ASK Cubby- Insert Questions Here

“Just a quick kudos

I just wanted to quickly say that I love your site and the fact that you objectively review all the products. Being that I am just getting back into the RC world it is nice to be able to read about products before I spend my hard-earned money on them. Your site has helped me decide what I need and don’t need when it comes to my Traxxas Slash. Thanks again for all the work you guys do. Pretty sure it is more fun than work but just know that it is appreciated.

Chris K.

P.S. any chance I could get a decal for my truck… would love to represent you guys at the track!”

Cubby- Letter of the month Chris, props to you. Be sure to shoot us your snail mail and especially your shirt size so we can get you the hook up. Oh and yes, we’ll toss in a bunch of stickers too.

Thanks for the nice words, they are always good to hear, but unfortunately we are not completely objective during our reviews. We certainly are NOT, it is impossible to be that way, no matter what Anyone tells you. In fact, when you read a review or watch a video review and the person says “We are the only people in the world with completely unbiased reviews!!!”, you can instantly know they are full of it. Now, we try to keep our heads on straight and to not be biased, but it is absolutely impossible to be 100% free of bias. Hey, we can’t help how the human mind works…

What does help us in reviews, or at least most of them, is that we don’t let any one voice be heard more than another. We have a racer guy, we have a trail guy, we have hardcore bashers, and we keep handing off the transmitter to first day noobies. I actually write down notes old school style, with paper and pen, then when writing the finished review it is up to me to put all those views together in a way that hopefully helps out potential buyers. I’ve seen the test driving for a magazine review finished in under an hour, ever since I hopped on board with BSRC I vowed that at the very least, we would give every vehicle (or product) a good hard bashing. Now that was years ago, I sure hope the mags (what? only one left, so mag, singular) put more driving into their reviews, but I have not witnessed one in over a decade.

Also, you have the zillion guys on YouTube who all think their reviews are the bomb. The only problem is, the vast majority don’t actually review cars for a living, so their reference standard could be anything, or nothing at all, they are in it to try and get 30 more views than their last video. I am just saying I know how hard it is to try and be objective during a review when that’s what I do for a living, so therefore I know when a review is done by a guy sitting on a filthy couch who has not driven half the cars on the market, that he simply doesn’t have the reference points needed to make a knowledgeable call on a product.

Anyways, thanks for the kind words and please know that yes, we work our asses off on our reviews, thanks for noticing.

“Question: Exotek HPI WR8 Speed Chassis Conversion

Hi Cubby,

I’m thinking of getting the Exotek HPI WR8 Speed Chassis Conversion (as an upgrade for my HPI Bullet Flux which I bash hard). However, as it is meant to be a ‘Speed Chassis Conversion’, I’m not sure if I should use it for bashing. Would you recommend that I use this chassis, or would I be better off using the stock HPI WR8 chassis if I only use my RC for hard bashing? Thanks so much for your help!

-Joshua K.”

Cubby- Hey now Josh, thanks for writing in. Don’t forget to email me your snail mail so we can get a sticker pack on the way for you.

Nope, I have never used the Exotek chassis conversion that you speak of, but I’ve used numerous products of theirs, all of which I thought were exceptionally well done. So sadly I can not comment on that chassis first hand. This forces me into speculation, which I hate to do, but I think even my “educated guess” is about a million times better than most other people’s opinions. Just say’n…

If I was tricking out a Bullet Flux for hardcore bashing, I personally would not use the Exotek chassis. Why? Although it is incredibly trick and lightweight, it is made out of carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is AWEsome in some applications, but not for hardcore bashing. You see, after a hard landing, or tagging a curb at speed, or having one of your buddies t-bone you at 50 mph, an aluminum chassis will get tweaked, or even get super taco’ed, but it won’t break. A carbon fiber unit is all or nothing. It will either live or break. Aluminum will give, but can easily be bent back into shape. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve handed a severely taco’ed truck to the guy doing our wrenching and said “Fix this!!!” and he would hand it back to me 15 later ready to bash again. That simply isn’t in the cards for a truck with carbon fiber chassis. To replace an entire carbon fiber chassis is both expensive and time consuming, two things that just aren’t cool when you are out bashing with your crew.

Just my .000000002 cents, take it for what it’s worth.

Hey brah, this funtabulous edition of ASK Cubby is a wrap. Shoot me your questions and have a shot to get cool stuff free. thecubreportrc at gmail dot com is my email address, get those questions/rants/smack-talk-sessions on the way.

YOUR Cub Reporter