Oddity on the site.

[biggman100]

This is more of an observation, and less of a rant. I have, on multiple occasions, asked for recommendations for different, specific type vehicles (SCT, MT, buggy, truggy), and almost every time, the top 3 companies recommended are Arrma, Traxxas, and a tie between Losi and Team Associated. With members all over the world, and all the companies that are out there, you would think that you would get a much wider variation. I know Traxxas is big in other countries, and Arrma is getting there, but, in my own research on my latest vehicle post, which was looking for an SCT, i found more than a dozen companies, and not one of them was recommended by anyone. Feiyue, ZD racing, Maverick, VKAR, HSP. One i noticed that is rarely recommended is ECX. I spent most of today on different youtube channels, and saw at least 20 different trucks yet only 4 or 5 companies are ever mentioned here.

Now for my small rant. Arrma seems to be one of the two biggest recommended on here, even though there is a dedicated Arrma forum. If i wanted an Arrma recommendation, i would just go to the Arrma forum.

 

[NCNitro]

That makes no sense, of course people will recommend an Arrma on an Arrma forum, however if its recommended on a non specific forum, I would think that carries more weight. Also, try and find parts for most of those other rigs you mentioned, good luck. People recommend a particular truck or manufacturer, in most cases by parts availability, aftermarket support, quality, as well as other factors.

 

[WoodiE]

This is more of an observation, and less of a rant. I have, on multiple occasions, asked for recommendations for different, specific type vehicles (SCT, MT, buggy, truggy), and almost every time, the top 3 companies recommended are Arrma, Traxxas, and a tie between Losi and Team Associated. With members all over the world, and all the companies that are out there, you would think that you would get a much wider variation. I know Traxxas is big in other countries, and Arrma is getting there, but, in my own research on my latest vehicle post, which was looking for an SCT, i found more than a dozen companies, and not one of them was recommended by anyone. Feiyue, ZD racing, Maverick, VKAR, HSP. One i noticed that is rarely recommended is ECX. I spent most of today on different youtube channels, and saw at least 20 different trucks yet only 4 or 5 companies are ever mentioned here.

Now for my small rant. Arrma seems to be one of the two biggest recommended on here, even though there is a dedicated Arrma forum. If i wanted an Arrma recommendation, i would just go to the Arrma forum.

LoL - this thread is silly.

 

[biggman100]

LoL - this thread is silly.

I tried to be serious, but noone was buying it. However, after what was said on here, the ECX forum, as well as a couple other forums, i now know why rarely anyone recommends ECX.

 

[WoodiE]

ECX is a fine brand, IF you have a local hobby shop as Horizon has pulled all online sales for this brand. You can only get the RC and parts from a LHS. So again while it's a great starter brand it only works for those with a local shop... something that's getting harder and harder to find every year.

Feiyue is a cheap, clone like, RC brand which almost always means cheap in every sense and parts will be much harder to find compared to other "real" rc grade brands.

Maverick is HPI owned. I have been a huge HPI fan for years, however the last many years HPI has gone through bankruptcy, being sold a time or two and parts are pretty much non-existent. Even on the extremely popular HPI Savage truck, parts can be a pain. Why in the world would anyone want to recommend a brand where parts are non-existent? Until HPI gets their act together and parts and models are flowing with consistency I see no honest way to recommend them.

The reason you're getting the suggestions you are, weather you like it or not, is because those brands are what work for a lot of people. It's not to say there aren't other brands out there. If you have a question about a particular brand it's best to ask that question.

It works the exact same way as if you were to ask what full size truck should you buy - you're probably going to get recommendations for the big three companies - Chevy, Dodge and Ford. That's not to say they are the only ones out there or even that the Nissan truck don't exist - they just simply aren't as popular.

 

[biggman100]

ECX is a fine brand, IF you have a local hobby shop as Horizon has pulled all online sales for this brand. You can only get the RC and parts from a LHS. So again while it's a great starter brand it only works for those with a local shop... something that's getting harder and harder to find every year.

Feiyue is a cheap, clone like, RC brand which almost always means cheap in every sense and parts will be much harder to find compared to other "real" rc grade brands.

Maverick is HPI owned. I have been a huge HPI fan for years, however the last many years HPI has gone through bankruptcy, being sold a time or two and parts are pretty much non-existent. Even on the extremely popular HPI Savage truck, parts can be a pain. Why in the world would anyone want to recommend a brand where parts are non-existent? Until HPI gets their act together and parts and models are flowing with consistency I see no honest way to recommend them.

