THE Cub Report – Jeff Hoy Is Bertram Gilfoyle?
Well hello there friends, thanks for visiting BigSquidRC, and thanks for reading THE Cub Report. Ya, so about that title, LOL. This week the title refers to our internet/back-end guy Jeff Hoy (I think you can guess which guy he is, LOL), and how strangely similar he is to Silicon Valley’s computer guru Bertram Gilfoyle. I almost can’t watch that show thanks to it constantly reminding me of Jeff. Anywhos…
Here is one very cool note about our next BigSquidRC podcast. Coming up next is the big man at RC4WD, Tom Allen. Tim Gluth has Tom lined up for our next podcast, which should turn out really interesting. RC4WD is a completely different kind of company, and their scale products are absolutely top notch. It will be interesting to learn more about Tom, RC4WD, and some of their upcoming plans for the scale crawling world.
One more quick note, if you are in the St. Louis Missouri greater metro area this weekend, come out and meet the BigSquidRC Bash Crew at the RC Freaks Swap Meet. The local RC Freaks club is putting on an rc swap meet this Sunday and the BigSquidRC Bash Crew will be there handing out stickers, as well as generally misbehaving.
On to the meat for this week…
It sounds like the official ax was dropped on the Arenacross series last weekend. Arenacross is one step down from Supercross, and has been around for decades. Arenacross featured legendary names like Gaddis, Antunez, DeMuth, and Bowers. Hundreds of thousands watched in person, even more at home on TV. Thousands upon thousands raced amateur day at their local Arenacross (myself included). Next year it will be no more.
The motorcycle industry is suffering in much the same way as rc. Yes, the two industries are different, but as far as sales go (and target audience), they have been very much the same for the last twenty years. I bring this up because Arenacross is toast, and after having attended most of the Supercross races this year, where attendance ranged from rock solid to “where are all the people???”, Supercross may not make it another decade itself (or even a half decade).
When I look at the motorcycle biz, I see their biggest problem as being the huge switch of Everything. By everything, I mean the way you have to market to people, distribution is now much different, products need to be different, etc, etc, etc, and they just haven’t kept up. Back in the day, you could buy an ad from one or two mags and reach 70% of people that rode motorcycles. Now days you have to buy 50 small ads from websites and throw some money at FB. People don’t like the hassle and mental beatdown of buying from a motorcycle/car dealer anymore and just won’t put up with it. Crotch rockets are great for leaving surprise stains in your underwear, but they are literally a horrific product for a millennial. Ever notice how nearly every motorcycle shop is closed on Sunday, and either closed or open short hours on Saturday? My local bike shop is closed every time I drive by it, which is all the time. Kinda hard to sell me ANYTHING if you aren’t open when I am off work. I could go on and on, but those are just some of their problems for not adapting quickly enough to the new retail/consumer environment.
We still have rc racing, but for how long? How long until the chassis manufacturers just won’t spend any more r & d money on the next big race kit? And we’ve lost enough hobby shops and other rc companies. Nobody wants to see rc get worse, just like nobody wants to see the motorcycle industry go down the tubes. The Arenacross series can’t be saved, and will be Very, Very, missed by thousands of people. This is a big time of change, no matter if you are brick and mortar, internet based, you ride a Harley, or if you drive a Kyosho, things are changing quickly, and we don’t just need to change with them, we HAVE to.
Anywhos, yes, I am quite saddened that not only the Arenacross series will be gone, but more so that the motorcycle industry has reached the state where that is even possible. Whewwww…
Until next week, get out and support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can (Sticker your back window if ya can and send me a pic!).
YOUR Cub Reporter
