THE Cub Report – Seriously, They All Break

Hello there folks and welcome to THE Cub Report. For all our friends in Florida and the Southeast, we hope that you made it through Hurricane Irma the best that you could. Also, with today being September 11th, we will never forget the day when all our lives were so drastically changed. Thankfully we are America, we will forever stand tall against terrorism.

Isn’t it amazing how different people are? I say that because of an experience I had last week. Myself and the BSRC Bash Crew were out thrashing the Losi Tenacity SCT at a local track. While there, one of the locals was throwing a fit about how he broke a front hub on his ARRMA Kraton. Now, myself, and our bash crew, know the Kraton inside and out. We’ve logged hundreds of hours of driving on that platform and know that it is tough. Even by today’s standards, it takes a lot to snap pretty much any part on an 1/8th scale ARRMA. Yet, this local was losing his mind over breaking a part.

The local guy was a relative noobie. He had gotten into the sport earlier this summer and had no idea what poor durability actually is. He hadn’t gotten his first car in the 80’s like many of us, where you were amazed when your car did Not break when tapping even the smallest of objects. Personally, I remember wrenching feverishly on my AYK Radiant Pro after just thinking about touching a pipe. Or how about that Losi XX-4 that I raced for so many seasons. The calluses on my hands are nearly gone from all the wrench spinning I did on that one.

Having been through the years where truly unreliable cars were mainstream, I can’t help but laugh when noobies freak out after slamming into a pole full speed, for the third time, before their new monster truck finally breaks. Our industry as a whole has worked out a lot of the issues on our cars. The plastic on some basher models is incredibly durable, to the point where breaking an a-arm just isn’t gonna happen unless you “find” a curb at 50+ mph. The drivetrains are also much improved. I don’t have to worry about how much the chain drive in my buggy is gonna stretch like in the old days, heck even amped up to the max you don’t have to worry about snapping a driveshaft or spur gear on most cars. We absolutely have it good now days.

We see it all the time in our test cars just how far the industry has come. Now, some cars have broken early, but for the most part, manufacturers are building much tougher products. Most of today’s cars can take a full speed slam without breaking, which when you think about it, is absolutely incredible. The g-forces involved in a 40 mph crash, regardless of scale, are gnarly.

But then, you have to wonder if that has been one of the downfalls of our hobby. While broken parts can be frustrating, cars that don’t break as often definitely hurt sales. Back in the day every Monday was reserved for ordering up parts. Now days, if you don’t break anything, there is simply no need to drop by the hobby shop at all. There is no need to petition the aftermarket to make a-arms for your ride, which instantly takes sales away from them. Also, less time is spent thinking about and wrenching on your pride and joy. If people aren’t thinking about their rigs, they aren’t spending money on them.

So yes, more durable cars are a good thing convenience wise, but are they one of the reasons our industry is in such a deep slump at the moment? Would going back to weaker cars drive off even more people from the hobby, or help entrench new car owners?

That’s it for this week ya bunch of maniacs. As always, support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.

YOUR Cub Reporter

thecubreportrc at gmail dot com