Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I’m looking to upgrade to a brushless system in my 10.2 truggy that I have for no other reason than I want a brushless system. I’m stuck on what I want to get. Cost isn’t the issue, otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned tekin. Looking to get people’s experience with the different setups I’m considering. Tekin rx4 with a roc 412 3100kv or the mamba x with the roc 412 3100kv or a Holmes puller Pro in 2700kv or 3300kv. It will be run on 3s and I’m coming from a hw1080 with a hackmoto 35t brushed motor. Bec isn’t a concern as I’m running a 3brothers g13 servo which runs off of direct battery power. Just looking to see what people have had experience with. I’m leaning towards the tekin combo but couldn’t really find that much information with the search function. Any input is appreciated.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Put one vote up for the Mamba X and puller pro. I don't have any experience with the others but I love that combo in my Wraith.

For pure crawling I also love my Sidewinder 4/Revolver 1800kv setup.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Seconding this, Holmes and a Castle ESC is my preference for crawling. I haven't used a Puller Pro as of yet, but my Trailmaster Pro is amazingly smooth. The Puller being 4 pole vs 2 pole, should only increase the smoothness.

The SW4 is an amazing sensorless ESC, and the revolver is great if you don't mind the slight increase of noise from the motor.

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Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I've run both the puller motors and the roc412 and the Holmes Puller has a better smoothness at low speeds. If it says anything the roc 412 has shifted from crawling duties to powering a basher.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

If you want a Tekin with smoother low end you can use the Pro4. Less grunt at low speed compared to Roc412, but smoother startup and feeling.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I was not a fan of the RX4. Its huge and bulky, the tuning is not as nice as Castle's, and once you have that Aux wire like the Castle X series has, its difficult to go to anything else. I have not ran the normal size Puller Pro motors from Holmes, but have ran his Stubby motors and like them a lot. I also have ran a couple Roc 412s and had no complaints.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Another vote for mamba x and puller pro motors. Also a big fan of the revolver in a 10.2.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

That isn't really possible, seeing as how they both have the same size rotor and very similar stack designs. The ROC412 is extremely smooth on the low end, as is the Pro4. We just changed a few small things to get better drag brake out of the ROC series.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

The RX4 has an Aux wire as well, which lets you adjust the Drag Brake on the fly in 10 steps from the radio. Size is basically the same too footprint-wise and the RX4 is only taller due to the fan shroud. It only looks bulky because of the case design.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I think that firmware came out after I sold mine. Is it possible to have only two settings (say 100% and 0%) instead of ten steps? I much prefer to have it that way so I can simply turn it on and off instead of incremental settings.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Right now we are 10 steps but we have looked into added an on/off setting. 100 and 0 wouldn't be too hard, but I've also wanted to make the two user-adjustable so custom values could be used.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

After a lot of research and watching a ton of YouTube I have decided to go with a Holmes puller Pro 2700 and a mamba x. I’m going to us a standard size motor because it seems like a good all around size and power performer. Thanks everyone for the input. Can’t wait to get it and install it. Looking forward to trying out something new.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

After a lot of research and watching a ton of YouTube I have decided to go with a Holmes puller Pro 2700 and a mamba x. I’m going to us a standard size motor because it seems like a good all around size and power performer. Thanks everyone for the input. Can’t wait to get it and install it. Looking forward to trying out something new.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Tekin ROC412 Element motors with Castle Creation Mamba X escs power MANY of the Crawler Innovations and Ayala Metal Works fleet of RC's. Tekin is one of the only companies that actually test and build motors for 4S - 6S voltage. If you can gear down low enough, the drag break becomes natural due to the low gearing and the loss of top speed will be regained with the added voltage. The low gearing will smooth out the start up as well.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I might be odd, but I really only want on and off. I think the addition of active braking has made all the fiddly little incremental adjustments obsolete. I need a drag brake strong enough to hold my truck on an incline, then off at the push of a button so it doesnt lock up the second I let off the throttle and make my truck endo or damage the drivetrain.

You guys get that set up and I'll buy an RS Gen 3 to try. As much as I love the Mamba X, its a brick.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

A smaller Mamba X - yes, please! Or a Tekin version which would most likely be more compact. The Tekin boys can control heat like no other.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Smaller Mamba? whats wrong with the micro X? I love the micro X and I've had good luck running them in rigs up to 8-9 lbs.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I was told not to use the Micro X in my TRX-4 with the Revolver motor.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I can confirm the Pro4 starts up smoother with my own testing. The flux linkage on the ROC is stronger, which gets you the higher drag brake but also increases the detent force and increases minimum startup speed.

Quite a bold statement, that is also untrue. You are leaving out the company that has had 6s capable crawler motors and ESCs for over a decade, and has pushed for Volt up, Gear down for 14 years! :ror:

Hope life is well.

