Moto fast guy Jeff Alessi is a big fan of rc and he’s racing over in Italy right now on a very trick Honda 350 (you read that right, 350). Here’s to sending the 801 some good luck and we hope he races his way back into shape to win some motos. It would be freak’n awesome to see the 801 with a good ride back here in the states next season.

On to the rc world…

The biggest news from last week? For old school rc’ers it would be the announcement that Team Associated is going to re-release the original RC10 Gold Tub buggy. Sounds like an awesome idea right? Right?

Yes, it has great idea written all over it, but I’m just not sold on it. You see, myself and several of my racing buddies have said for years that we were going to buy old gold tubs, get them up and going, and race them vintage style. Sadly we never have, mainly because there just wasn’t much motivation there. We’ve all already owned several of them back in the day and none of us have the spare time to get one up and going. Plus, there are just too many cool new cars to snatch up and drive. So while old school rc racers might be the prime targets to buy the re-release, if we haven’t found the motivation to buy one over the last twenty years, I’m quite sure we can find a better way to spend $250. Because so many were sold originally, Gold Tubs have been easily found on E-Pay and Craigslist at bargain prices for years, yet none of us have actually cut the check. Ya sure, the Gold Tub was the best of its kind back in the day, and ya sure, they bring back a lot of memories, but is that really worth $250 today? Not to me or my “racer” buddies. I hate to even mention my basher friends, they could really care less about a Gold Tub.

So… collectors should snap up the RC10 re-release right? I don’t think so. You see hardcore collectors want the real deal, the original nearly 30 yr old buggy, not a flip’n “re-release”. The collector I talked to was ticked off and cursing AE because now the market is going to be flooded with all the new buggies and parts, thus screwing up the market on the old buggies as well. So ya, I think you can scratch the true collectors off the list of potential buyers.

How about those guys out there already racing vintage? Just how fair is it that someone can go out and buy brand new parts when the other guys are spending weeks or months scouring E-Pay, Craiglist, and forums trying to find the parts to keep their old Kyosho or Losi up and going? How fair is it that somebody can show up with a brand new and fresh buggy and race against equipment that has been driven to death for years? Ya, if you are “that dude” that shows up with a brand new re-release Gold Tub to a vintage event expect to catch a lot of crap.

Maybe noobs want to relive the past and see what driving a historic car like the Gold Tub is all about? They must be curious right? Yes, I believe that every noob would benefit from a good solid taste of vintage rc to help them appreciated how good today’s product is, but how many are actually willing to pay $250 for that chance? Would a noob rather have an old school Gold Tub or an ECX Boost that drives better, is much more durable, comes RTR, and only costs $149? Ya, just how many noobs are willing to pay nearly twice as much for something that isn’t as good just to get a perspective on the past? I suspect not very many…

To boil it down, ya, re-releasing the Gold Tub sounds like a great idea on paper. However, it just goes to show that AE is fading into the past, not charging into the future. When AE’s biggest news this year is a vehicle from 30 years ago, something is dreadfully wrong. AE has a truly iconic past, they should let it stand, proudly as it deserves to be. Instead they take the “easy” way out to make a few quick bucks selling a re-release. The hard way is to put their resources into making brand new uber products to replace their terribly aged current platforms (hint hint B4/T4/SC10), but I guess they just aren’t up that challenge anymore……….

On a different note…

Don’t forget to check out our review of the Vaterra Glamis that goes up later today, our G+ Live show on Wednesday night, and our daily news up on the front page. Also, you can find the BigSquidRC Bash crew at the Stadium Super Truck event in St Louis this Saturday, and bashing with the St Louis Drag Club on Sunday. Shoot us an email if you want more information on how to meet up with us, to bash, or to just say hello.

Until next week, support your local hobby shops and bash spots.

YOUR Cub Reporter

The new limited edition RC10 Classic sports the part number of #6001, it has a street price of right around $249, and it has a rumored release date of August so get your pre-order in now. For more information on everything Associated HERE is the link to their official website.

What other new products has Associated introduced recently? Check out THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

Part number for just the tires is #31445, while the part number for the pre-mounts is #31440. Both are available right now with a street price of $22 for the pre-mounts and $12 for just the tires. Hit up THIS LINK for more information on the Associated website.

Check out more Associated news AT THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

Part number for the Reedy 4S 4600 55C is #311 (cool band btw), they should start hitting hobby shops in late June, and they have a street price of $170. Check out THIS LINK for more information over on the official Team Associated website.

Want to catch up on more Lipo battery news? Check out THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

Prices range from $25-$50 and they are expected out later this month. THIS is the link you want for more information over on the Associated website.

