#254 - Tidbits

I think it started immediately after the last race. Everyone just

got soooo lazy after that. Nobody wanted to go for any long rides

and even now ... when there's a race coming up on the 16th of Sept,

nobody still wants to go for long rides.

So, in short, nothing much happening in the MTB front. Hence

the silence in this blog. My group finally got our own jersey designed,

by the way. See first picture above. I also got a matching helmet from

Kali Protectives. I bought it at "A Motorcykel Area" 

which is very near Whampoa Market.



Although the group that I cycle with have become

lazy, we still go for shorter trail rides though. Both

day and night trail rides.

But ... what actually prompted me to write this post

is that while I'm being lazy on the cycling front, two of

my past hobbies have started calling me again!

The first is DragonBoat paddling ... I don't think I can

commit to the racing schedule of Singapore Paddle Club

and so I decided to join the Spanish Armada DB Club.

They are more relaxed and I think their practice sessions

will greatly complement my cycling sessions.



 The second hobby and my most expensive hobby ever

is RC Car racing. Deck has been bitten by the bug and you

can tell that he has been bitten badly because he just bought

a Sanwa M11 Radio Controller. See pic below. It looks

like it can control a space shuttle launch. Unlike my

Sanwa M8, this is no longer an FM radio. It is using

2.4 GHz bandwidth and you actually bind it to the

receiver as if you are binding a wireless headset

to your cell phone. 

Apparently, the 'in' thing now is 2WD buggy racing.

Deck's car has been ordered... while I on the other

hand rummaged through my store room and found out

that I actually own two 2WD buggies !

The first (and newer of the two) buggy is an Associated

Factory Team B4. I bought this buggy in the early

2000's. I remember that this buggy had carbon composite

everything. You name a part that can not be made from

Titanium or Aluminum then it will definitely be Carbon

Composite. Now here is the thing. I chose this version of

this buggy because of the Carbon Composite thing. The lower

version 'only' had plastic parts. Everybody who was 

'knowledgeable' in RC last time said that this Carbon Composite

material is good because it is LIGHT and STIFF (hehehe

much like bicycles). THEN later on people started complaining

that being light and stiff, only the factory drivers have the

talent to control this buggy! The lesser mortals will find

this buggy to be a handful AND SO the solution is to

UPGRADE the Carbon Composite Chassis so that it will

have a little 'give'.... Can you guess what is the upgrade?

Hehehehe yes, the upgrade is you have to buy the chassis

of the cheaper version of the buggy.

So in short, if you bought the cheaper version, you

would have been ok.  

The second buggy is the Schumacher Fireblad EVO.

While the American manufacturers Losi and Associated

have all given the nod to molded composite chassis, European

manufacturer Schumacher have always had a thing for

fiber glass/carbon plates much like the

normal Touring Cars today.

I bought this car because I have always wanted to

'drive' a Schumacher. I have always found these cars

to be sooo exotic. According to local folklore, these

cars used to be common in Singapore in the early 90's.

But when the buggy fad faded away, Schumacher

faded away with it never to come back.

So! I drove this car for ten battery packs (less than 1 hour?)

and after that, I took out the electronics and then put moth balls

and kept the car. But I remember that driving this car was

a lot more rewarding than the Associated....

Maybe I should get the 2013 version of this buggy ?

That is if Schumacher is still operating :-(