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alvinlwh

Hop ups are a con? Discuss

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5 hours ago, Rally! said:

:D

I just love the original double-star logo.

Those I use!  

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Hop-ups are not a con. The video itself really explains why.  Why even a stock TT02 is a load of fun without any fitted. Importantly they are a great option so you can tailor a chassis to your own personal preference. I love seeing all the different TT02's out there for example.. its only possible because of Hop-ups.  

I personally always like to try certain hop-ups to see how they affect performance. I even fit Titanium screws to my TRF's to ensure they are as optimal as possible. 

Also the blue is beautiful.. so even if its not actually made much of an impact, it makes the car look better than anything else out there.. because simply Blue is best. 

The biggest issue is the click bait title. However I accept that full time youtubers are always trying to get hits, otherwise they do not earn money. So being a provocateur is essential to climb the greasy pole you need to ascend before it pays.  Its not a judgement on RC Kicks I like some of the videos, just the whole floored revenue stream that is the cult of the click.   

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So by starting this thread, I had caused a few upsets. Perhaps it is time to answer my own question... Are hop up and/or Tamiya kits a con? My answer... Definitely! Will I stop buying them? NO WAY! 

PfSIePk.jpeg

They are just so pretty! 😁

Af2grzz.jpg

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I tend to buy hop-ups that actually has a purpose (e.g. adds durability, makes my life easier while I work on the car, or make my car perform better). In the end it's almost always cheaper to get a TRF race car from the beginning than slowly upgrading the plastic counterpart chassis. 

With that said, I completely understand buying hop-ups for a project which you have a vision for. 

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On 8/19/2022 at 9:20 AM, alvinlwh said:

Saw this video today. 

 

Agree? Disagree? Discuss away! 

For me, Tamiya is the Gillette of the RC world. Most of their kits are actually quite reasonable, but the price of their hop ups (in the UK) is absolutely ridiculous. If I can pick up some hop up bits from the far east, I will. If not it will probably be just the "big three". 

I just ordered a TA02 yesterday and when doing the research on that chassis, saw a video from this same guy putting in the carbon chassis. The hop up kit costs as much as the base kit price, and actually increased the overall weight! For the total price, I am sure I can buy a better or as least as good as chassis from another brand, and still have change. 

Isn't this the guy building a $3500 value NIB vintage Blazing Blazer kit?

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Slightly old topic, but I've had the issue of hop-ups on my mind for a time. When I modify an RC I like to reach a point when its "done", that is when its a reliable, FUN example that I can throw a battery in and drive out in the yard. Most RCs do not need hop-ups to be "done" in my book, other than a few exceptions. Plus, in most hobbys you'll be buying more parts to make your project better.

Where it does become a con is when you buy an RC that feels deliberately designed to sell hop-ups, cue the TT-02s terrible steering (despite being a conventional design and an evolution of a previous model), the M-05s dogbone chatter, the DT-02s overly encased motor housing, friction shocks, bushings. Of course, all of these can be fixed with somewhat pricey hop-ups (when they're in stock).

But compared to microtransactions... at least hop-ups are something tangible AND something that I can sell or gift to others when I don't need them. You can't really do much with digital goods when you get tired of them.

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Interesting.

Depends where you see the value in them.

Personally I enjoy the time researching, often followed by trying to find the flipping things, messing with the car to fit, or taking a chance to try something to see if it works (or sometimes even if it appears), not forgetting the sometimes added excitement of the tax and duty lottery.

Especially when my memories of Hop-Up options were things that only existed as a picture on the box, in the Tamiya catalogue or RC guide books. Now I actually can find and fund them, why not?!

Do my children really appreciate the subtleties of 8 degree camber hub carriers on a GF-01CB? Probably not, but I got my value from buying them, along with many other bits of similar tat that car acquired.

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2 hours ago, Kowalski86 said:

Where it does become a con is when you buy an RC that feels deliberately designed to sell hop-ups, cue the TT-02s terrible steering (despite being a conventional design and an evolution of a previous model), the M-05s dogbone chatter, the DT-02s overly encased motor housing, friction shocks, bushings. 

