It’s hard sink a $1,000 plus on a kit to run on a specific type of track just for the track to close down 6 months to a year later and now the nearest track to run your kit is 3-4 hours away or more.
Yup..I used to race @ 702 raceway in Vegas for a few years. I had to move for job relocation, and seen on their Facebook page they're closing and everything is for sale. I was blown away!!! It was an excellent track and the people were outstanding! Now my sc10 just sits in the closet collecting dust. The closet track to me is almost in the next state over. Had alot of good memories.
Yeah I invested several thousand to have my track close right after. I just can’t keep up with the travel costs and probably have to quit racing. I was finally learning to drive
Yup. I was Pretty pissed when our Local track OCRC closed down. It was because the church across the way was greedy and forced them to move out. I bought a Losi 22X -4 and spent nearly a grand. Just for the track to close.
There are two very interesting scenarios here in Ohio. One is in Urbana. A local RC club (planes, cars, etc.) was able to get their city park district to dedicate an area for a 1/8 buggy track with a driver's stand. Not much in the way of parking, electricity, or shelter, but it is a great example of how partnerships can work if the club is willing to provide the upkeep and some of the money. The other situation is just outside of Cincinnati. A local RC club (carpet racing) lost its facility when the senior club member retired. The club was able to lease a building on the cheap from the county fairgrounds to outfit a track. The partnership has gone so well, that the county fairgrounds committee is working to secure outdoor space (and new asphalt) for an asphalt track. I think this is the way RC needs to head. Strong clubs pursuing partnerships. There is too much personal financial risk for an individual to open a track/hobby shop. Very few last more than 5 years. Too much overhead.
just my opinion here, but i think some of the decline is due to every indoor clay track being the same, or near the same. it has its pros and cons. while it can make it easier on tire selection and tire prep, being that you only need a set of slicks, or ground down tires for a majority of tracks, it also doesnt change the fact that the inserts still break down, which is a problem in itself. there are stiffer inserts sure, but then you sacrifice grip potential for longevity. one thing with high bite clay is that the style of driving is vastly different than it is on a loose dirt surface, as well as the tire selection. i can go several seasons on a set of large pin tires on back and a set of ribbed fronts on a loose, loamy surface. not to say thats good or bad, its just something to consider with the rising costs of racing as a whole. with indoors i can typically go 3 to 5 race days on a set of tires, sometimes more or less depending on the situation. the cars themselves are an issue for a lot of people. for those of us that have experience with racing, its relatively easy to get a car to make laps. for a new person just getting into rc that isnt the case. theres a ton of setup involved, you have to have a certain amount of knowledge on the cars and what to do if its doing this or that. one thing with high bite is if you are off a little bit on setup, you are off a lot. you can run on a loose dirt track and be off a lot on setup and it isnt the end of the world. high bite with mid motor the cars drive like slot cars. its good and bad. the cars are easier to drive now days, but it tends to make things a bit boring. especially with 17.5 racing where you are on throttle for 90-95% of a lap. the cars are too glued to the track, they are too fast for most people, and most of the tuning is beyond the average persons level of comprehension. go back about 20-25 years and compare the amount of adjustments between the cars and you will see what i mean. its overwhelming for most people, especially those new to the hobby. as the cars further distance themselves from where things once were, as well as the tracks becoming more technical, it pushes the seasoned racers out. the problem with that is there isnt many new people coming into the hobby to fill the gaps left by people getting out. how do we fix it?... exposure is a big thing. if people dont know about racing, they arent going to get out to the track. i cant tell you how many times ive had new people show up to our track and say i never knew this place even existed. how long has it been here?... media exposure is a big thing. we need people to promote the hobby, and do what we can to bring new people in. secondly, i think manufacturers need to offer a low budget entry version of the cars currently offered. i'll use an example of cars from back in the day. you had a few different levels in what was offered in the car. you could opt for a bare bones basic kit if you were on a budget, and it went up from there. now we dont have that option. the cars already come pre decked out from the factory. which is good for the serious racers, but when you get the kid starting out on a budget, most people arent willing to commit to spending 6-800 on a kit, electronics, and whatever else just to even get on the track. this is where traxxas has the market cornered. affordable, entry level cars that anyone can drive. so if more manufacturers adopted a basic entry level race kit it would definitely be a step in the right direction. back to the exposure thing for a second. so look at what traxxas has done with the slash. they got involved with the real life racing scene, and scaled that down offering people a miniaturized version of what they see on tv or at the race track. exposure. costs. simplicity. that is how you fix RC.
i think a lot of times people forget about the hobby as a whole. its not just about the pros, and big races. without local tracks and regular people supporting the hobby, racing will die. rc as a whole is in a good position, racing is more of a niche. for every 100 people that own an RC, you probably have 1, maybe 2 people that race. we just need to be more involved and welcoming with those people.
I've tried to get into 17.5 a couple times (clay and carpet), thinking the cars would be a bit slower and easier to get into, but you're right, being a noob and not having a completely dialed in car is a huge disadvantage. You would think that building to the kit instructions would be the "best" setup, but it's not, it's just the middle. It took me a couple months of testing to get a car somewhat decent, but it's still not great. You would also think brands would send their pros or a rep to local shops and create a setup for people to follow, or even the shop owners themselves. Looking up sheets for a pro at a specific even doesn't really help at a local track. The more competitive all the racers are the better they will all become. Noobs will stay interested, better drivers will have more competitive races, tracks will have more customers sticking around. I have more fun driving a Grasshopper or Arrma basher around the house than a day at the track practicing. Once the new people from the COVID boom fade away, the hobby will see a quick decline.
One of the positives living in SoCal is the mass amount of tracks within a 2 hr drive. Carpet, dirt, outdoor, clay, indoor, parking lot, dedicated surface. Not enough time in the week.
As a Newby to the sport here’s what I see as some big issues. Market share is being diminished as drones become more popular. Ground vehicles are fractured by a lot of different types (bashing, off-road racing, road racing, drag, rock crawling etc) New exposure to the sport is limited and there’s a big cost/knowledge barrier to entry ($60 for a set of tires a that only last a few races?) More tracks need to offer rentals to get people attracted into the sport. Parts support is horrible and confusing for newbies. There should be better parts support and efforts to try to standardize parts across suppliers/platforms to drive down cost/complexity of ownership.
