I used to work with an Argentinian chap with – uh – spectacularly capacious nostrils. He’d developed a habit of cleaning them with cotton wool buds which he kept on his desk. He did this unconsciously – it was a little weird to say the least having conversations with the bloke when he was rummaging around in his nose. Occasionally, instead of disposing of the sullied bud, he’d leave it up there, hanging out, and he’d forget about it. Work at his computer, chat, make tea for everyone. All of that, with the stick hanging out of his nose.

We used to take bets on how long it’d be before he remembered and removed it – the longest was around 3 hours.

There is also a degrees C rating on batteries, which is I believe how hot it can get whilst discharging, so if you have a very heavy model or one you want to run at rapid acceleration, you’ll want a higher C rating to cope with the demand.

Nah, it’s the internal resistance, and hence the continuous and burst discharge rates. Nothing to do with temperature. https://oscarliang.com/lipo-battery-c-rating/

Allow me to be the first to mention this undersung slice of unutterable genius:

https://youtu.be/ax9yT3t1jSI

Am I the only person who thinks that Life On Mars (the TV show) owes a HUGE amount to The Bridge?

Sad about the Culture TV show, but as others have said, at least they can’t cock it up if it’s not happening.

Supersabre driveshaft should be readily available – it’s the same as the Boomerang, which was rereleased in 2017. The hotshot one might also fit, tho you may need different outdrives. Nice Madcap! You can also get some spares for that should you need them, as Astute parts also fit…

Glorious:

Stumpy01 – The Boomerang and the Avante were totally different. The Boomerang was perhaps the pinnacle of the hotshot-type chassis, superseded only by the Bigwig (which was heavier, slightly more cumbersome and had a more complex steering mechanism).

The Avante was a preposterously complex, overengineered from the ground up masterpiece. Fragile, too heavy and not competitive without some pretty substantial mods, it was also utterly lovely, beautiful to build and look at, and a joy to drive (carefully). The modern rerelease address some of the most glaring issues of the original – it’s not as fragile, and modern running gear means that the weight isn’t nearly as much of an problem. They fixed more of the issues at the time as hopups, and released the kit as the Egress.

OK, I’ll un-nerd now.

Ace idea, Chipps!

I can research/write words about pretty much anything you care to name, from bikes to hardcore science, tailored to a wide variety of audiences. I can also proof and edit.

You may have seen some of my bike stuff – both on here or in the mag (and *ahem* one or two of the others). If you’d like some examples of this, or my non-bike work, then get in touch!

I’m also available for Zoom/Facetime tuition in biological sciences, psychology and the neurosciences.

Drop me a PM if any of that appeals :-)

Barney

Thurston Moore at the Hebden Bridge Trades Club a couple of years ago. I’m quite the fan of Sonic Youth and Mr Moore’s solo output, so I was expecting a good night.

Initially I was somewhat bemused by there support act, which comprised of a lady with a trombone and a chap with a sampler. However, it turns out that it was an impressively accurate lead into the main performance itself, which was pure unadulterated ‘art rock’. As in, no discernible structure. Or tune. Or rhythm.

I’m told that some people believe they witnessed something really special that evening. It must’ve been within the last hour, though, ‘cos my wife and I had legged it long before then.

I did get to meet him first though. Which was nice.

It’ll definitely have a channel reverse on there somewhere.

Page 26 on here should do it:

https://cdn.simba-dickie-group.de/downloads/500500085/500500085_Anleitung_ReflexStick3-1LCD.pdf

Just bought a 540 motor for mine, oh and the Terra Scorcher, that @barney recommended, arrives in the next few days.

NICE. I’m soooo tempted myself! The one upgrade I’d heartily recommend getting out of the gate is one of these –

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MB-Steel-Support-for-Part-A5-A-Parts-for-the-Tamiya-Thunder-Shot-Fire-Dragon/371928172427?hash=item5698a5878b:g:bgUAAMXQbXtRD-WF

It’s an ace buggy (at least, the vintage one is – I’m sure this’ll be the same – enjoy!

“540 motor compatible ESCs much of a muchness?” Well, no – some of them won’t handle the faster ones. But if you’re just after a basic ESC then you can get cheap knock-offs from eBay for about £12, or I’d recommend a Hobbywing 1060 like this:

https://www.modelsport.co.uk/hobbywing-quicrun-1060-brushed-waterproof-esc-sbec/rc-car-products/404964

If you want to go retro, the re-released Terra Scorcher is a fine piece of kit, and arguably the pinnacle of that particular era (it had UJs, ball raced throughout, turnbuckles etc). The Hotshot is still widely admired, but it suffers from a number of flaws – bump steer being chief among them, as well as interesting suspension performance.

