THE Cub Report, Version 04.11.2010
Does ROAR have a beef with Pro-Line? They must have, because their recent ruling against the new PL Bulldog buggy bodies makes no sense otherwise. 8th scales have always looked Martian- they’ve never had a full size counterpart to emulate. To deem the Bulldog “illegal” because it doesn’t look realistic enough is a farce, and a waste of time and resources. While Traxxas, Losi, and Associated are pouring literally millions of dollars into cross advertising to the mass market, ROAR is fart’n around deeming one Martian body illegal, while every other Martian looking body remains legal. Just an FYI to the powers that be, your primary focus now should be keeping all those mass market noobs that Traxxas, Losi and AE are recruiting in the hobby. If done right, ROAR will have numbers that were previously unthinkable, if done wrong, they’ll have the same 1,500 members they’ve had since 93′. If the racing side of the hobby is to grow, the rules at the local level must suit the mass market noobs, not the local fast guy, and screwing around banning the Bulldog does nothing to accomplish this task.
I’ve driven (ridden?) the Duratrax DX450 dirt bike, and it’s a ton of fun. The DX450 is arguably the best motorcycle ever released in our hobby and is truly way super dope. But, the editors at one of the rags have voted the DX450 as their “Car of The Year“. Motorcycle of the year, Hell Yes, without a doubt, but “car” of the year? What in the hell were they thinking? Not just myself, but others in the industry and end consumers think this raises a lot of questions. Certain mags have steadily lost the trust of their readership by constantly printing kiss a$$ reviews, and now having a motorcycle as “Car of The Year” only worsens the problem. After this latest debacle, the consumers I talked to now question the validity of all the rag awards, not a pretty site for any of the mags or the companies that have been named as “winners”. Might I suggest having an impartial outside party handle all the votes next year to ensure there is no hanky panky going on?
BigSquidRCs first “Uber Charger Shootout” is set to begin 2 weeks from now. If you are a manufacture and want in, contact brian at BigSquidRC dot com, if you are a reader, you’ve got another shootout to look forward to.
The first edition of my new column “RC Myths, Fact or Fiction” will hit the front page this week. Ever hear that running a Lipo battery below 3 volts per cell ruins it and also makes the battery dangerous? Well that’s the focus of the first edition, where I do real world tests to determine if that is completely true or just bogus manufacture hype to make you buy another battery pack. Look for a full report with pics around Saturday. Btw, if you have an rc myth you’d like to see tested, shoot it to cubby at BigSquidRC dot com.
That’s it for this week, as always, support your local hobby shops, tracks and bash spots!
YOUR Cub Reporter