"Market share is being diminished as drones become more popular." I wouldn't say drones are the main reason for the loss of market share for racing models. It's the fact that dedicated bashers are becoming more and more popular vs racing vehicles. And that's a side effect of another problem. "Ground vehicles are fractured by a lot of different types" Used to not be so much of an issue, at least with bashing and off road racing. Still isn't with the 1/8th scale classes, but the problem is that most people just want to run "Stock" 2WD buggy on carpet, and that's where the problems arise. Modern 1/10th scale 2WD buggies are little more than on-road cars with beefier suspension for jumps, if you were to take them out on dirt they'd just get bounced around undriveably, and they easily get stuck on grass. Back when every off-road class ran on dirt, you used to be able to bash your race car. Now, unless you run 1/8th scale one of the few 1/10th scale classes that typically run on dirt like 1/10th scale 4WD SCT or 1/10th scale 4WD Truck, you really can't. And because that killed basher interest in the racing models, bashers started turning to other, more bashing-focused brands for cars that were more specialized for that particular role. I wouldn't consider rock crawling or drag racing to really be a factor here. Those are kind of their own separate niches and saying that, say, rock crawlers are killing racing would be like saying that Barbecue restaurants are at risk of losing business to Ramen shops. "New exposure to the sport is limited" You can blame the fact that the only company even remotely willing to publicly advertise is Traxxas for that. Outside of two spec classes (box stock slash, box stock bandit) and no-prep drag racing, Traxxas doesn't make a single car that's even remotely raceable out of the box. That's not to say you can't make a bandit competitive outside of a dedicated spec class, MXAcres has done it, but it takes a LOT of time, effort and money. So, what happens is that someone buys a bandit, finds out about a track somehow, and goes there with their box-stock bandit, and then one of three things happens: 1. they get laughed away for daring to bring a bandit to the track before they can even run. 2. they get to run, but the car breaks and they get told to not even bother fixing it and to dump $1600+ into a stock-class prepped buggy instead. 3. they get to run, but they struggle to make it around the track, and they get told to get rid of it and dump $1600+ into a stock-class prepped buggy instead. There's also the fact that the tracks themselves don't really advertise their existence beyond the bare minimum. "More tracks need to offer rentals to get people attracted into the sport." With a lot of tracks, even if they do offer rentals, they're often old RTRs like the Associated B4, or dare I say it, the Traxxas Bandit. Those are fine if the track runs dirt but if they're running any high-bite surfaces they need to provide a suitable vehicle. Now, I'm not saying those vehicles have to be fully race-prepped stock-class buggies. A handful of Serpent SRX2 Spyder RTRs would be perfect in those cases. So, more tracks need to run rentals, and the ones that do need to ensure that they're appropriate for the track. To note, Beachline Raceway out in Coco _did_ go the full stock prepped route, they've got a fleet of B6s as their rentals. "Parts support is horrible and confusing for newbies." This is actually dependent on which model you get. Some brands are absolutely crap with this, either because of their own business decisions (Kyosho's minimum order policy for dealers back in the 2000s) or due to situations outside of their control (TLR has been completely screwed over by Horizon's inventory system fuckup, LC Racing has to ship from China). Others are actually really solid in this regard, XRAY and Mayako put a lot of effort into helping their customers out and pretty much any store that carries more than ARRMA and Traxxas will have at least some Associated stuff in stock. "efforts to try to standardize parts" There's only so much you can do here. Batteries, wheels and tires are all standardized for their particular platform, and some platforms like SCTs and touring cars also have standardized bodies. There could definitely be a benefit to moving to standardized slipper clutches and differentials, but the thing is that each manufacturer is trying to optimize their car as they see fit so a lot of the chassis and suspension bits are inevitably going to be different.
@@VestedUTuber I think you’re spot-on on most points! I still think there’s more that could be done on standardizing parts though. One of the main factors in choosing a platform is basing it off of parts support. “Choose what your local hobby shop sells” is echoed in every advice forum. There’s more that could be done to make this less of an issue. Slipper clutches, diff’s, ball joints, ball cups, turn buckles, cvd’s, axels, bearings, idler gears, could all be standardized across a few different sizes. It would cut down on development cost and maintenance cost. Manufacturers choose not too because they want you tied to their products, and then make them obsolete so you’re stuck buying a new chassis. Good on traxxas for trying to buck this trend by having long-running model lines and trying to simplify this for customers. AE seems to be taking a page out of that book by offering variations on existing platforms with their RTR models all using similar parts.
@@mjlogic Fuck... UA-cam auto-flagged my reply as it seems to do half the time. I was going to point out how many of the parts you mentioned are either already standardized or CAN'T be standardized due to having to interact with other platform-specific design elements, but apparently doing so counts as "unauthorized commercial content or spam". FUCK UA-cam AND FUCK GOOGLE!
I live in a relatively small town and I’ve always wished someone would open a track. Unfortunately the community is non existent, but I still have fun.
I remember back then a lot of ready to run vehicles were able to be made into race vehicles by doing some slight upgrades not having to break the bank (I.E. losi 8ight, Mini T, XTM XT2e). Now a lot of them are discontinued leaving you no choice but spend $600 on a kit then having to spend another $500 on electronics. I'm sorry but as much as I love RC, I would rather buy a used Dirt Bike that needs TLC and hitting up the local track with some buddies. Motocross is more budget friendly than RC racing and I find that kinda disappointing.
Part of the reason why that happened was because as higher-traction surfaces demanded more specialized vehicles, the racing platforms became less suitable for basically doing anything BUT racing. I like using the Associated buggies as a good example of this, as there's a well-defined point where Associated decided to stop making RTRs of their racing platforms and it coincides with the release of their first clay and carpet focused car, the B5. Honestly, the solution is to go back to dirt.
for some reason traxxas the only ones smart enough to ship product to influencers and get the next generation involved or just get more people into RC. good on traxxas for that.
Big events are doing well. Grass-roots and club racing are hurting. My track witch is 45 miles away is only open one day a week and that is race day. One of my RC mentors once told me," Bowlers who only bowl on league night will never roll a 300 game". The lack of people willing to pay for track time ended my in-door track being open one extra day a week. Only about 3 to 5% of RC cars or trucks ever get entered in an actual race, This includes competitive type vehicles. This limits the amount of profit for tracks. A track can help the bottom line of a hobby shop but is will never be the main source of income. Tracks are opened by RC race lovers who know it will be a non-profit endeavor. This is a very frail situation at best. I'm rambling like I have for all my years in rc racing. My first race was October 1996. The only RC company who has put RC in front of new eyes, it that time is Traxxas. Their Business plan to sell and support hobby-grade equipment has made them the GM of RC. They have been making and supporting the Holy Three (Bandit, Rustler and Stampede) since 1994. People come into hobby shops with one of these old Traxxas stuff every day and get revived because Traxxas is still making them. Hopefully others like Arrma will keep their well designed entry level stuff supported as well.
As someone that has been watching or participated in RC since I was 16 (50's now), it has had it's share of ups and downs. The biggest problem as you said, is advertising and drivers. Expecting the driver to advertise as well as drive and help others (Customer support), makes it more like work than a hobby. Not to mention a lot of the drivers in the past were more personable, these days they all sound alike. Kind of like Nascar drivers, they all sound like they came from the same school Isn't this supposed to be fun? I mean if it isn't fun why do it?
The NASCAR comparison works quite well. Sounds kind of dramatic but it seems like they act less like people and more like salesmen or literal walking ads.
@@RoachRC, That's exactly my point, thank you. Look at the Nascar drivers of like 20+ years ago, they were individuals. yes they mentioned their sponsors, but they had their lives. These days their lives are the racing, be it selling or talking or whatever. I see the same thing with RC, they are racers first then salesmen or customer service. you never see these guys relax and have fun. I get it that they get paid a lot, but there has to be something fun there
Man I love your channel I'm 42 so I was around when AE and Losi became the car's to race and I remember my first Race Rc it was a gold tub Rc10 but that's enough reminiscing I love your video's they bring me back and your info for the most part is spot on thanks and keep it up we have to keep this hobby alive we have to.........
What happened to RC racing? This answer isn't an easy answer. It's complicated! RC was mostly advertised through events and magazines in 70's through 90's. As all magazines became more expensive to produce, subscribers fell off on the early 00's. This hurt RC as a whole Business: Running any business heavily relies on loans. The 2008 recession hit. Hobby shops were not excluded from this. All businesses took a hit and most hobby shops didn't survive. Owners got out or went bankrupt. Racers and budget racers saw their investment in fun collect dust without a track to race. Small time racer networks fell apart. Video games: The video game Industry snatched a bunch of the old racers and almost all the future racers. With the magazine platform done, gaming transitioned to online better than RC did. Gaming got more exposure on social media. People built social media incomes playing games online. RC doesn't have the base of media influence that gaming does. Social apathy: As people would rather sit on a couch and watch a screen. Future racers and hobbyists dwindled lower and lower. Simple wrenching skills declined. Knowledge dwindled too. Side skills like building and soldering are almost extinct. Combine that with manufacturers competing to a smaller market and trying to make markets for their own products, there are simply too many options. Combine that with online shopping and very little profit for tracks and shops to operate on. Very few hobby shops opened up after the 2008 recession. Any shops that did, only did so through exclusive pricing deals with manufacturers. Traxxas was more into this game than any other manufacturer. Shop owners made deals to buy kits with steep discounts so they could compete with online shopping and still make profits. Throw in the covid lockdown of 2020 and anything left minus a few big tracks are all shut down now.
