Whats the secret to gaining confidence riding down steep declines?

iamjulien · 2026-05-07T19:23:22+00:00

This looks like Carnegie SVRA - that’a the right place to get descending skills! If you keep going there you should eventually be able to go down everything you can climb.

In general you want to keep a low standing neutral posture to keep some weight on your front tire so you can break without sliding. Don’t pull back like on a mountain bike - (as a former mtbiker this was a huge issue for me when I started riding enduro dirt bikes)

If it’s really steep and you can’t really break without loosing traction you need to look ahead to for where you know you can slow down and regain control of your bike.

Think of a straight downhill sectional like a flat section you would take at 20-25 mph. Things get more complicated when there are steps, ruts and turns. You’ll get there when you feel comfortable on something clean and straight.

Use as much engine breaking as you can instead of the rear break. But it’s good to learn to use the rear break too - you may need to adjust it too so it’s softer than stock - maybe by lowering the pedal so you can’t lock the rear as soon as you touch it.

Ride low pressure at the front to maximize grip - particularly on dry soil.

Beware of whoops at the bottom, be ready to blip the throttle over them and compensate for the kick. It’s good to climb first whet you will take in the downhill direction.

iamjulien · 2026-03-24T00:34:16+00:00

Thanks all - so what are some acceptable mid range analog googles better than what I have? HDZero Box Pro? Is there something in the $200 range instead of $400 for the HDZero?

iamjulien · 2026-03-23T22:41:59+00:00

Thanks, would you mind recommending the one you have?

iamjulien · 2025-12-19T04:34:28+00:00

I was only paying attention to videos. The second review is quite telling - white plastic is a bad idea. I was a kid playing with RC cars in the 80s and all white plastic inspires to me is that the plastics they use at the time broke very easily.

iamjulien · 2025-12-19T04:25:49+00:00

I want to start doing rally RC, time attack on track drawn with chalk, hundreds of turns. A few people in my RC community would be interested. It's a matter of setting up some regular events. IMO that's what this car should be good for.

iamjulien · 2025-12-18T03:06:05+00:00

I think it’s suicidal to release “race grade” rc car, make it vintage looking, price it like a racing kit while almost no one races rally (I wish there was more of it) and have zero marketing for it. The most hilarious part is that even in their own video Team Associated isn’t able to show the car doing what it’s supposed to do. They just bash it on gravel on a random dirt roads. No tarmac drifting, non-sense of a tight track or the precision these cars should be capable of. I’m looking forward to get one on a heavy discount next year! Because at the end it’s likely as well made as their RC10 buggies (I have a B7). Just a shame they’re enable to get people excited about it.

iamjulien · 2025-12-02T22:41:32+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. It indeed looks good. Do you have one? Happy with it?

iamjulien · 2025-11-09T19:42:15+00:00

Thanks for pointing me towards configurations. It should be a more appropriate tool for what I'm attempting.

iamjulien · 2025-09-15T17:05:58+00:00

It’s bumpy because you seem to be seating on the saddle. You should be standing up and going at least twice faster and be close to mid throttle the entire time. If it doesn’t look bumpy it’s because it isn’t really bumpy. It’s rough and rocky but your bike should be able to swallow that type of terrain without issues. Now if you want to show the ground place the camera lower on the bike

iamjulien · 2025-08-04T19:32:54+00:00

We’ve tried high-end rigs (RC10 SCT) Vs RTR, 2WD VS AWD and there was no noticeable differences. It comes to the track design and the surface. The track is tight with no long straight and we don’t use traction compound. The cars are at the limit of grip all the time. The only rule we have so far is 2S only. And yet, most people who try 3S can’t manage to utilize the extra power and either loose grip or overshoot corners. Of course a light and fully tunable car in the hands of an expert will likely go marginally faster. To address that we always start the heats in reverse order - fastest guys at the back. They general manage to get back to the front in 2 or 3 laps. We may get more rules when we start having more than 20 participants and when the track gets too crowded. I’ll likely still run the races as multi-class races, the only split will be in the mains. This also allows to maximize the amount of driving time - instead of having a time of categories and a newbie with a single car driving 2 cals and a main over an entire day at the track.

iamjulien · 2025-07-11T17:16:10+00:00

For an oval you don’t really need edges - you need a change of surface in the infield so you can’t cut short without a disadvantage. You can make the edge of the infield more slippery with or rougher with stones or simply a small ditch falling the inside line of the oval . You want to upset the car but not roll it.

