This is how RC cars get carried away..

[patrolskid]

what are the deets behind that escort ?


and how much would that cost ?

[Rat]

Originally Posted by hypa

For someone starting out, you can get away with an RTR kit like a Slash 2wd for around $300. That comes with a basic charger, battery and the truck. For 4wd, add about $100. When I bought mine, I added the quick charger and a LiPo battery and it came to around $500. It's a beast though, and while it can be broken, it takes a beating. Spend 20 minutes with an electric RC truck at a BMX track, and you'll know what I'm talking about.


Or step up with a g-note, and snag a 1/8th scale Durango.


B I G !!!



It's an addictive thread and the reason why I went with the Slash 4x4. There are so many options these days for electric vehicles. It's simply a matter of picking the one that fits the budget.

so thats the minium cost of entry? im not chipping in so he will have to do some serious lawn mowing if he wants to save that kind of scratch. Ill help with Motorbikes and mountain bikes but I dont buy toys or video games

[APT]

Originally Posted by Rat

My 10 year old kid wants a decent RC but has limited cash.

whats the lowest price point for something decent that wont be garbage in 6 months.

I bought Ryan this one last year http://www.ecxrc.com/Products/Defaul...ProdID=ECX1100

$130. Not the best but for an 8yr old, it's more than enough.

[shirk]

Not sure what year I got it but I had (still have it in my parents basement back east) a Big Bear.



http://bannedrc.com/forum3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10620

My brother bought a used Tamiya Grasshopper out of the Simcoe Shopper mostly for the controller and parts for a boat build. He hand built a number of boats from scratch with balsa wood.

http://www.vintagercweb.com/grasshopper.html



The little glow plug boats were freaking amazing, and kinda dangerous. We used the baby bee engine that had no throttle. You fired it up and it just screamed at full speed until it ran out of gas. Fun times.

[chubby5000]

Originally Posted by Rat

My 10 year old kid wants a decent RC but has limited cash.

whats the lowest price point for something decent that wont be garbage in 6 months.

I just did the same as what you're son is probably going to go through.
I ended up buying a Stamped and Rustler for my two daughters. Both XL-5 (not brushed) and both for $190.
After probably an honest 30 - 40 hours of online research (due to my obsessive behavior patterns and addictive personality traits) I narrowed it down to 1.the Duratrax Evader, 2.the Electrix Ruckus, and 3.the Traxxas Stamped and Rustler. I wanted to keep it 1/10 scale becuase any smaller and then the cars get hung up on grass and then you'd be better off getting a 4x4 but then the price jumps up quite a bit. 1 and 2 were cheaper (they're each about $130 online) and the Evader has incredible durability.

I went with the Traxxas' over the other two because:
A. There's TONS of support and parts for them locally (and everwhere) and I've bought lots of stuff for them already when they break. Every RC will break.

B. The Traxxas' all have a "Training Mode" on the ESC's and that cuts the power in half which is awesome for them to learn on for the first while. And plenty fast enough until you 'accidentally' discover a button that DOUBLES THE POWER. They got pretty excited over that one.

C. The ESC's have a lipo cutoff built in. If you ever want to buy him(her) cheap (but awesome) lipo's online you'll also have to get some sort of Low Voltage detector/cutoff and install it yourself.

and D. They're WATERPROOF!!!! That's a game changer right there. Year round running.

BUT, if I did it all over again, I would have paid $20 more each and just got them some Slash 2WD XL-5's just because the durability of the Slashes is incredible. Like I said they've busted lots of parts on them and I always seem to be buying RPM parts for both of them. But once the RPM parts are on them they're rock solid.
The Stampede's tires suck though. Rustler's are much better.
The Traxxas Bandit is also cheaper than both of those but won't have the bashability simply due to it's small tires and low ground clearance.

The Duratrax evader was my second choice though. It's cheap, goes fast enough, and apparently really tough. It comes with a stress tech 1 years parts guarantee, but you'll have to mail in the part and wait for it to come back before you can get up and running again. But if you're willing to waterproof it yourself, install a lipo detector/cutoff (they're cheap) then that would be a cheap, great way to get into the hobby.
Oh yes. You could always chip in a bit and share it
But if you're going to do that then just get a Slash 4x4 that you both can use for the next decade.

And my lunch break is over.

[chubby5000]

Yeah just like infamous posted, if you want some beautiful RC video's, then subscribe to Headquake137's Youtube channel. He looks like some recluse who still lives with his mom. But boy oh boy he's got talent when it comes to building RC's and making videos. He just put out his 100th video the other day.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWxyA...e0FAAAAAAAALAA[/YOUTUBE]

Argh. Don't know how to post Youtube video's properly yet.

[MikeO]

My brain is litterally sore from looking into and trying to learn about LIPO's. Any advice for a basic setup? Accucel 6 maybe but I can't get my head around the power supply.