As someone who just got into RC at 30 years old. I agree that the different rulesets for tracks is very daunting. Figuring out what you need and what will work/fit requires a lot of research. Having gone with a touring car as my first setup may have made things more complicated though. However, all of that only to find out touring doesn't seem as popular here in Texas as it does in some other countries. Looking into buggies next.
"When was the last time you saw a video ad from an RC racing company?" I can honestly say it was the Jammin' X1-CRT TV ad that Jammin' never actually sent to advertisers and just uploaded to their UA-cam channel. Even then, they marketed a 1/8th scale nitro truggy like you would a toy grade RC car.
Great video and i agree. The rules need to be standardized especially in the stock class since stock was originally created as a cost controlled class valuing driver skill over mods and speed and is supposed to be easier for new drivers to get into. Now its cheaper to build a mod car than a stock which can be rather intimidating for newcomers since building a competitive stock racer is now a fine balance between weight, power and grip which gets expensive. Standardized rules would also make it easier and less intimidating to keep up with.
"stock was originally created as a cost controlled class valuing driver skill" It's never been a cost-controlled class, it's always been defined by motor limitations alone. Even back in the early brushed days people were spending small fortunes dyno-testing hand-wound 27T motors and buying individual battery cells to make perfectly matched packs, and bearing kits have pretty much always been a thing. What you're thinking of are silver-can spec classes which, yes, we REALLY need to see those come back in some form.
Sending love from australia 👌 The 1/10th scale scene is really blowing up right now here in sydney! Depending on weather theres atleast 1 club or big event race every weekend and its only getting more popular, our 1/8th scale scene is really suffering tho we have had council regulation essentially ban the use of nitro or 1/8th electric vehicles on all current race tracks in greater sydney :( We have got one track under construction to facilitate 1/8th scale racing but wont be ready till potentially early next year.
@@RoachRC I wouldn't be so optimistic about 1/10th scale, that's the worst offender when it comes to the massive costs and divide between racing and the rest of the RC scene due to how overspecialized 1/10th scale off-road classes have become.
I'm in southern Indiana area, across from Louisville Kentucky and rc has exploded here when the pandemic hit. We have a track/ hobby shop that has went from small husband wife shop to probably one of the biggest rcplex in the mid west! And you have to give arrma a lot of credit for the growth, love it or hate it! But your right rc is not dead!
Traxxas and the others manufactures need to loosen up with their dealer networks. My local tracks don’t have much for spare parts or cars because they can’t get a dealership for the major brands.
So, regarding indoor vs outdoor, one other thing is that a lot of 1/10th scale off-road models have become overspecialized for indoor, super-high bite clay and carpet tracks. Running 1/8th and 1/10th scale classes on the same track was a bit problematic to begin with as the 1/8th scale vehicles would absolutely tear up the track surface, making things extremely difficult for the 1/10th scale cars, but this shift towards an indoor, smooth, high bite track for 1/10th scale has resulted in cars that are even worse at handling a blown-out track than the old B4s and XXX-CRs. These days, the only 1/10th scale classes that can really run on a 1/8th scale track without problems are 1/10th scale 4WD truck, 1/10th scale 4WD SCT, 1/10th scale 4WD Production Monster Truck (a class that's been dead for a couple decades now) and Spec Slash.
My local indoor clay track closed down a couple years ago, which wasn't surprising due to the ownership, condition and attitude of the "pros" there. I recently started to go to a new carpet track, much better environment and people. I've been trying to support them by buying everything from them that I can. The industry pretty much has fixed pricing, so buy at your local shop if you can, every dollar helps. So far I'm enjoying carpet much more than clay. No buying new tires just to sand them down to slicks, no tire prep, no mess or dirty car. No chasing the track conditions every time I go for practice. Carpet is simply consistent.
What carpet saves in maintenance costs and tires, it costs in kit price and repeat purchases. Carpet offroad cars are extremely overspecialized and the extreme high-bite environment makes it harder to stay competitive without buying the latest model and dumping money into upgraded bearings and other methods of reducing rolling resistance. Dirt may have been a pain to clean and maintain but it was also a great equalizer. You could run a B4 RTR alongside the B4FT kit on dirt and not worry about being at too much of a disadvantage. If you tried running an RB10 on carpet against a B7FT you'd have no chance of being competitive. And the price difference between an RB10 and a B7FT plus running gear is exponentially larger than the difference between the B4RTR and the B4FT plus running gear.
You've hit a lot of very good, and very important points with respect to the state of RC racing today. Fragmentation, rising costs, smaller (and even not-so-small) tracks shutting down because they simply can't afford to stay open are all obstacles that are facing the sport of RC racing. The sad reality is, there is no one clear solution to any of these. Governing bodies need to do more to not only bring consistency to events, but they also need to promote these events in ways that bring in new participants (and spectators). Manufacturers need to get out of the 90s with respect to their marketing efforts and just get with the program with respect to social media. And as guilty as I am of online shopping, I do make it a point to visit my LHS and RC track for purchases whenever I can because I know that's the only way they'll keep the lights on. Here's an interesting thought: a spec class where racers show up with cars that have no motor, wheels, and tires. Racers must use a specific battery and a specific ESC. Participants are then supplied with a spec motor the day of the event that's been tested and balanced to match all the other motors so there's no performance advantage. Participants are also given two sets of premounted tires and that's ALL they can run for the event. At the end of the event, everything is returned to the race organizers so they can be checked, reconditioned, and readied for the next event. I'll bet organizers could put on an event like that for an entry fee that's not much more than what most pay today and would make for closer, more interesting racing. Plus it might open the door for more folks to consider racing since all they really have to do is build their cars, put in a specific ESC and battery - everything else is supplied at the track. Something like this could help to reduce some of that fragmentation within the racing scene as well.
In regards to the spec class. A class like that would probably have to be a brushed class. That would be good though. To have most things supplied by the track but the track would half to increase prices by a lot more than a little
That hand out idea could be cost prohibitive on both sides. Especially if your thinking of using brushless motors for this. And the reconditioning idea has its own set of problems. Personally, I would avoid this class like the plague because of the potential problems and cost.
It wont work. We had a similar concept done at our track (It is one of the biggest tracks in the North-east) The problem is the level of competition. It was great for a few weeks till some wanted to go above and beyond to get that little extra speed, it causes a inbalance in a class that is supposed to be "super tight time wise." That is why I personally don't run a lot of 17.5 anymore. Most of your top 17.5/13.5 drivers are doing stuff that you won't ever be able to see, and getting stuff that I wouldn't exactly consider legal racing standards in terms of stock. It causes a class that is supposed to be super competitive into something that quite honestly just isn't fun to run.
The RC scene has been up and down since the early 90s, It doesn't grow because its expensive to be competitive, there are not many tracks in most places and its a niche hobby
"It doesn't grow because its expensive to be competitive" Doesn't have to be. But reining in those costs would require a LOT of changes to the sport that would not be popular with the old guard. Pros and veteran club racers alike have constantly been pushing for higher-traction surfaces, and racing manufacturers keep further pushing car designs more towards those smooth, almost on-road like surfaces. Bringing back rough, loose dirt tracks would tip things back towards being more affordable, but it'll never happen because the guys who actually have a say want their consistent, high-bite setups and don't give a shit about cost of entry.
As a kid I only got to run on a track once and it wasn’t even my own car. It was at a factory outlet location which had a hobby store that had an indoor track that you could pay money to drive their cars. I only got to go once and the car I got had broken steering. I felt ripped off and never went again. I don’t think the place lasted long. Even recently when I googled tracks near me there aren’t that many. It is definitely a niche activity further exasperated by the fact kids are more into gaming then rc these days so there is no new blood coming in. Photos on rc clubs are mostly middle aged adults.