The Avante is utterly *glorious*, but for general bashing it’s far from ideal. It is and always was ludicrously over engineered. Things will break, and they’ll cost a packet to fix! The TT02b chassis is modern(ish), cheap, robust and spares are readily available: I’d be tempted to get one of those and a bearing kit personally :-)

https://www.tamiya.com/english/products/58568neo_scorcher/index.htm

Trout, the TS drivetrain is pretty good. If you want something faster, I’d personally go with a 13.5t speed passion brushless from eg Modelsport. The TBLE02 is a better brushless than a brushed ESC – even if it’s non adjustable. But because of the torque that brushless motors generate, you really need to swop out the alloy pinion for a steel one :-)

I love the way there’s an actual, genuine Cotic employee on this thread (hiya Kelvin!), who everyone’s completely and utterly ignoring 😂🤣

There’s nowt intrinsically wrong with it as a buggy as I recall – the Super Astute in particular was a top thing for its time. The teardown would be required to replace the bushings with bearings. And it’s fun! :-) Those tyres wouldn’t  work at all well on tarmac BTW. As you’ve found.

And if you bought all of these new things, the only thing you’d have bought that you couldn’t instantly transplant into something else would be – er – nope, I can’t think of anything. The bearings? Even the tyres you might be able to transplant. And if it’s in decent nick you’ll make enough out of it on eBay to finance most if not all of the cost of a new one…

I’d say the way to look at it is this: Throw some money at getting back into RC. If your existing car doesn’t work out, then it’s collectible and not junk enough to get something like a DT03 with minimal extra outlay. It’s a win win! (kinda ;-))

Oh, and new Nimh batteries (probably the cheapest and most sensible option to start with) will need a new charger, although new chargers can also charge old nicads in most cases.

Cougar, they’re still broadly collectible, and somewhat sought after, but you’re not sitting on a goldmine, if that’s what you mean. They’re loosely based on the Super Astute IIRC, which was recently rereleased so (some) spares are available – and what there isn’t you can most likely jury-rig.

Get some bearings for it, and give her a complete strip down. Tyres will be the main thing which will help your steering (well, obvs) – what surfaces are you running on, and with what tyres? The other main thing you can do to help it steer at full chat is to put some weight over the front – over the servo, or better yet, even further forward. You can also pick up an ESC for less than £20 these days which will be a huge improvement on your old manual one.

No way, it’s nothing like as iconic as the Grasshopper/Hornet

I did say “IMO”, you’ll note… I wasn’t presenting it as an indisputable fact.

I’d also happily make a case for the Sand Scorcher. And very possibly the Grasshopper. But none of your other suggestions. Soz.

IMO, natch. ;-)

The p407 is apparently outstanding for the cash (especially compared to the Tamiya it’s compiled from) but the electronics are, allegedly, junk. That design is not the best crawler, but it’s a fun trail truck. Again, apparently – I don’t own one. I would love to, though ;-)

From a retro buggy perspective, the Terra Scorcher is just about to be re-released. The Boomerang is also pretty good. Of more modern ones the TT01-B looks OK, but I’ve got no experience of that (I restored my brother’s old Terra Scorcher, and I used to on a Boomerang though :-) )

Mind you, the Hotshot is *the* iconic Tamiya buggy IMO – and tinkering to fix the issues (primarily the bump steer from what I remember)  is part of the fun :-D

Guitars are very long-lived, sentimental things IMO. They don’t wear out in the same way as most stuff, they wear in – and it’s often worth spending money on something that’s important to you.

If you’re doing it up to sell it, then give it the bare minimum and get shot.

But if it means something to you, and you want it to be its best, then by all means splurge. There’s a huge difference between value and cost :-)

I got a scholarship to a private school [QEGS] and also accepted at the grammar [Clithroe].
I wanted to go to the local comp with my mates.
In the end I ended up going to a church school [St Wilfrids] that was still 9-10 miles away which I think was worst of all worlds.

Bloody hell – I’m guessing by all the others you mean QEGS Blackburn? I went there until I was 15.

It was very meh IMO.

Then went to King’s in Macclesfiield – which I hated. The vast majority of my mates were at the local comp. Can’t say I’m keen on private schools, but it’s all down to personal experience, and an N of one isn’t exactly scientific.

I can’t believe no-one’s mentioned the 4000W motor. Four. Thousand. Watts.