Back in the day we plugged our battery packs into the charger, filpped a switch, and waited for the buzzer to go off. I feel like I need to be an electrical engineer to make sense of it all now. I'm leaning toward getting an RC10T 4.1 (always wanted one) and I'd like a bsic setup that I can charge a few LIPO's at once.

Any advise? Cheers.

[Adam West]

http://www.greathobbies.com/producti...od_id=HIT44164

That's the charger I use. It will let you charge 2 different bats at once, if you get a second balance plug you can balance charge 2 lipos at once.

http://www.greathobbies.com/producti...=TGHC50002C50P
and a battery similar to that.

so for that set up youd have to charge that battery at 5 amp.
if it as a 2500 MAH bat you could charge it at 2.5 amp.
Some of them will let you charge higher amps but it can cut down on the long term life of the battery.

all depends what kind of battery will fit your truck but thats the basics.

[hypa]

Finally got around to snapping a pic of my Slash.



It's nothing special, just a basic brushless Slash with swaybars and a couple of beefed up driveline components.

Originally Posted by Rat

Ill help with Motorbikes and mountain bikes but I dont buy toys or video games

Honestly man, these aren't really toys anymore. It's a cool hobby that both of you can do together. All it takes is to bring it out with you when you're going out. Driving by a pump track, or empty skate park and stop for 15 minutes of blasting around. You'll geek out over the design and strength of the kit, while he's perfecting backflips off the tabletop.

I'm not down with seeing my boy drooling like a retard while playing his 3rd hour of Mortal Kombat, but this is something that will get his engineering side working.

Originally Posted by APT

$130. Not the best but for an 8yr old, it's more than enough.

That's a pretty cool kit for $130.

Originally Posted by shirk

My brother bought a used Tamiya Grasshopper out of the Simcoe Shopper

Man, I had one of those back when they were new.

Originally Posted by chubby5000

And my lunch break is over.

+rep for so much good info.

Originally Posted by MikeO

Any advise? Cheers.

I took the advice of my hobby shop guy and snagged this as my first LiPo.



It's a simple 5 amp, 7.4v

another pic with the Velinion motor.

Originally Posted by Adam West

http://www.greathobbies.com/producti...od_id=HIT44164

Very cool!

[Adam West]

exactly the same battery i use in my crawler. lasts me a couple hours of solid crawling

[APT]

Originally Posted by hypa

That's a pretty cool kit for $130.

Well, about a couple weeks after we bought it you start finding out that the battery sucks, the charger sucks and you need to upgrade those right away if you want any significant playing time.

in hindsight, probably better to buy a better RTR kit.

[Adam West]

In hindsight its better to not buy RTRs..

[Rat]

Originally Posted by hypa

Honestly man, these aren't really toys anymore. It's a cool hobby that both of you can do together. All it takes is to bring it out with you when you're going out. Driving by a pump track, or empty skate park and stop for 15 minutes of blasting around. You'll geek out over the design and strength of the kit, while he's perfecting backflips off the tabletop.

I'm not down with seeing my boy drooling like a retard while playing his 3rd hour of Mortal Kombat, but this is something that will get his engineering side working.
!

they are super cool but if he wants one he can get a paper route or mow some lawns. hope he does so I can play with it.



he just blew his saving on chipping in for a used big hit grom with a sweet rocco air shock.

[shirk]

The big thing my brother and I learned when we got into it as kids/teens it that you might as well invest in a skookum charger and decent batteries. They need not be the best of the best, but something mid grade with a great reputation is worth the extra money.

[hypa]

Originally Posted by APT

Well, about a couple weeks after we bought it you start finding out that the battery sucks, the charger sucks and you need to upgrade those right away if you want any significant playing time.

in hindsight, probably better to buy a better RTR kit.

My battery was better in the RTR kit, but the charger was a joke. That was the first thing I upgraded when buying the kit. The stock battery was okay, as it would slow after about 8 minutes of hard driving. After 12 -14 minutes it wasn't worth running anymore as it was so slow.

With the LiPo, I find I get bored before the battery is dead. So I change the Slash to the 1/2 power training mode, and hand the controller to the kids.

Originally Posted by Adam West

In hindsight its better to not buy RTRs..

Coming from the old days, you have a point. When we would buy all separate pieces like the radio, ESC, motor, body, etc, you could customize all the bits. It would cost a little more, but in the end all the components were picked for a specific reason.

I just don't have the time for that shit anymore. I dislike the radio that came with my Traxxas, but it's not a deal breaker by any means. It just needed more stickers.

Originally Posted by Rat

they are super cool but if he wants one he can get a paper route or mow some lawns. hope he does so I can play with it.

fuck yeah, man.
Give him the choice as to whether or not it's worth spending his hard earned cash. But if he does choose to spend it on an RC, you may find yourself buying one slightly faster than his. Just because you can.

he just blew his saving on chipping in for a used big hit grom with a sweet rocco air shock.

His priorities aren't much different than ours.
Something, something, boys and their toys?