"kids are more into gaming then rc these days" Part of the reason for that is because they don't get the exposure to it, and because they want to do what their friends are doing. Part of the way you get kids into the hobby is to bring entire friend groups in. Maybe also organize events at schools, get the afterschool STEM and STEAM programs in on it, etc.
Was looking to be back into racing after being gone for 20+ years, only to find out my local track closed last year. What a bummer. Nothing near me within 3 hours now.
1) R/C is very expensive. The quicker you want to go, the more expensive it gets + factor in inflation 2) Attention span is becoming less and less...everything is "dying off" 3a) People don't know what they want....for example, you mention the sport needs uniformity, but mention ROAR and how tedious their rules are 3b) They also tend to want to own every car and category they can...and (spread themselves too thin) don't have success and simply lose interest!
RC3 had our biggest year for the Rocket City Challenge this year. More entries than any year prior. More people are getting out to the track it seems like.
@@RoachRC Well I can think of One here in Alabama. That would be Warehouse down in Helana. Great track, but yeah Outdoor seems to reign supreme here in the south. I personally prefer the smaller indoor tracks for 1/10 which is the only thing I run. Just going to have to get used to running on bigger outdoor tracks. At RC3 we have a good balance that keeps both crowds happy, but some of the outdoor tracks are just huge.
im joining RC3 as we speak! Got into the hobby about a month or so ago and im loving it. Definitely dont mind giving money to the Huntsville club/track. I want to see it continue!
Im not up to date on rc racing, but i do know that retro rc collecting has had a bit of a resurgence. Like the Kyosho Re-releases are always sold out. Like the Turbo Optima and Javelin. And also Tamiya collectors are pretty crazy like they will spend a lot of money on crap cars just for the nostalgia.
The owner of my local outdoor track all but shut down due to lack of attendance and club members...we all did the maintance and organizing so after certain people moved on it all collapsed. Its open for bashing and testing but no races or big weekends anymore.
I live in Hiram, GA the closest track is about an hour and a half from where I live. I would love to find one closer to practice with my Kyosho Inferno Neo 3.0 VE.
Well done, you hit upon many valid points. As another "ground level" racer/youtuber, I predominantly race dirt oval which doesn't get as much exposure like buggy, and drag racing even crawling here. I believe like you said it's fractured but i do believe it's not beyond help. People like us are good for the hobby. I do however think companies need to step their game up and not just not rely on us, or even pros for that matter.
I’m an avid r/c guy going back to the early days and now there are no tracks within two hours of where I live and apparently I’m the only guy in my town who has cars it sucks
I'm just looking to get back into the hobby after about 20 years off. It seems like 1/8th truggy isn't very popular any more. What happened to that class?
Depends on where you are. One place they may be popular the other place they aren't at all. My local track has a pretty good showing for truggies most of the time
Hello from Australia. IMO, the devide between bashing and racing is getting wider. You are right, the marketing from racing companies suck. Even Xray. Try to find a review on their cars. Bashers co do a great job. The advertising for Arrma or Traxxas so much more fun and inspiring. Ex basher now, try hard racer. 😁👍
I'm only a year into competitive rc after having raced 4wd slashes for 3 years in a friends yard but the worst part of rc that I and everyone else I've been talking to is the amount of classes at a club level. Just today I was at the Toy Box in new richmond wi and we had 9 different classes. Today all except sportsman had a decent turnout but in previous weeks I've shown up with my stock buggy and stock wheeler and walked away with stock buggy by 3 laps and gotten second in wheeler by 2 laps between me and the 2 around me. This day we still had 9 divisions. 17.5 2wd, 13.5 4wd, 2wd truck (sc or st) 4wd sct, truggy, mod 2wd, mod 4wd, sportsman, and a novice buggy (2wd or 4wd). This leads to low turnouts due to the amount of different classes. If the market wasn't this full of classes the club races would do slightly better because you might not have 3 car divisions on non trophy race days.
As a newbie to RC racing (coming from planes,helicopters,and bashing I can tell you that while the guys at my local track have been inviting and helpful there aren’t enough resources online. Clear your experienced mind for a minute and imagine a newbie browsing through Amain’s website. Let’s say I want an ESC and motor. There’s absolutely nothing steering me in the right direction. Which lipo? Nope no info either. That alone will kill the spirit of any dad trying to buy a vehicle for himself or son. Cost is another animal. It’s cost me about $1500 to get my Tekno SCT together. But there’s a serious lack of information out there for newbie’s to get a good idea of what exactly they need for racing.
Rc tracks (indoor) are closing simply because they require lots of indoor space usually and commercial building rent is skyrocketing. It’s not just rc that this is affecting
Since I've only been in this hobby for a year, I can only say this: there's only one to go from here and that's up! Up in the number of outdoor tracks, up in popularity of 1/8 scale, and up in the number of people in attendance. Good video dude!
few years ago i though rc hobby died all together in here finland bc nearlyb all rc shops are dead there is 3 in the whole country and there are just a few tracks i am happy that there is one 30 km away from me
Not in the metro Atlanta area. There's one in Columbus, Loganville might be running 10th scale now, The barn in Barnsville is opening up soon, and there will be a new track in Cartersville in January
I just want to make a comment about the weather affecting the race day. What i dont understand is why European racers run in the rain but yet americans dont
I manage an idol group called GRC Project aiming to try and target the anime fan audience (which is kinda going somewhere) we have a small racing series i guess its more of an online leaderboard members of the idol group and fans can participate we just have general guidelines on minimum car scale to keep it fair but anything goes in terms of mods etc, and we push out track designs every few months just a bit of friendly competition for the most part it was in test run for a few months mostly because i had 2 members' cars break when they were doing the small autocross track layout we setup so once this gets into full swing even as a leaderboard thing hoping to get more people into the hobby (minimum scale is the 1/14 wltoys buggy size just to keep everything withing similar scaling since anything smaller may be a tad out of place against the bigger ones -thinking of making that a separate class on its own-)
@@RoachRC gonna add one more note local tracks where we're from have race classes that regulate motors to stock tamiya silver cans so its very entry level cost wise
Not many losi at the worlds.... well losi is American right, the most popular class is the beginner stock class so it’s no wonder the worlds with ‘mod’ motors pits them off
@@RoachRC it’s the coolest hobby but dam I just can’t keep traveling every week. If I don’t go weekly it’s almost like starting over by the time I get back. I haven’t got a raise in over five years. Inflation has actually caused my income to go down
@@RoachRC that’s about the only time I see any real improvements in my driving. I usually can only go monthly. I’m trying out Vrc pro before I quit. Maybe I can keep somewhat fresh if I get that functioning. 🤞
It’s hard sink a $1,000 plus on a kit to run on a specific type of track just for the track to close down 6 months to a year later and now the nearest track to run your kit is 3-4 hours away or more.
Yup..I used to race @ 702 raceway in Vegas for a few years. I had to move for job relocation, and seen on their Facebook page they're closing and everything is for sale. I was blown away!!! It was an excellent track and the people were outstanding! Now my sc10 just sits in the closet collecting dust. The closet track to me is almost in the next state over. Had alot of good memories.
So quit bitching and open your own track. Be part of the solution instead of waiting for someone else to do it. 🙄
Yeah I invested several thousand to have my track close right after. I just can’t keep up with the travel costs and probably have to quit racing. I was finally learning to drive
Yup. I was Pretty pissed when our Local track OCRC closed down. It was because the church across the way was greedy and forced them to move out. I bought a Losi 22X -4 and spent nearly a grand. Just for the track to close.