The reason you're getting the suggestions you are, weather you like it or not, is because those brands are what work for a lot of people. It's not to say there aren't other brands out there. If you have a question about a particular brand it's best to ask that question.

It works the exact same way as if you were to ask what full size truck should you buy - you're probably going to get recommendations for the big three companies - Chevy, Dodge and Ford. That's not to say they are the only ones out there or even that the Nissan truck don't exist - they just simply aren't as popular.

I know why the brands here get recommended. It just surprises me that with so many overseas members, there arent more of the cheaper or off brands mentioned. It goes to show who is most active on here. Even the guy from the U.K. that was constantly pushing Maverick has been quiet for a bit. As for ECX, my comment was more about what i have heard the last couple days about them and their "quality". Unlike a couple other companies, at least HH knows exactly what the ECX vehicles are, and price them accordingly. My nearest shop that carries them is more than 120 miles away, which is why the only one i ever had was back when they were still Electrix, so, i asked about them, and got a whole list of needed upgrades for what i was looking to do with it, which is to be expected i guess. This whole thing wasn't in any way a complaint though. It was more just an overall observation.

 

[Slick2500]

ECX is a fine brand, IF you have a local hobby shop as Horizon has pulled all online sales for this brand. You can only get the RC and parts from a LHS. So again while it's a great starter brand it only works for those with a local shop... something that's getting harder and harder to find every year.

Feiyue is a cheap, clone like, RC brand which almost always means cheap in every sense and parts will be much harder to find compared to other "real" rc grade brands.

Maverick is HPI owned. I have been a huge HPI fan for years, however the last many years HPI has gone through bankruptcy, being sold a time or two and parts are pretty much non-existent. Even on the extremely popular HPI Savage truck, parts can be a pain. Why in the world would anyone want to recommend a brand where parts are non-existent? Until HPI gets their act together and parts and models are flowing with consistency I see no honest way to recommend them.

The reason you're getting the suggestions you are, weather you like it or not, is because those brands are what work for a lot of people. It's not to say there aren't other brands out there. If you have a question about a particular brand it's best to ask that question.

It works the exact same way as if you were to ask what full size truck should you buy - you're probably going to get recommendations for the big three companies - Chevy, Dodge and Ford. That's not to say they are the only ones out there or even that the Nissan truck don't exist - they just simply aren't as popular.

You can order Ecx parts online now directly from Horizon Hobby.

I know why the brands here get recommended. It just surprises me that with so many overseas members, there arent more of the cheaper or off brands mentioned. It goes to show who is most active on here. Even the guy from the U.K. that was constantly pushing Maverick has been quiet for a bit. As for ECX, my comment was more about what i have heard the last couple days about them and their "quality". Unlike a couple other companies, at least HH knows exactly what the ECX vehicles are, and price them accordingly. My nearest shop that carries them is more than 120 miles away, which is why the only one i ever had was back when they were still Electrix, so, i asked about them, and got a whole list of needed upgrades for what i was looking to do with it, which is to be expected i guess. This whole thing wasn't in any way a complaint though. It was more just an overall observation.

Yeah like I said in your other thread Ecx is more of a budget brand for new people to the hobby, Ecx was the first rc car that I owned, then I even bought another one. Most of the stuff I upgraded was as it broke, except for the metal tranny gears, I did that right away as it was suggest as a must do mod, some can get away with light bashing on 2s with the stock plastic gears though. The Ecx 2wd platform is very similar to the Traxxas 2wd platform as far as upgrades go, basically the stuff breaks on each of them.

 

[olds97_lss]

You can order Ecx parts online now directly from Horizon Hobby.

That's good at least. Still have to buy the vehicles at an LHS?

As mentioned, parts support plays a huge role in what gets recommended. If you can't fix it, then why bother buying it?

After having trucks that lost parts support over the past 20 years (XTM, OFNA, HPI, HB, Losi), it's rare that I recommend anything other than traxxas or arrma these days. Even Associated and Losi have dropped some of their trucks that were big 10 years ago. I got rid of one of my savage's because I was afraid to drive it due to not finding parts. I have a savage flux HP on the shelf that I rarely drive (last time was 2019), but I have found aftermarket/non-oem parts for it at least. I still have a micro-t that I can't find upgrades for. The trucks I drive the most have been around for many years and are Traxxas or arrma.

What stinks for the micro-t is that I can't find a suitable replacement for the truck. Everything is either far too small for running on typical carpet or too big for the space I have.

Never thought I'd see the day where I couldn't find savage or micro-t stuff... but here we are.