The whole BSRC staff rejoices when Friday rolls around, how about checking out a TGIF Mystery Link?

Hey all, this week’s first ‘Ask Cubby’ letter is a LONG one, so I decided not to put it in the normal ‘hand written’ font thing because it takes up too much space, and a little difficult to read something of this length like that. Anyway, here we go… our first letter is from Dave, enjoy!

“Touching an old base regarding Cubbie’s LiPo discharge article from 5/2010 Hey guys, keeping ‘em flat on all four?

My guess – they won’t even start an econobox commuter car. It drives home the point better than “numbers on paper”.
Just a thought guys…keep ‘em coming.
Dave B.
BTW – please be careful if you try it….”

Cubby- Yo what’s up Dave, shoot Brian your snail mail for an uber BSRC sticker set. Long email with a lot of points involved, so I’ll start from the top.

You contend that battery “ratings are often times flat-out lies”. To you it might look that way, but here’s how it goes down behind the scenes. When Happy Flower Lipo Company wants to source a bunch of batteries they approach an Asian manufacture. This Asian manufacture typically has many different “lines” or “levels” of cells, and they typically group them by “C” rating. Happy Flower then selects the cells they want and cuts the huge check.

From what I’ve seen first hand in the industry, the “C” rating from the Asian manufactures is typically based on the design of the cell, not on its output. For instance, a 1000 mah cell that is said to be 100 “C” would be built with internals calculated to handle 100 amps, not tested to handle 100 amps.

Now when you Dave, get a pack in hand and it’s a 100 “C” pack, you may not be aware of this fact, you might think the “C” rating is based on being able to do 100 “C” in your car, but I do not know of any re-sellers that base the “C” rating on their packs this way. I might very well be wrong, if some manufacture out there does indeed base their “C” rating on actual bench/car tested output please complain to Brian that I lied and I’ll gladly post the correct info.

Next point, you say that there is no rc battery on the market that can “sustain a 65C load”. I’m assuming you stated this based on no testing and are just chucking it out there as an opinion, which is totally your right to do. My input here is that cells have come a long ways the last 5 years. I haven’t tested any cells at 65C on the bench, but based on the temps and voltage levels we’ve seen at lower discharge levels, I would not be surprised to see a pack that could live at a relatively insane current level. 3 years ago? No way in hell, but now days there are some damn solid cells/packs on the market.

We have equipment (West Mountain CBA w/amp) capable of testing a 1S 1000 mah pack at 120C continuous discharge. Back in the day I knew such testing was a waste of time as packs would routinely die on 20C loads, but I should find some time and see just what kind of continuous load modern cells can actually live under. I think the
result might very well surprise you and I.

About jump starting a car with a Lipo, there are a number of videos out there, including one we did a couple of years ago. We easily jump started a 6 cylinder Ford Taurus with a 3S Lipo. The 3S Lipo didn’t get hot and lived to power our rc cars for many cycles afterwards. Also, I don’t remember for sure what connector we used (we may have just soldered on clips), but we were using the stock wire that came with the pack.

In closing- Lipo batteries used to be the limiting factor in rc cars power system, but not so now days. In most typical applications Lipo’s stay cool, last a bunch of cycles, and do not dip to crazy low voltages. These facts tend to make the advertised “C” rating moot. Yes, I agree with you that the “C” ratings are mis-leading and don’t really convey much (if any) useful information to a potential buyer, and yes, there needs to be a better “rating” system. If I owned Happy Flower Lipo Company my packs would be labeled with their cell count, their cell configuration, their typical 1C capacity, and their typical output voltage under a 10C load. Sure, a noob can look at two packs and instantly think that a 65 “C” pack is better than a 20 “C” pack, but they have no idea what “C” is. Noobs just know “higher is better”, something we’ve proven to not always be the case with our shootouts. With my “Cubby Rating System (CRS LOL)” of listing voltage at 10C, a noob could also instantly see that one 2S pack rated at 7.45 volts is “better” than a pack rated at 7.38 volts, and he’d have at least a rough idea of what the numbers actually mean.

I have a xp1200 esc from my sc10 4×4 rtr and a 540sl 6100kv motor (not the micro) the specs on the esc say that it can handle the 6100kv motor would this be a good combo for a 2wd truck on a 2s lipo and will the esc really handle it.

Glen B.

Cubby- Yo what’s up Glen, thanks for the email. I have absolutely zero experience with the XP line of Associated RTR speedo’s, so I’m totally gonna wing it here. Enjoy!

In theory… ya, the XP SC1200 speedo should work fine in a 2wd 10th scale truck. It comes stock in the 4×4 SC10 RTR that is considerably more load for a speedo than a 2wd would be.