There are two very interesting scenarios here in Ohio. One is in Urbana. A local RC club (planes, cars, etc.) was able to get their city park district to dedicate an area for a 1/8 buggy track with a driver's stand. Not much in the way of parking, electricity, or shelter, but it is a great example of how partnerships can work if the club is willing to provide the upkeep and some of the money. The other situation is just outside of Cincinnati. A local RC club (carpet racing) lost its facility when the senior club member retired. The club was able to lease a building on the cheap from the county fairgrounds to outfit a track. The partnership has gone so well, that the county fairgrounds committee is working to secure outdoor space (and new asphalt) for an asphalt track. I think this is the way RC needs to head. Strong clubs pursuing partnerships. There is too much personal financial risk for an individual to open a track/hobby shop. Very few last more than 5 years. Too much overhead.
just my opinion here, but i think some of the decline is due to every indoor clay track being the same, or near the same. it has its pros and cons. while it can make it easier on tire selection and tire prep, being that you only need a set of slicks, or ground down tires for a majority of tracks, it also doesnt change the fact that the inserts still break down, which is a problem in itself. there are stiffer inserts sure, but then you sacrifice grip potential for longevity. one thing with high bite clay is that the style of driving is vastly different than it is on a loose dirt surface, as well as the tire selection. i can go several seasons on a set of large pin tires on back and a set of ribbed fronts on a loose, loamy surface. not to say thats good or bad, its just something to consider with the rising costs of racing as a whole. with indoors i can typically go 3 to 5 race days on a set of tires, sometimes more or less depending on the situation.
the cars themselves are an issue for a lot of people. for those of us that have experience with racing, its relatively easy to get a car to make laps. for a new person just getting into rc that isnt the case. theres a ton of setup involved, you have to have a certain amount of knowledge on the cars and what to do if its doing this or that. one thing with high bite is if you are off a little bit on setup, you are off a lot. you can run on a loose dirt track and be off a lot on setup and it isnt the end of the world.
high bite with mid motor the cars drive like slot cars. its good and bad. the cars are easier to drive now days, but it tends to make things a bit boring. especially with 17.5 racing where you are on throttle for 90-95% of a lap. the cars are too glued to the track, they are too fast for most people, and most of the tuning is beyond the average persons level of comprehension. go back about 20-25 years and compare the amount of adjustments between the cars and you will see what i mean. its overwhelming for most people, especially those new to the hobby.
as the cars further distance themselves from where things once were, as well as the tracks becoming more technical, it pushes the seasoned racers out. the problem with that is there isnt many new people coming into the hobby to fill the gaps left by people getting out. how do we fix it?... exposure is a big thing. if people dont know about racing, they arent going to get out to the track. i cant tell you how many times ive had new people show up to our track and say i never knew this place even existed. how long has it been here?... media exposure is a big thing. we need people to promote the hobby, and do what we can to bring new people in.
secondly, i think manufacturers need to offer a low budget entry version of the cars currently offered. i'll use an example of cars from back in the day. you had a few different levels in what was offered in the car. you could opt for a bare bones basic kit if you were on a budget, and it went up from there. now we dont have that option. the cars already come pre decked out from the factory. which is good for the serious racers, but when you get the kid starting out on a budget, most people arent willing to commit to spending 6-800 on a kit, electronics, and whatever else just to even get on the track.
this is where traxxas has the market cornered. affordable, entry level cars that anyone can drive. so if more manufacturers adopted a basic entry level race kit it would definitely be a step in the right direction. back to the exposure thing for a second. so look at what traxxas has done with the slash. they got involved with the real life racing scene, and scaled that down offering people a miniaturized version of what they see on tv or at the race track.
exposure.
costs.
simplicity.
that is how you fix RC.
You made a lot of great points man. 😊
i think a lot of times people forget about the hobby as a whole. its not just about the pros, and big races. without local tracks and regular people supporting the hobby, racing will die. rc as a whole is in a good position, racing is more of a niche. for every 100 people that own an RC, you probably have 1, maybe 2 people that race. we just need to be more involved and welcoming with those people.
I've tried to get into 17.5 a couple times (clay and carpet), thinking the cars would be a bit slower and easier to get into, but you're right, being a noob and not having a completely dialed in car is a huge disadvantage.
You would think that building to the kit instructions would be the "best" setup, but it's not, it's just the middle. It took me a couple months of testing to get a car somewhat decent, but it's still not great. You would also think brands would send their pros or a rep to local shops and create a setup for people to follow, or even the shop owners themselves. Looking up sheets for a pro at a specific even doesn't really help at a local track. The more competitive all the racers are the better they will all become. Noobs will stay interested, better drivers will have more competitive races, tracks will have more customers sticking around.
I have more fun driving a Grasshopper or Arrma basher around the house than a day at the track practicing.
Once the new people from the COVID boom fade away, the hobby will see a quick decline.
One of the positives living in SoCal is the mass amount of tracks within a 2 hr drive. Carpet, dirt, outdoor, clay, indoor, parking lot, dedicated surface.
Not enough time in the week.
Wish I had that problem
As a Newby to the sport here’s what I see as some big issues. Market share is being diminished as drones become more popular. Ground vehicles are fractured by a lot of different types (bashing, off-road racing, road racing, drag, rock crawling etc) New exposure to the sport is limited and there’s a big cost/knowledge barrier to entry ($60 for a set of tires a that only last a few races?) More tracks need to offer rentals to get people attracted into the sport. Parts support is horrible and confusing for newbies. There should be better parts support and efforts to try to standardize parts across suppliers/platforms to drive down cost/complexity of ownership.
"Market share is being diminished as drones become more popular."
I wouldn't say drones are the main reason for the loss of market share for racing models. It's the fact that dedicated bashers are becoming more and more popular vs racing vehicles. And that's a side effect of another problem.
"Ground vehicles are fractured by a lot of different types"
Used to not be so much of an issue, at least with bashing and off road racing. Still isn't with the 1/8th scale classes, but the problem is that most people just want to run "Stock" 2WD buggy on carpet, and that's where the problems arise. Modern 1/10th scale 2WD buggies are little more than on-road cars with beefier suspension for jumps, if you were to take them out on dirt they'd just get bounced around undriveably, and they easily get stuck on grass. Back when every off-road class ran on dirt, you used to be able to bash your race car. Now, unless you run 1/8th scale one of the few 1/10th scale classes that typically run on dirt like 1/10th scale 4WD SCT or 1/10th scale 4WD Truck, you really can't. And because that killed basher interest in the racing models, bashers started turning to other, more bashing-focused brands for cars that were more specialized for that particular role.
I wouldn't consider rock crawling or drag racing to really be a factor here. Those are kind of their own separate niches and saying that, say, rock crawlers are killing racing would be like saying that Barbecue restaurants are at risk of losing business to Ramen shops.
"New exposure to the sport is limited"
You can blame the fact that the only company even remotely willing to publicly advertise is Traxxas for that. Outside of two spec classes (box stock slash, box stock bandit) and no-prep drag racing, Traxxas doesn't make a single car that's even remotely raceable out of the box. That's not to say you can't make a bandit competitive outside of a dedicated spec class, MXAcres has done it, but it takes a LOT of time, effort and money. So, what happens is that someone buys a bandit, finds out about a track somehow, and goes there with their box-stock bandit, and then one of three things happens:
1. they get laughed away for daring to bring a bandit to the track before they can even run.
2. they get to run, but the car breaks and they get told to not even bother fixing it and to dump $1600+ into a stock-class prepped buggy instead.
3. they get to run, but they struggle to make it around the track, and they get told to get rid of it and dump $1600+ into a stock-class prepped buggy instead.
There's also the fact that the tracks themselves don't really advertise their existence beyond the bare minimum.
"More tracks need to offer rentals to get people attracted into the sport."
With a lot of tracks, even if they do offer rentals, they're often old RTRs like the Associated B4, or dare I say it, the Traxxas Bandit. Those are fine if the track runs dirt but if they're running any high-bite surfaces they need to provide a suitable vehicle. Now, I'm not saying those vehicles have to be fully race-prepped stock-class buggies. A handful of Serpent SRX2 Spyder RTRs would be perfect in those cases. So, more tracks need to run rentals, and the ones that do need to ensure that they're appropriate for the track.
To note, Beachline Raceway out in Coco _did_ go the full stock prepped route, they've got a fleet of B6s as their rentals.