 

[biggman100]

That's good at least. Still have to buy the vehicles at an LHS?

As mentioned, parts support plays a huge role in what gets recommended. If you can't fix it, then why bother buying it?

After having trucks that lost parts support over the past 20 years (XTM, OFNA, HPI, HB, Losi), it's rare that I recommend anything other than traxxas or arrma these days. Even Associated and Losi have dropped some of their trucks that were big 10 years ago. I got rid of one of my savage's because I was afraid to drive it due to not finding parts. I have a savage flux HP on the shelf that I rarely drive (last time was 2019), but I have found aftermarket/non-oem parts for it at least. I still have a micro-t that I can't find upgrades for. The trucks I drive the most have been around for many years and are Traxxas or arrma.

What stinks for the micro-t is that I can't find a suitable replacement for the truck. Everything is either far too small for running on typical carpet or too big for the space I have.

Never thought I'd see the day where I couldn't find savage or micro-t stuff... but here we are.

It sucks that Losi and Team Associated at one point or another dumped vehicles like they were on fire. With Associated, it almost seems like the last few years, they will introduce something, and a couple years later, its gone. They should have just kept the SC10 belt drive. Instead, they dumped that, introduced the ProSC10, dumped that, and now they are coming out with the Pro4 SC10. I wonder how long it will last. I used to be a huge Associated fan. Now though, i barely pay attention to them anymore. Same with Losi. How many vehicles have they introduced then dumped the last few years? I'm not even sure. I normally dont get rid of trucks, even after they are long discontinued. I still have a Racers Edge Pro2/Team C TS2, and an Arrma Fury V1, that i still run. For parts, i just find parts from other vehicles that work.

 

[D3MON]

going to have to agree with most of the above, some people swear by some of the smaller cheaper brands, but most cases, its going to be weeks if not months before parts can be received after ordering and even then still getting an "OK" product (ZD, Feiyue, etc) which is why they arent recommended that often.
HSP is... its not "terrible" per se, but definitely not high quality when compared to brands like Arrma, AE, and TLR, parts are available, but they do break more often.
as said above maverick is part of HPI, though HPI has made good strides as of the last few months in making their comeback, even so far as to selling new Savage X trucks, but they are being hindered even more so by the coronavirus situation, on top of everyone buying them out of the more needed parts almost instantly.
AE is a race brand, they sell what is current and competitive, and work on either improving it, or if it doesn't do well, they drop it and start from scratch. Losi kind of does the same their "TLR" part is racing, always improving and changing to stay competitive, and try to beat out the competition which is doing the same, their "Losi" stuff is more the general RTR/basher stuff, if their stuff isnt doing well, they work to update it to be better, or scrap it.

 

[biggman100]

HSP is... its not "terrible" per se, but definitely not high quality when compared to brands like Arrma, AE, and TLR, parts are available, but they do break more often.

HSP and their rebrands (Redcat, Exceed RC), arent bad, but, after owning several of them, i would never willingly buy another one. Redcat however has made strides in making some of their non-HSP stuff better. I would never own another Volcano or Lightning or Tornado, but, i am looking at another Blackout XTE, and possibly a Gen7 or 8, and maybe a RC-MT10E.

 

[AClegg]

Yup, what ever country you live in, that's the people you need to ask. All these other posts are pretty accurate. The bottom line is this, when it comes to what we recommend:

- Parts availability
- parts availability
- parts availability
- personal preference

This is why you kept hearing the same brands over and over. Are these brands the best? NOPE! There are other brands that are just as good. However, due to parts availability, not too many people will recommend the others. However, I wouldn't get the new Associated Pro4 SC10. It's literally a rebadged Helion Avenge 10SC. It's pretty sad.

As for those other brands you asked about... good luck finding parts for them. However, ECX has a lot of parts available. ECX is Horizon Hobbies answer to Traxxas.

Now, you asked what is would we suggest for you. You didn't ask what we would personally chose for ourselves. For example, you asked me what budget 4wd SCT basher would I get, I would get a Losi Tenacity. Why, because it has the better performance for what I like. If you ask me what race buggy I would get, I would tell you Kyosho RB7. Why, because I don't like to look like everyone else. However, I wouldn't recommend these to new hobbyist because parts support is not in abundance. If you want parts, you have to order them.

 

[biggman100]

Yup, what ever country you live in, that's the people you need to ask. All these other posts are pretty accurate. The bottom line is this, when it comes to what we recommend:

- Parts availability
- parts availability
- parts availability
- personal preference

This is why you kept hearing the same brands over and over. Are these brands the best? NOPE! There are other brands that are just as good. However, due to parts availability, not too many people will recommend the others. However, I wouldn't get the new Associated Pro4 SC10. It's literally a rebadged Helion Avenge 10SC. It's pretty sad.