For reference, UK ebikes are limited to 250… 0_o

Thought this was going to be about web addresses:

https://www.penisland.net

Bonus points BTW for taking the ball and running with it – witness the logo, and ‘we specialise in wood’ :-D

This time last year I had one.

Now I’m up to

*counts*

ten. Jesus. 0_o

…not including the Comical Hornet I’ve bought for my daughter ;-)

Egress is lovely :-) Do it! DOOO EEEEEET…

If it helps any, I’ve got one of these in my SWB van https://www.hiloroofs.co.uk/vw-t5-pop-top-roof

I’m 6’3″, and my wife and I (she’s 5’10”) sleep up there no problems. Can’t remember how wide it is, apart from ‘enough’, but it’s plenty long. I can’t sleep in a Reimo – they’re too short.

Choppersquad – YES. You are worthy of laudation…

The Smiths’ oeuvre is awesome, apart from that Morrissey arsehole’s sense of melody.

Tho for my money the very worst lyric ever (in a *popular* song) is the Police’s Don’t Stand So Close To Me –

“it’s no use, he sees her; he starts to shake and cough

Just like the old man in that famous book by Nabokov”

Ugh.

The worst lyric of all time, though, (IMHO, natch) is in a less popular song – Stranger by the Minute by Porcupine Tree:

“A few minutes with me inside my van
Should be so beautiful if we can”

It’s almost pristine in its majestic hideousness.

That line in no small part opened my eyes to how execrable the rest of their lyrics are – I can’t listen to the band at all now!

Monumental things, longer and longer, swaying about, overtaking me at 70-odd.

I’ve witnessed caravans fishtailing at 70mph and pulling the cars towing them 360 degrees before exploding into matchwood. Not pretty.

I think the legal limit for towing a caravan is 56mph. Can’t think why.

Freelander crops up every now and again by me with the reg: T055 ERS :-)

Cheers all. 👍

Jay Little – do you mean Strangstry Woods? There’s a lot of fun stuff in there (including the infamous Rasstrick Rampage drop :-D)

The Komoot route is perforce legal – it’s an official Komoot one, so they can’t be seen to endorse anything illegal – although looking at it the bit that touches the moor might not be as legal as all that (and it’s a lot of fun as a descent). There are plans afoot to make the moor permissible at least in part but there are enormous complications to this, and of course a variety of different viewpoints to contend with. The Copley Cracker descent is well worth playing with though, and I recommend Elland Park Woods as well as Copley Woods (on the maps as North Dean Woods).

Not sure what motor it is, but it sounds like the springs aren’t pushing the brushes onto the comm enough?

Somebody get that poor bastard a burger…

Of course. :-)

Yorkshire decaf tea is probably the best one I’ve tried. The trick to making it not taste like tea-tinted water, though, is to stew it for AGES.

Rexated. Good man! I’d love to have a beer with you some time; we could bore everyone else under the table :-D

Raybanwombie – that sounds pretty interesting. I’d be interested in learning more about 6D ones ( can’t say I’ve ridden them either). Although simply having more movement doesn’t mean much in and of itself – it’s how that rotational movement is dissipated that’s important… I will instruct the bods at Singletrack to investigate…

I’ve been bitten by the bug hard (I used to be into them in the eighties), and AFAICT some of the vintage rere Tamiya stuff is actually surprisingly good to drive, but the mid-2000s Tamiya buggies (Durga, Baldre etc) are also terrific, a bit more competitive and not actually that expensive on eBay.

If you want to go for a new vintage released one, then I’d look at the Boomerang or Bigwig – not too pricey, and a LOT of the handling issues of the Hotshot, such as bump steer, have been designed out. New designed ones? The Tamiya stuff also seems pretty good, although it’s not that competitive if you want to race without a ton of hop ups.

For some reason the newer race buggies (ie the ones with the forward cab), whilst being MASSIVELY fast – like up to 50mph) and capable, seem to leave me cold. They days of the Frog and the Hornet at the local clubs is, sadly, long gone – although vintage racing is now making a huge comeback. Other companies (specifically Schumacher) are getting on board and it looks like it might take off again – nostalgia is a powerful mistress.

The difference between brushless and brushed isn’t actually all that massive; it’s a matter of torque, smoothness and where and when you can put the power down. Programmable electronic speed controllers help massively in that regard too. The biggest difference it seems to me is Lipo vs Nimh in terms of consistency of power over time; Lipo is massively better; lighter, with more power and less of a power loss curve throughout the charge.

And as someone said up there ^^, find a group on facebook or somewhere and get together with folks to play with them on a track, even if you’re not racing. It’s a lot (I mean a LOT) more engaging than puttering around your garden…

:-)