"Parts support is horrible and confusing for newbies."
This is actually dependent on which model you get. Some brands are absolutely crap with this, either because of their own business decisions (Kyosho's minimum order policy for dealers back in the 2000s) or due to situations outside of their control (TLR has been completely screwed over by Horizon's inventory system fuckup, LC Racing has to ship from China). Others are actually really solid in this regard, XRAY and Mayako put a lot of effort into helping their customers out and pretty much any store that carries more than ARRMA and Traxxas will have at least some Associated stuff in stock.
"efforts to try to standardize parts"
There's only so much you can do here. Batteries, wheels and tires are all standardized for their particular platform, and some platforms like SCTs and touring cars also have standardized bodies. There could definitely be a benefit to moving to standardized slipper clutches and differentials, but the thing is that each manufacturer is trying to optimize their car as they see fit so a lot of the chassis and suspension bits are inevitably going to be different.
@@VestedUTuber I think you’re spot-on on most points! I still think there’s more that could be done on standardizing parts though. One of the main factors in choosing a platform is basing it off of parts support. “Choose what your local hobby shop sells” is echoed in every advice forum. There’s more that could be done to make this less of an issue. Slipper clutches, diff’s, ball joints, ball cups, turn buckles, cvd’s, axels, bearings, idler gears, could all be standardized across a few different sizes. It would cut down on development cost and maintenance cost. Manufacturers choose not too because they want you tied to their products, and then make them obsolete so you’re stuck buying a new chassis. Good on traxxas for trying to buck this trend by having long-running model lines and trying to simplify this for customers. AE seems to be taking a page out of that book by offering variations on existing platforms with their RTR models all using similar parts.
@@mjlogic
Fuck... UA-cam auto-flagged my reply as it seems to do half the time. I was going to point out how many of the parts you mentioned are either already standardized or CAN'T be standardized due to having to interact with other platform-specific design elements, but apparently doing so counts as "unauthorized commercial content or spam".
FUCK UA-cam AND FUCK GOOGLE!
I live in a relatively small town and I’ve always wished someone would open a track. Unfortunately the community is non existent, but I still have fun.
I remember back then a lot of ready to run vehicles were able to be made into race vehicles by doing some slight upgrades not having to break the bank (I.E. losi 8ight, Mini T, XTM XT2e). Now a lot of them are discontinued leaving you no choice but spend $600 on a kit then having to spend another $500 on electronics. I'm sorry but as much as I love RC, I would rather buy a used Dirt Bike that needs TLC and hitting up the local track with some buddies. Motocross is more budget friendly than RC racing and I find that kinda disappointing.
Part of the reason why that happened was because as higher-traction surfaces demanded more specialized vehicles, the racing platforms became less suitable for basically doing anything BUT racing. I like using the Associated buggies as a good example of this, as there's a well-defined point where Associated decided to stop making RTRs of their racing platforms and it coincides with the release of their first clay and carpet focused car, the B5.
Honestly, the solution is to go back to dirt.
I hope this hobby stays around another 40 something years . I remember my lunchbox back in 1989 first build . Love RC stuff great 👍🏼 video well done.
These tracks may be small but they play a big part in our heart ♥️
for some reason traxxas the only ones smart enough to ship product to influencers and get the next generation involved or just get more people into RC. good on traxxas for that.
Big events are doing well. Grass-roots and club racing are hurting. My track witch is 45 miles away is only open one day a week and that is race day. One of my RC mentors once told me," Bowlers who only bowl on league night will never roll a 300 game". The lack of people willing to pay for track time ended my in-door track being open one extra day a week.
Only about 3 to 5% of RC cars or trucks ever get entered in an actual race, This includes competitive type vehicles. This limits the amount of profit for tracks. A track can help the bottom line of a hobby shop but is will never be the main source of income. Tracks are opened by RC race lovers who know it will be a non-profit endeavor. This is a very frail situation at best. I'm rambling like I have for all my years in rc racing. My first race was October 1996. The only RC company who has put RC in front of new eyes, it that time is Traxxas. Their Business plan to sell and support hobby-grade equipment has made them the GM of RC. They have been making and supporting the Holy Three (Bandit, Rustler and Stampede) since 1994. People come into hobby shops with one of these old Traxxas stuff every day and get revived because Traxxas is still making them. Hopefully others like Arrma will keep their well designed entry level stuff supported as well.
As someone that has been watching or participated in RC since I was 16 (50's now), it has had it's share of ups and downs. The biggest problem as you said, is advertising and drivers. Expecting the driver to advertise as well as drive and help others (Customer support), makes it more like work than a hobby. Not to mention a lot of the drivers in the past were more personable, these days they all sound alike. Kind of like Nascar drivers, they all sound like they came from the same school Isn't this supposed to be fun? I mean if it isn't fun why do it?
The NASCAR comparison works quite well. Sounds kind of dramatic but it seems like they act less like people and more like salesmen or literal walking ads.
@@RoachRC, That's exactly my point, thank you. Look at the Nascar drivers of like 20+ years ago, they were individuals. yes they mentioned their sponsors, but they had their lives. These days their lives are the racing, be it selling or talking or whatever. I see the same thing with RC, they are racers first then salesmen or customer service. you never see these guys relax and have fun. I get it that they get paid a lot, but there has to be something fun there
Man I love your channel I'm 42 so I was around when AE and Losi became the car's to race and I remember my first Race Rc it was a gold tub Rc10 but that's enough reminiscing I love your video's they bring me back and your info for the most part is spot on thanks and keep it up we have to keep this hobby alive we have to.........
What happened to RC racing?
This answer isn't an easy answer. It's complicated!
RC was mostly advertised through events and magazines in 70's through 90's. As all magazines became more expensive to produce, subscribers fell off on the early 00's. This hurt RC as a whole
Business: Running any business heavily relies on loans. The 2008 recession hit. Hobby shops were not excluded from this. All businesses took a hit and most hobby shops didn't survive. Owners got out or went bankrupt. Racers and budget racers saw their investment in fun collect dust without a track to race. Small time racer networks fell apart.
Video games: The video game Industry snatched a bunch of the old racers and almost all the future racers. With the magazine platform done, gaming transitioned to online better than RC did. Gaming got more exposure on social media. People built social media incomes playing games online. RC doesn't have the base of media influence that gaming does.
Social apathy: As people would rather sit on a couch and watch a screen. Future racers and hobbyists dwindled lower and lower. Simple wrenching skills declined. Knowledge dwindled too. Side skills like building and soldering are almost extinct.
Combine that with manufacturers competing to a smaller market and trying to make markets for their own products, there are simply too many options.
Combine that with online shopping and very little profit for tracks and shops to operate on. Very few hobby shops opened up after the 2008 recession. Any shops that did, only did so through exclusive pricing deals with manufacturers. Traxxas was more into this game than any other manufacturer. Shop owners made deals to buy kits with steep discounts so they could compete with online shopping and still make profits.
Throw in the covid lockdown of 2020 and anything left minus a few big tracks are all shut down now.
As someone who just got into RC at 30 years old. I agree that the different rulesets for tracks is very daunting. Figuring out what you need and what will work/fit requires a lot of research. Having gone with a touring car as my first setup may have made things more complicated though. However, all of that only to find out touring doesn't seem as popular here in Texas as it does in some other countries. Looking into buggies next.
"When was the last time you saw a video ad from an RC racing company?"
I can honestly say it was the Jammin' X1-CRT TV ad that Jammin' never actually sent to advertisers and just uploaded to their UA-cam channel. Even then, they marketed a 1/8th scale nitro truggy like you would a toy grade RC car.
Great video and i agree. The rules need to be standardized especially in the stock class since stock was originally created as a cost controlled class valuing driver skill over mods and speed and is supposed to be easier for new drivers to get into. Now its cheaper to build a mod car than a stock which can be rather intimidating for newcomers since building a competitive stock racer is now a fine balance between weight, power and grip which gets expensive. Standardized rules would also make it easier and less intimidating to keep up with.
