Berg Evoloution Harvo Style

[Harvo]

So I've been doing this a few years now. (Not as long as some, much longer than others). Have had a lot of highlights and lowlights during that time.

I finished 6th in TN my first year. A Second place finish in TN my 3rd year got me invited to Nationals in OK. where I finished 50 something I think. Then there was Nationals in Las Vegas where I came in ... um... last .
I had a good run at Battlegrounds winning 2 non-consecutive years, and I almost won ECC once or twice. In my best Nationals showing, I finished 10th. That was the first year it was called "Worlds" so I was 10th in the world... yay.

More than the trucks, the parts, the building, the buying, the travelling... the big competitions have always been my favorite part of R/C Crawling. I got to shake hands with all the guys that build all the crazy parts I use, and I got to compete (and sometimes beat) the guys I read about for the first few years I was into the hobby.

I know it sounds like a brag, but my point is R/C crawling is a great activity and it has been very good to me. It has allowed me to meet people, go places and do things I never would have done.

I was looking back at the old builds, and the progression is kind of like an evoloution of the Berg. Yeah... I started with a TLT, but as soon as the Berg hit the scene at ECC that first year, I wanted one.

The First Berg. Stock Axles / Kamikaze Steering / Tekin Motors / Home made dig-a-ma-jig / Losi Claws / The original Rockshow Chassis. Unfortunately the video of this was lost... but the next gen was exactly the same but with the T1E Moonbuggy.



After a while with the Moonbuggy Berg, I got distracted by the XR10 and this happened.

from Kevin Herndon on Vimeo.

But when Mike reintroduced the Rockshow Chassis, I wanted to build one for both the XR and the Berg. I never would have guessed the Berg crawled MUCH better

Stock Berg Cases / Clover Customs Tubes / Rockshow Chassis / HH 45 T Machine wound motors / Twin Tekin EXCs / SLWs.

from Kevin Herndon on Vimeo.

Then the lightweight craze started. It was all about cutting weight at all cost. For me it was cutting weight at no cost. I used Plastic wheels, Minimal knucle weights, Dlux started doing half Delrin axle tubes so I got one for the front, and I got the Berg to an AMAZING sub- 5 pounds. Go ahead and laugh... it was a big deal then.



That's when it got crazy. Dlux started drilling out gears, milling cases, and making full delrin axle tubes. I switched to a carbon fiber Rockshow Chassis but then quickly swapped over to the new and improved geometry of the T1E Special Ops. Dlux started turning out the Plate wheels in carbon fiber with true bead locks and they were the thing to have. Links went from fat steel to fat aluminum to 1.8" titanium. I started using Brood 40T Motors. I also tried Pink Shaved Rovers during this time. It was 3 years since my first Berg Build.



To Be Continued....

[Almighty Malach]

Good times there. Imagine what it would have been like if cnc cutting carbon fiber and 3d printing would have happened 3 years earlier

[Harvo]

Hmmm. For some reason the Vimeo vids aren't showing on my phone. You'll have to watch those at home fellas.

Aaaand... I'm not sure why it shows a video and a mini video... eh.

[Harvo]

Next came the revised chassis rules. Cabs could be shorter and trucks could drive upside down. The Spec Ops chassis turned into the Stealth Chassis. That was about the time that Dlux got a little crazy and designed his own Berg based case out of carbon fiber. It was super light and I had the privilege to be one of his prototype testers.

[Harvo]

After lots of fun and good times with the T1E line, I tried the Double agent Chassis with the Superlight axles with some success. What I really wanted was to pair up the Superlights with Dlux's new chassis. My first complete Dlux crawler was the result..




And now Erik has released the 2nd version of his Chassis.... The Bounty Hunter. It was an easy swap to move everything over to the new chassis... but oh what a difference a few geometry tweaks can make.



.... I'm excited to see where my Berg goes next. One thing I find really interesting is that I went through several sets of XR gears... but I'm on my original Berg gears...that have been filed, lightened and tortured for at least 6 years.

[Erik D_lux]

Pretty cool write up!

Wonder where the future will land you?

[Harvo]

Originally Posted by Erik D_lux

Pretty cool write up!

Wonder where the future will land you?

I reckon in the middle of a big pile of new Dlux parts.

[cliff1119]

Looks good Harvo

[xkill]

Great write up!
I liked the sum up of your rigs.

Are you going to this year Worlds?

[stubs179]

Great post!

Erik's prototype axles are the first and only berg axles I've had and they've been amazing. I am still on my original set of gears also. Being stuck out here in Florida, i haven't been able to put them through the punishment i would have liked. Soon they will get all the punishment they can handle!

[lt99ls1]

Very entertaining read.

So what is the new average weight of one of these things now?