Not a good idea with the two speed model unless you are using the 1000kv, second gear will fry the controller. Single speed TRX4, no worries with proper gearing.

Many thanks for the support! I put a lot of effort into the magnetics to ensure they are the smoothest starting motors available. The Standard size is a beast, 2700 is a great do all KV.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I've had mixed luck with the Micros. My first one burnt up pretty quick. It took me a while to give one a second try. I put the next Micro X in my old Toyzuki V2 comp rig and it would get scolding hot in a few minutes of running. I'm guessing it was because of the weight (it had Curries) and aggressive OD/UD. I'm running that Micro X right now in my 1.9 Wraith and love it. It works perfectly and does not even get warm. That truck is pretty light with no OD/UD.

I'd love to have a good low profile lightweight option that does not require a BEC to run high power servos.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Your welcome, I always like to support the ones who are making our hobby the best it can be. The Holmes motor just seems lime the right fit for what I’m looking for. Btw most of the YouTube videos I watch were yours. Very good and very technical and very well explained. Reminds me of when the import car magazine sport compact car was around. Their writers explained stuff in a very technical way that could be easily understood. Keep up the gray work.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I had to take critical thinking in school and I can assure this statement is neither bold or incorrect. This is because he added the qualifier of "one of the only" at the beginning. This means that if every esc company tested their esc's on 4s to 6s then he is including every esc company. All the statement actually says is that Tekin tests their esc's on 4s - 6s, which I'm sure is true. By saying "One of the" the writer expresses their are other companies that do this as well.

None of this has any bearing on the intent the author had, as we do not know the extent of their grasp on the intricacies of the grammar they used.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

The statement by itself, yes it has the wiggle room tacked on. Taken in the context of this thread, implies that only tekin is in the subset of companies that developed 4 to 6s systems, when all three have to some degree.

Also a very good point. It's hard to say intent.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Hobbywing AXE is my favorite


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Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

The hobbywing AXE has a drag brake setting that will apply instantly when going slow and then varies the application of the brake based on speed so it doesn’t lock up when coming off high speed.


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Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Mamba ESCs do the the same thing, using the drag brake ramp as well as active freewheeling feature.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I placed my order today from rpp (15% off for Labor Day). Castle mamba x, Holmes 2700kv puller Pro standard size and a b-link. I liked the idea of changing the settings on my phone while I’m out in the field. The main reason I didn’t consider the hobbywing axe system is the whole motor issue that everyone talks about. I didn’t like being tied down to on motor brand. I’m excited for the Holmes motor, I’ve never owned a Holmes product but I’ve only seen people love them. I had a tekin fxr with one of their 55t motors back in the day, but this will be my first trip into a high end brushless crawler motor and esc combo.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

Amongst Tekin, Castle and Holmes, Axe should just keep quiet and watch only because its only 3s capable. But its alright on its own. Not only do we learn about crawlers' techs but we r also picking up grammer lessons FOC (free of charge n not field oriented controls) as for non native speaker like myself!:) thanks!

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Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

First off, I know on-road & overpass racing...but, when it comes to crawlers, I'll admit I'm a total nOOb. That being said, I'm about to enter the crawler would, be with my purchase of the new Axial Capra 1.9, which will be used 60-75% for "rock racing" (more accurately, "crawler drag racing"), and 25-40% rock/trail crawling. And, yes, I do realize these two uses are somewhat in contrast to each other, which kind-of complicates the ESC/motor choice problem. I've already contacted John Robert Holmes, via his website, but thought I'd pose a similar question here.

Initially, I had no clue what to get. Then (primarily because all my other vehicles have Hobbywing ESCs) I decided on the AXE FOC System. Then, because of "problems" with the AXE, I was back a strap, not knowing what to get. Thankfully, because of this thread, and threads on various forums, I've been able to do some research. For the ESC, I think I've finally decided on the CC Mamba X. As for a motor, that's where I'm still undecided.

As of right now, I'm thinking either the Tekin ROC412 (2300kV), or Holmes Puller Pro (2700kV)...unless anyone can highly-recommend other possibilities. If no other options can be given, between these two motors (being used with the Mamba X), which would be the better choice? Additionally, what would the advantages/disadvantages be of each (when used with the Mamba X)?

For those replying, please, only reply if you have actually used both motors. This will help to alleviate any bias, such as usually found by those who have only used one of them.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I don't have experience with the ROC motor, but can tell you that the Holmes Puller Pro will be a great motor. It has plenty of power, and is smooth as butter.

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Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

I can second this. But being that the Capra is a smaller vehicle, I went with the Puller Stubby 2200kv.

Re: Tekin, castle and Holmes oh my!
 

A ROC will have stronger drag and torque density. A Puller stubby will start smoother and slower. A Puller 540 standard will have more torque than both and start just a hair faster than the stubby, but still considerably smoother than the roc.