"stock was originally created as a cost controlled class valuing driver skill"
It's never been a cost-controlled class, it's always been defined by motor limitations alone. Even back in the early brushed days people were spending small fortunes dyno-testing hand-wound 27T motors and buying individual battery cells to make perfectly matched packs, and bearing kits have pretty much always been a thing. What you're thinking of are silver-can spec classes which, yes, we REALLY need to see those come back in some form.
Sending love from australia 👌 The 1/10th scale scene is really blowing up right now here in sydney! Depending on weather theres atleast 1 club or big event race every weekend and its only getting more popular, our 1/8th scale scene is really suffering tho we have had council regulation essentially ban the use of nitro or 1/8th electric vehicles on all current race tracks in greater sydney :( We have got one track under construction to facilitate 1/8th scale racing but wont be ready till potentially early next year.
That's unfortunate for 8th scale but the fact that 10th scale is getting bigger makes me feel better
I suspect this as well seeing the entries at Ryde. Came back after 5 years since the kids can kinda control the remote. Great video. Love your stuff.
@@RoachRC
I wouldn't be so optimistic about 1/10th scale, that's the worst offender when it comes to the massive costs and divide between racing and the rest of the RC scene due to how overspecialized 1/10th scale off-road classes have become.
I'm in southern Indiana area, across from Louisville Kentucky and rc has exploded here when the pandemic hit. We have a track/ hobby shop that has went from small husband wife shop to probably one of the biggest rcplex in the mid west! And you have to give arrma a lot of credit for the growth, love it or hate it! But your right rc is not dead!
Great video! Miss my local track. Perfect discussion points.
Traxxas and the others manufactures need to loosen up with their dealer networks. My local tracks don’t have much for spare parts or cars because they can’t get a dealership for the major brands.
So, regarding indoor vs outdoor, one other thing is that a lot of 1/10th scale off-road models have become overspecialized for indoor, super-high bite clay and carpet tracks. Running 1/8th and 1/10th scale classes on the same track was a bit problematic to begin with as the 1/8th scale vehicles would absolutely tear up the track surface, making things extremely difficult for the 1/10th scale cars, but this shift towards an indoor, smooth, high bite track for 1/10th scale has resulted in cars that are even worse at handling a blown-out track than the old B4s and XXX-CRs. These days, the only 1/10th scale classes that can really run on a 1/8th scale track without problems are 1/10th scale 4WD truck, 1/10th scale 4WD SCT, 1/10th scale 4WD Production Monster Truck (a class that's been dead for a couple decades now) and Spec Slash.
My local indoor clay track closed down a couple years ago, which wasn't surprising due to the ownership, condition and attitude of the "pros" there.
I recently started to go to a new carpet track, much better environment and people. I've been trying to support them by buying everything from them that I can. The industry pretty much has fixed pricing, so buy at your local shop if you can, every dollar helps.
So far I'm enjoying carpet much more than clay. No buying new tires just to sand them down to slicks, no tire prep, no mess or dirty car. No chasing the track conditions every time I go for practice.
Carpet is simply consistent.
What carpet saves in maintenance costs and tires, it costs in kit price and repeat purchases. Carpet offroad cars are extremely overspecialized and the extreme high-bite environment makes it harder to stay competitive without buying the latest model and dumping money into upgraded bearings and other methods of reducing rolling resistance. Dirt may have been a pain to clean and maintain but it was also a great equalizer. You could run a B4 RTR alongside the B4FT kit on dirt and not worry about being at too much of a disadvantage. If you tried running an RB10 on carpet against a B7FT you'd have no chance of being competitive. And the price difference between an RB10 and a B7FT plus running gear is exponentially larger than the difference between the B4RTR and the B4FT plus running gear.
You've hit a lot of very good, and very important points with respect to the state of RC racing today. Fragmentation, rising costs, smaller (and even not-so-small) tracks shutting down because they simply can't afford to stay open are all obstacles that are facing the sport of RC racing. The sad reality is, there is no one clear solution to any of these. Governing bodies need to do more to not only bring consistency to events, but they also need to promote these events in ways that bring in new participants (and spectators). Manufacturers need to get out of the 90s with respect to their marketing efforts and just get with the program with respect to social media. And as guilty as I am of online shopping, I do make it a point to visit my LHS and RC track for purchases whenever I can because I know that's the only way they'll keep the lights on.
Here's an interesting thought: a spec class where racers show up with cars that have no motor, wheels, and tires. Racers must use a specific battery and a specific ESC. Participants are then supplied with a spec motor the day of the event that's been tested and balanced to match all the other motors so there's no performance advantage. Participants are also given two sets of premounted tires and that's ALL they can run for the event. At the end of the event, everything is returned to the race organizers so they can be checked, reconditioned, and readied for the next event. I'll bet organizers could put on an event like that for an entry fee that's not much more than what most pay today and would make for closer, more interesting racing. Plus it might open the door for more folks to consider racing since all they really have to do is build their cars, put in a specific ESC and battery - everything else is supplied at the track. Something like this could help to reduce some of that fragmentation within the racing scene as well.
In regards to the spec class. A class like that would probably have to be a brushed class. That would be good though. To have most things supplied by the track but the track would half to increase prices by a lot more than a little
That hand out idea could be cost prohibitive on both sides. Especially if your thinking of using brushless motors for this. And the reconditioning idea has its own set of problems. Personally, I would avoid this class like the plague because of the potential problems and cost.
It wont work. We had a similar concept done at our track (It is one of the biggest tracks in the North-east) The problem is the level of competition. It was great for a few weeks till some wanted to go above and beyond to get that little extra speed, it causes a inbalance in a class that is supposed to be "super tight time wise." That is why I personally don't run a lot of 17.5 anymore. Most of your top 17.5/13.5 drivers are doing stuff that you won't ever be able to see, and getting stuff that I wouldn't exactly consider legal racing standards in terms of stock. It causes a class that is supposed to be super competitive into something that quite honestly just isn't fun to run.
The RC scene has been up and down since the early 90s, It doesn't grow because its expensive to be competitive, there are not many tracks in most places and its a niche hobby
"It doesn't grow because its expensive to be competitive"
Doesn't have to be. But reining in those costs would require a LOT of changes to the sport that would not be popular with the old guard. Pros and veteran club racers alike have constantly been pushing for higher-traction surfaces, and racing manufacturers keep further pushing car designs more towards those smooth, almost on-road like surfaces. Bringing back rough, loose dirt tracks would tip things back towards being more affordable, but it'll never happen because the guys who actually have a say want their consistent, high-bite setups and don't give a shit about cost of entry.
A really good commentary on the state of the sport.
As a kid I only got to run on a track once and it wasn’t even my own car. It was at a factory outlet location which had a hobby store that had an indoor track that you could pay money to drive their cars. I only got to go once and the car I got had broken steering. I felt ripped off and never went again. I don’t think the place lasted long.
Even recently when I googled tracks near me there aren’t that many. It is definitely a niche activity further exasperated by the fact kids are more into gaming then rc these days so there is no new blood coming in. Photos on rc clubs are mostly middle aged adults.
"kids are more into gaming then rc these days"
Part of the reason for that is because they don't get the exposure to it, and because they want to do what their friends are doing. Part of the way you get kids into the hobby is to bring entire friend groups in. Maybe also organize events at schools, get the afterschool STEM and STEAM programs in on it, etc.
Was looking to be back into racing after being gone for 20+ years, only to find out my local track closed last year. What a bummer. Nothing near me within 3 hours now.
I’ve learned how to prep my tires in about 3 minutes now. I use 80 grit sand paper
Vaild points. I'd love to see a unified series or something
I just got into the hobby , hope it does not die down
It more than likely won't. As long as there are RC cars, people will want to race them.