Completely agree with the point in bold. Good list of examples, I happen to have all the ones in your list, and their equivalents from the competition.

TT-01(refused to buy a TT-02 due to how much hopups it need) - 3R S64

M-05 - 3R MG Evo

DT-02 - LRP S10

Also have a 3R M4 which will compare against a MF-01X in the low ride height? Also planning on a 3R D5S Lite, which will compares against the M-06 which I bave 

They all have better spec than the Tamiya ones and yet cheaper, sometimes by quite a bit. I was so impressed that recently I bought a second MG Evo and did not bother get a single upgrade for it as it is just fine out of the box.

Granted that most of them do not come with a body but with savings from needing "essential" hopups, the total from needing to buy a body shell is still lower than a Tamiya with essential upgrades.

Having said that, I am still willingly getting conned by Tamiya, now gathering hopups for my FF-03 and WR-02G build.

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My father was a professional pilot. As a little boy, I would ask him what the best airplane was. The answer always was the same: "it depends on what you want to do with it."

In some applications, a Piper Cub is a better airplane than an F-15.

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I like the idea that the base kits are as affordable as possible and the option is there to add more expensive parts if we want to. Would I like the hop-ups to be cheaper? Of course, but thats just market forces. For me the best bit is the building, much like lego or static model kits. So I really like the idea that having built the base kit I can do some more research and find some new style of part whether it is functional or cosmetic which I could buy and then spend time taking the car apart and adding new bits on. It just extends the amount of building fun I can get out  of a single kit.

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11 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

Completely agree with the point in bold. Good list of examples, I happen to have all the ones in your list, and their equivalents from the competition.

TT-01(refused to buy a TT-02 due to how much hopups it need) - 3R S64

M-05 - 3R MG Evo

DT-02 - LRP S10

Also have a 3R M4 which will compare against a MF-01X in the low ride height? Also planning on a 3R D5S Lite, which will compares against the M-06 which I bave 

When I priced out a TT-02 to meet what I want (on-road bashing, no racing) it topped out to roughly $200, thats before paint, servo, oil dampers, and starting with one of the cheaper kits. A Sand Viper really only needs a heat sink imo, its weirdly "complete" as it has oil dampers/bearings from the get-go. I had a Holiday Buggy and once I gave it proper shocks it was actually a decent buggy.

I don't see the 3R M4 doing too well as a rally chassis considering that its belt driven with the electronics mounted low, but on tarmac I'm sure that it'll out perform an MF-01X. Other than the usual 3 things (and fixing the suspension droop) I never felt that my MF-01X needed upgrades. The M06 is a fun on-road basher for all of the same reasons that make it a challenge to race.

A closer comparison to those 3 Racing chassis would be Tamiyas "Pro" chassis or some of the M-chassis concept releases, those come without electronics/bodies, but they come with a decent mix of upgrades, CVAs, bearings, etc.

10 hours ago, Mrowka said:

My father was a professional pilot. As a little boy, I would ask him what the best airplane was. The answer always was the same: "it depends on what you want to do with it."

In some applications, a Piper Cub is a better airplane than an F-15.

A wise man once said "In some applications, a Hornet is a better buggy than an RC10."

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46 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

I don't see the 3R M4 doing too well as a rally chassis considering that its belt driven with the electronics mounted low, but on tarmac I'm sure that it'll out perform an MF-01X.

No, probably not since it does not even have the rally settings of a higher ride height. But I will think it will be against the MF-01X on the lower setting. (IDK, I have not stated on my MF-01X yet).

48 minutes ago, Kowalski86 said:

A closer comparison to those 3 Racing chassis would be Tamiyas "Pro" chassis or some of the M-chassis concept releases, those come without electronics/bodies, but they come with a decent mix of upgrades, CVAs, bearings, etc.

However their price compared very well against Tamiya's basic/budget chassis.

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