traxxas, there is NO FREAK’N WAY that truck can be a capable crawler straight out of the box!”. However, we take our reviews seriously and simply report what we experience. What we experienced with the TRX-4 was a truck that was incredibly capable for a RTR with a big body like that, and it had so many cool features, all of which worked perfectly. Yes, we are huge fans of the TRX-4 and for good reason, it is simply an outstanding truck.

About the ECX Barrage. I am personally a big fan of the Vaterra Ascender platform, but I was pretty skeptical about the Barrage. However, it didn’t take long for it to win me over. I am not a fan of the body it comes with, but otherwise it does a great job for the money.

We posted an aftermarket front bumper for the Barrage from ScalerFab the other day. There are a few companies out there making aftermarket parts for it right now, we’ll see how many more jump on-board. I would really like to see Horizon start making more upgrade parts in-house, like a full line-up of wheels, tires, bodies, bumpers, etc, but I don’t know if we’ll ever see that happen. However, with it being a crawler, and with the advent of so many people doing 3D printing, pretty much any part you desire is no further away than your imagination and a good 3D printer.

“Question

Cubby,

Give me one good reason I should buy from my local hobby shop. They barely stock any rc parts but seem to have plenty of room for other crap.

Bones B.”

Cubby- So hey there Bones, what be up with you? Thanks for writing in. Oh and, don’t forget a snail mail for a sticker pack.

Hummmmm…

OK, I hear ya. Your LHS sucks. However, they are most likely a small Mom and Pop operation. You say they don’t stock what ya want, but how many times have you sat down with the owner and told them exactly what that is? Maybe you want to see some Pro-Line aftermarket bodies? Maybe you want a full selection of Dynamite tools? Maybe you would like to see more ARRMA trucks on the shelf? The shop owner can’t read your mind. Sit down with them, tell them what you would like to see. They may never get the stuff in, but at least you tried to help yourself and the other bashers in your area.

For a hobby shop to stay open now days they simply have to be diversified. So while they might not have the Traxxas a-arm in stock that you need, they might very well have other stuff. For example, many hobby shops sell puzzles. OK, so you haven’t built a puzzle for 20 years, but it is a great time with the kids (assuming you have any). Or maybe your Lil Mrs. is into making jewelry and your LHS is loaded with that kind of stuff. Even if you can not currently support them for your rc products, if you support them now for other items, that might help fund an expansion of their rc area.

But mainly, our hobby needs local hobby shops. They are the guys (and gals) on the front lines of our hobby. They are critical for helping noobies and for keeping our hobby alive and breathing. That is why you should support your LHS if at all possible.

So there ya go folks, another ASK Cubby is in the books. Do you have a question? What about one of those epic rants of yours? Shoot me an email – thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.

YOUR Cub Reporter