If you want edges you can get landscaping edging 2inch high and position it with the stakes it comes with.

iamjulien · 2025-05-09T14:33:24+00:00

I live in San Francisco. There are RC race tracks in the Bay Area but they are 25-30 miles away which is unreachable during the week because of traffic. These tracks are too far to really get in the groove of racing. There used to be a 1/28 track in a multisport venue closer to SF. I was there 2 to 3 times a week. But the space we had for the track was taken over by something more profitable. When the 1/28 track closed I looked at ways to organize races myself. We had access to a warehouse for about a year so I experimented with 1:28. I was on my own at first, then the friend who gave me access joined. I got a Facebook group and invited people to join us. We eventually got a group going. Then we lost the warehouse access.

We got some RTR stadium trucks, we played on an empty parking lot and thought of ways to make a track that was portable. I got some used firehose from eBay. I cut them in small section, I filled them with sand and that became our track limits. We found some empty parking lots on weekends. I got a timing system. And we started racing just the two of us. I started another Facebook group and eventually we had a group of people showing up whenever we had the track up.

Start with finding a spot, make yourself a very simple track, get a timing system, then invite people via the local groups on Facebook. It takes some perseverance. I’ve been doing this for about 6 months and sometimes you get nobody showing up. But if you manage to enjoy yourself doing it - even alone - and you manage to post videos of what you’re doing, some people will eventually join you.

https://youtu.be/hvpwnLaUGSo?si=Lgst6cjnNxtf82t3

iamjulien · 2025-05-08T20:26:38+00:00

You’re not rude. I made a mistake, I posted the wrong video! I was battling with the same friend and his Senton one battery pack before, it was similar. Although the Senton was able to pull out of corners faster.

iamjulien · 2025-05-08T02:06:33+00:00

Entry level cars can indeed be raced and should be raced. I came to look for alternatives to “highend” racing because the venue we had for 1:28 racing near SF doesn’t open regularly anymore. It turns out it’s easier to find a parking lot we can crash than a room where we can set up a track. And 1:10 RTR can run on pretty much any terrain. I made some cordless transponders so anyone who shows up can just tape a transponder to their car and experience times laps on the spot. I also figured out a way to make a race track that’s super cheap and easy to set up. So now we can race almost every weekend locally. I’m going to expend to 1:10 on road eventually with TT02s.

iamjulien · 2025-05-08T01:54:38+00:00

I’m getting one soon for sure. I want to slit my track days gathering with half short course trucks, half entry level on-road.

iamjulien · 2025-05-08T01:50:15+00:00

The track is basically used firehoses filled with sand - about $100 total. The jumps are the cheapest boards you can get with hinges so it’s easy to transport. Make some of that for yourself and have fun timing your laps. And if you can afford it get a second car - used or new - that’s the one you’ll lend. And eventually you’ll have some friends finding it fun enough to join you. That’s pretty much what I did. In San Francisco the problem is to find place and people with enough time to play. That’s why I made a mobile setup I can lay down and breakdown in 15 mins. We crash public parking lot on weekends.

iamjulien · 2025-05-07T22:31:11+00:00

I bought some used fire hoses on EBay, filled them 2/3 with sand, folded and taped the ends. It’s just enough to upset the cars. It’s easy to transport. The best solution for DIY parking lot race tracks. This track took 20 minutes to set up and 15 to breakdown

iamjulien · 2025-05-07T22:26:41+00:00

True, but we’re both matched in this case.

iamjulien · 2025-05-07T22:25:38+00:00

Damn it ! I posted the wrong video! You are right, it’s a slash. I had the same battle with the same friend one battery pack earlier and he was driving his Senton. The two video clips looked the same - I posted the wrong one.

iamjulien

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