Can the XP SC1200 handle a 6100 kv motor? Its specs says it can and my pure guess is that you shouldn’t have an issue if you keep your 2wd truck geared appropriately. If you gear for 120 mph I’ll promise you that you’ll have issues (read- a fire).

Cubby’s helpful hint of the week- Using a 6100 kv motor is great for speed no doubt, your truck should be a rocket with such a high kv motor, but it is especially important to keep an eye on motor/battery/speedo temps if you want your equipment to live. Start with a small pinion and monitor temps as you gear taller. And… don’t go out and run for 12 minutes then check the temps, check every couple minutes during the run before things get too hot. The speedo should protect itself from overheating, but you don’t want to see temps over 140 F on either the motor or the battery. Also keep in mind that the taller (bigger pinions) you gear, the faster you’ll go, but the less runtime you’ll get. Have fun, go fast, and shoot us a massive wheelie pic of your truck when you get it going.

YOUR Cub Reporter

Some of the features on the RC10B4.2 Race Spec include- digital metal gear steering servo, 3300kv brushless motor, 2.4 GHz radio system, and water resistant speed control and receiver box. The part number for B4.2 RS is #9042 and the street price is $249. Hit up THIS LINK for more details and information.

Spin the wheel and take a chance on a BigSquidRC TGIF Mystery Link.

The new part number is #7039 and the street price is $260. Hit up THIS LINK to view more specifications over on the Team Associated website.

We have a lot more Associated news right HERE on BigSquidRC.

Part number on the JConcepts Silencer for the Associated RC8.2 is #0256 and it has a street price of $31.

We have more JConcepts news at THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

This is the second Cub Report I’ve typed up using 9 fingers. A couple of years ago while catching trucks falling out of the sky at our i-Hobby demo one of my fingers got chewed up by a spur gear, and I chewed up another one on Saturday. I tend to be pretty core though, I’m quite certain that even if all ten of my digits were FUBAR I’d be typing this out with my nose, one slow letter at a time. As they say- the show must go on.

Speaking of show… I’m official tired of the Vettel runaway show and want to change the channel. Even the uber robotic charisma of Kimi Räikkönen can’t overcome how tired I am of a Vettel dominating yet another F1 race. “Sigh”. Maybe the engine changes next year will put someone new at the front of the pack.

Even though I could easily bench race about F1 or Supercross for a couple thousand words a week, Brian insists that I actually touch on rc. “Double Sigh”.

We got to talking about “bubbles” the other day in the office, specifically it started with Bitcoins, then made the rounds to housing, the stock market, and then of course to tulips. The conversation eventually made a turn to rc, that’s what we eat/breathe/sleep around here, and because our hobby has never had a speculative “bubble”, it turned to talk about HPI and Associated.

It’s been a long time since HPI has announced a new car. Yes, sure, they’ve had some issues of late, no doubt part of the reason for their lack of newly announce cars, but is that even a bad thing? We’ve been “trained” for years now to expect a new car announcement from a manufacture every month or so, so when we don’t see it we kinda say to ourselves, “OMG, HPI hasn’t announced anything for like 6 months, they must be screwed!”. Hopefully the recent lack of new releases leads to a series of all new and uber HPI product for us all to enjoy.

Associated is a good example of a company that announces a new car very frequently. They just announced their new Apex 18th scale TC (and MT) which is basically their old RC18 platform re-badged under their Qualifier Series of bashing gear. Just what good is it to the hobby that AE decided to put out an old design under a new logo?

What causes an economic “bubble” is when the price of an item has been pumped up to be much greater than its intrinsic value. For example, the “new” Associated QS 18th scalers are old tech, yet their price is right in-line with what new tech would/should be. The product itself doesn’t do anything to take the hobby forward, yet it costs as much as a better, newer, product should. And its not like AE is the only company doing it, several of them are (hint, hint, TRX).

So how does this all tie in together? Putting out old and overpriced gear is bad for the hobby. Putting out new, original, and superior product is good. I think we’d all like to see manufactures put the time/money/effort into actual new product once every 6 months than to put out some old re-hashed car every 2 weeks. Old/overpriced gear leaves consumers ticked off, new innovative product makes for long term hobbyists.

Yes, it’s certainly tempting to make the short term cash of putting out a new car every week and filling shelves with inferior product. A lot of the makers and shakers in the hobby are getting older and staring right at retirement in the next decade, and a few of them act like they don’t care if they kill off the hobby 15 years down the road.

All I’m saying is that all that old regurgitated gear is wayyyyy overpriced for what it is, and that consumers deserve better. The companies putting out all this regurgitated gear should care more about their customers and the long term future of our hobby.

That’s it for this week ya freaks, support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.

YOUR Cub Reporter