We are open minded. I have asked at least twice where the aftermarket support for Redcat is and you have ignored that. As far as "niche groups" go, this forum has a very wide base of knowledge and users with a multitude of different rigs which is the exact opposite of the word "niche".
A lot of the experiences are only a few months old. I also see this problem every month while I'm visiting my lhs's. While the bigger brands are not perfect, I have had far fewer problems with them from the start. The only major problem with a Traxxas product that I had (and was a design flaw)...
My question is: If Redcat is such a good brand, why aren't more major dealers and websites carrying it? And why aren't there more aftermarket parts for them?
I have seen personally far too many lesser known brands being tossed out because they can't find any replacement parts. I have also seen a LOT of clones of better known brands that have less durable copies of the parts found on the actual brand trucks/buggies.
Remember that you get what you pay...