As for those other brands you asked about... good luck finding parts for them. However, ECX has a lot of parts available. ECX is Horizon Hobbies answer to Traxxas.

Now, you asked what is would we suggest for you. You didn't ask what we would personally chose for ourselves. For example, you asked me what budget 4wd SCT basher would I get, I would get a Losi Tenacity. Why, because it has the better performance for what I like. If you ask me what race buggy I would get, I would tell you Kyosho RB7. Why, because I don't like to look like everyone else. However, I wouldn't recommend these to new hobbyist because parts support is not in abundance. If you want parts, you have to order them.

I live in the states, but, unlike everyone else, i dont want the, one size fits all, i want the, what is best. Parts availability isnt an issue for me, since any parts i have to get, i have to get online anyway. You have mentioned the Tenacity a few other times. My issue there is where to get it, unless you mean the Tenacity TT Pro, which is beyond my budget. Every place i have looked for the Tenacity though, is never available. I did find the Method Wheels one a couple times, but didnt have the funds then. If this is the one you mean: http://www.losi.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=LOS03010T1 a few months back, i drove a total of almost 600 miles looking in store for it, because Losi said several stores around here had it, and every one i went to was sold out, and still is.

 

[olds97_lss]

I live in the states, but, unlike everyone else, i dont want the, one size fits all, i want the, what is best. Parts availability isnt an issue for me, since any parts i have to get, i have to get online anyway. You have mentioned the Tenacity a few other times. My issue there is where to get it, unless you mean the Tenacity TT Pro, which is beyond my budget. Every place i have looked for the Tenacity though, is never available. I did find the Method Wheels one a couple times, but didnt have the funds then. If this is the one you mean: http://www.losi.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=LOS03010T1 a few months back, i drove a total of almost 600 miles looking in store for it, because Losi said several stores around here had it, and every one i went to was sold out, and still is.

Tekno makes some of the best trucks. They are pricey, but the parts quality starts at a higher level than Arrma for the most part. They are geared more for racing as they offer only kits I believe, but really any truck/buggy does what you do with it. They do have an SCT, it's based on their smaller 1/10 platform, still runs 1/8th drivetrain I believe though.

 

[WoodiE]

Tekno makes some of the best trucks. They are pricey, but the parts quality starts at a higher level than Arrma for the most part. They are geared more for racing as they offer only kits I believe, but really any truck/buggy does what you do with it. They do have an SCT, it's based on their smaller 1/10 platform, still runs 1/8th drivetrain I believe though.

Tekno are amazing RC's indeed. Their price is what scares most though.

 

[biggman100]

Tekno is way. way out of my budget. Scraping together $300 at times isnt easy, so something that is more than twice that is impossible.

 

[freelosophy]

Tekno is by far the best rc today. If anyone disagrees, please tell me your preference am looking for something new and found nothing better than my tekno mt410. got a granite blx that I've upgraded with aluminium everywhere and put tekno shocks on it. It's almost as bullet proof now like a tekno, but not comparing a tekno to anything else, there's nothing else better. prove me wrong tell me what's better!

 

[Slick2500]

Tekno are amazing RC's indeed. Their price is what scares most though.

Well worth it though. Plus the 50% lifetime warranty on parts is nice.

That's good at least. Still have to buy the vehicles at an LHS?

As mentioned, parts support plays a huge role in what gets recommended. If you can't fix it, then why bother buying it?

After having trucks that lost parts support over the past 20 years (XTM, OFNA, HPI, HB, Losi), it's rare that I recommend anything other than traxxas or arrma these days. Even Associated and Losi have dropped some of their trucks that were big 10 years ago. I got rid of one of my savage's because I was afraid to drive it due to not finding parts. I have a savage flux HP on the shelf that I rarely drive (last time was 2019), but I have found aftermarket/non-oem parts for it at least. I still have a micro-t that I can't find upgrades for. The trucks I drive the most have been around for many years and are Traxxas or arrma.

What stinks for the micro-t is that I can't find a suitable replacement for the truck. Everything is either far too small for running on typical carpet or too big for the space I have.

Never thought I'd see the day where I couldn't find savage or micro-t stuff... but here we are.

Yeah, but sometimes you can find open box returns on eBay for less than $100.

Check HRP for Savage parts, I looked a week or so ago and they had almost everything in stock for the Vorza.