Axial wraith or gmade R1?
 

OK so here is a question for all of you that have any experience with this 2 crawlers. Which one is better and why? Both look to have the same basic concept, I like them both but what to buy and why is a difficult decision.

IMO from what I have read, and what I know of the R1 There are two way different rigs to do an even comparison. I will end up with the Wraith over the R1 Personally because it Axial and it looks better asteticly to me. "thumbsup"

I would think the wraith will have more upgrades available too.

I've yet to see R1 aftermarket parts in the hobby shops I go to. That's the first sign. No parts local, means long wait time to get things fixed.

My Wraith is sweet. I've never been one to stare and gawk at an RC for so long but this Wraith makes me do it.

As other pointed out yet, R1 has almost no aftermarket support, there's just a handfull of optional parts. For the Wraith you have many parts from the AX-10 and XR-10 optional and aftermarket that are a direct bolt-in, plus the aftermarket will grow fast around the Wraith, considering the hype it has!
Anyway, there's another point I would highlight about the R1 which I personally disagree: most of the drivetrain runs on smallish 8x50 bearings, even the ring gear, which is one of the highest load area for a bearing! Not the best in my book for a good service life...
Ok, on the ring gear it's not so hard to mod the housing to fit some flanged 10x50, which is much better. Still having to rely on so many small bearings in other areas doesn't make me feel comfortable about reliability.
R1 axles are a portal design. This alone for me is a good enough reason to buy them for a scale project (Mogs or similar), but I wouldn't buy the whole rig. ;-)

The portal design is actually the one thing that makes me hesitant to buy one. It seems cool and all, but putting more small gears and bearings in there just seems to be asking for trouble. I could be wrong though.

As far as looks go, I like them both. I think they both represent two different types of rock crawlers/racers very well.