1) R/C is very expensive. The quicker you want to go, the more expensive it gets + factor in inflation
2) Attention span is becoming less and less...everything is "dying off"
3a) People don't know what they want....for example, you mention the sport needs uniformity, but mention ROAR and how tedious their rules are
3b) They also tend to want to own every car and category they can...and (spread themselves too thin) don't have success and simply lose interest!
RC3 had our biggest year for the Rocket City Challenge this year. More entries than any year prior. More people are getting out to the track it seems like.
Things are getting better, just seems like indoor tracks in GA are cursed.
@@RoachRC Well I can think of One here in Alabama. That would be Warehouse down in Helana. Great track, but yeah Outdoor seems to reign supreme here in the south. I personally prefer the smaller indoor tracks for 1/10 which is the only thing I run. Just going to have to get used to running on bigger outdoor tracks. At RC3 we have a good balance that keeps both crowds happy, but some of the outdoor tracks are just huge.
@@mechadroit Yeah. Loganville is the closest track to me now and their track is pretty much only for 8th scale.
im joining RC3 as we speak! Got into the hobby about a month or so ago and im loving it. Definitely dont mind giving money to the Huntsville club/track. I want to see it continue!
A 1/10th scale track ready car will run you 1200+ I think that’s a big part of the issue.
Im not up to date on rc racing, but i do know that retro rc collecting has had a bit of a resurgence. Like the Kyosho Re-releases are always sold out. Like the Turbo Optima and Javelin. And also Tamiya collectors are pretty crazy like they will spend a lot of money on crap cars just for the nostalgia.
Excellent topics, good vid.
The owner of my local outdoor track all but shut down due to lack of attendance and club members...we all did the maintance and organizing so after certain people moved on it all collapsed. Its open for bashing and testing but no races or big weekends anymore.
I live in Hiram, GA the closest track is about an hour and a half from where I live. I would love to find one closer to practice with my Kyosho Inferno Neo 3.0 VE.
Well done, you hit upon many valid points. As another "ground level" racer/youtuber, I predominantly race dirt oval which
doesn't get as much exposure like buggy, and drag racing even crawling here. I believe like you said it's fractured but i do believe
it's not beyond help. People like us are good for the hobby. I do however think companies need to step their game up and not just not rely
on us, or even pros for that matter.
I’m an avid r/c guy going back to the early days and now there are no tracks within two hours of where I live and apparently I’m the only guy in my town who has cars it sucks
Im a newbie but I think the best solution for the track problem is to have more covered tracks
If you can you should come to the desert classic or kinwald classic (might be spelling his name wrong) their at hobby action in chandler Arizona
I'm just looking to get back into the hobby after about 20 years off. It seems like 1/8th truggy isn't very popular any more. What happened to that class?
Depends on where you are. One place they may be popular the other place they aren't at all. My local track has a pretty good showing for truggies most of the time
Hello from Australia. IMO, the devide between bashing and racing is getting wider. You are right, the marketing from racing companies suck. Even Xray. Try to find a review on their cars. Bashers co do a great job. The advertising for Arrma or Traxxas so much more fun and inspiring. Ex basher now, try hard racer. 😁👍
Awesome video and insight, keep up the great work!!
Thanks! Will do!
I think we need to move down a scale if we want new people and tracks... 1/12 is the future!
I'm only a year into competitive rc after having raced 4wd slashes for 3 years in a friends yard but the worst part of rc that I and everyone else I've been talking to is the amount of classes at a club level. Just today I was at the Toy Box in new richmond wi and we had 9 different classes. Today all except sportsman had a decent turnout but in previous weeks I've shown up with my stock buggy and stock wheeler and walked away with stock buggy by 3 laps and gotten second in wheeler by 2 laps between me and the 2 around me. This day we still had 9 divisions. 17.5 2wd, 13.5 4wd, 2wd truck (sc or st) 4wd sct, truggy, mod 2wd, mod 4wd, sportsman, and a novice buggy (2wd or 4wd). This leads to low turnouts due to the amount of different classes. If the market wasn't this full of classes the club races would do slightly better because you might not have 3 car divisions on non trophy race days.
Another great video and points made!
As a newbie to RC racing (coming from planes,helicopters,and bashing I can tell you that while the guys at my local track have been inviting and helpful there aren’t enough resources online. Clear your experienced mind for a minute and imagine a newbie browsing through Amain’s website. Let’s say I want an ESC and motor. There’s absolutely nothing steering me in the right direction. Which lipo? Nope no info either. That alone will kill the spirit of any dad trying to buy a vehicle for himself or son. Cost is another animal. It’s cost me about $1500 to get my Tekno SCT together. But there’s a serious lack of information out there for newbie’s to get a good idea of what exactly they need for racing.
There are *some* resources online (yt videos, forum posts, ect) but most of them are very opinionated or sponsored be a specific brand.
@@RoachRC yes.
Rc tracks (indoor) are closing simply because they require lots of indoor space usually and commercial building rent is skyrocketing. It’s not just rc that this is affecting
Yep I purchased TLR due to UA-cam reviews and Ryan Harris videos.
Since I've only been in this hobby for a year, I can only say this: there's only one to go from here and that's up! Up in the number of outdoor tracks, up in popularity of 1/8 scale, and up in the number of people in attendance. Good video dude!
What is “the brigs” you keep referring to?
It who shall not be named.
few years ago i though rc hobby died all together in here finland bc nearlyb all rc shops are dead there is 3 in the whole country
and there are just a few tracks i am happy that there is one 30 km away from me
Good job. Well said.
I just built a 1/10 4wd buggy and was gonna hit up AJC. Sucks it's done. Are there any other 1/10 friendly offroad tracks in the area?
Not in the metro Atlanta area. There's one in Columbus, Loganville might be running 10th scale now, The barn in Barnsville is opening up soon, and there will be a new track in Cartersville in January
@@RoachRC thanks. Cartersville might be doable. Any insight on what kinda track it will be?
@@jesseolsen6456 All I really know is it will be carpet aaaand thats about it
cool video and discussion
It reminds me of slot car racing it has to do with where you live.
I just want to make a comment about the weather affecting the race day. What i dont understand is why European racers run in the rain but yet americans dont
Cause the dirt from the track turns to mud, like reeeaaallly thick mud
I manage an idol group called GRC Project aiming to try and target the anime fan audience (which is kinda going somewhere) we have a small racing series i guess its more of an online leaderboard members of the idol group and fans can participate we just have general guidelines on minimum car scale to keep it fair but anything goes in terms of mods etc, and we push out track designs every few months just a bit of friendly competition for the most part it was in test run for a few months mostly because i had 2 members' cars break when they were doing the small autocross track layout we setup so once this gets into full swing even as a leaderboard thing hoping to get more people into the hobby (minimum scale is the 1/14 wltoys buggy size just to keep everything withing similar scaling since anything smaller may be a tad out of place against the bigger ones -thinking of making that a separate class on its own-)
You sir are doing gods work
@@RoachRC gonna add one more note local tracks where we're from have race classes that regulate motors to stock tamiya silver cans so its very entry level cost wise
Wtf is a bricks?
My nickname for Rona when YT didn't like people mentioning it
Not many losi at the worlds.... well losi is American right, the most popular class is the beginner stock class so it’s no wonder the worlds with ‘mod’ motors pits them off
I think I have to stop rc racing, I just can’t afford all the costs.
I understand man
@@RoachRC it’s the coolest hobby but dam I just can’t keep traveling every week. If I don’t go weekly it’s almost like starting over by the time I get back. I haven’t got a raise in over five years. Inflation has actually caused my income to go down
@@colestaples2010 I usually don't go every weekend as that would get quite expensive.
@@RoachRC that’s about the only time I see any real improvements in my driving. I usually can only go monthly. I’m trying out Vrc pro before I quit. Maybe I can keep somewhat fresh if I get that functioning. 🤞
@@RoachRC Vrc pro requires a gaming pc so that’s out of the question
They are closing because people can’t afford a rc car