"Why I don't go to comps".....not looking for comp guy replies....

[Olle P]

What (to me) stands out as the most common argument is to the effect of: "No comps held around here."
It's interesting to read how far (or rather how short) people are willing to travel to get to a comp. Most seems to think that a one hour drive is beyond acceptance!

With such a small area available to gather competitors there's no wonder no comps are held. Downtown in a major city seems to be the only type of place acceptable for comps...

Personally I have no problem driving two hours for a weekday evening get-together. One day competitions can be up to twice of that and still make it worth while.

[craddock35]

Originally Posted by Olle P

What (to me) stands out as the most common argument is to the effect of: "No comps held around here."
It's interesting to read how far (or rather how short) people are willing to travel to get to a comp. Most seems to think that a one hour drive is beyond acceptance!

With such a small area available to gather competitors there's no wonder no comps are held. Downtown in a major city seems to be the only type of place acceptable for comps...

Personally I have no problem driving two hours for a weekday evening get-together. One day competitions can be up to twice of that and still make it worth while.

Not everybody lives in the city. There are several places that comps could be held within 30 min of me but the comp guys want to drive 2+ hrs to go to 1 or 2 specific areas that alot of us just can't afford to drive to or other reasons we can't go that far. If I lived in the city and had to drive a hour or so to get to a spot it would be different as long as I could come up with the money to go. But there is no way I am going to pay somebody to be in a comp 2+ hrs away when I can comp 10 min away or even in my back yard for free with friends. I know of at least 4 other guys within 20 min of me that I crawl with that have told me the same thing. So thats at least 5 of us + the kids and about 9 crawlers that will not do comps for those reasons.

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by craddock35

... there is no way I am going to pay somebody to be in a comp 2+ hrs away when I can comp 10 min away...

I think you misunderstand me. I have plenty of suitable terrain nearby, but no competitions are held there.
If you have competitions held within 10 minutes of your home, good for you!

Originally Posted by craddock35

... or even in my back yard for free with friends. I know of at least 4 other guys within 20 min of me that I crawl with that have told me the same thing. So thats at least 5 of us + the kids and about 9 crawlers that will not do comps for those reasons.

If you arrange your own competitions you do in fact go to competitions! (To me even a one-on-one qualify as a "competition", as far as it's somewhat pre-planned.)

When I state that I'm willing to travel a bit to get to a comp it's not something I'm willing/able to do on a weekly basis or so, but a few times a year is no sweat.

[djp087]

I think a lot of people, myself included, are against it because the rigs we have are fun and aren't in a class for comps.

[Billadelphia]

well here in florida we have many scaler comps and crawling comps just pack up and move here

[jado6006]

Alrite, i've had this conversation more than a few times. So thought i'd share. I wanna have fun. My daily grind is filled with must's & have to's. Going to a comp to have some overly serious crawl geek yell "REVERSE!!", then shake his head, makes me wanna smash his grill. Makes me wonder if they have REAL problems. I comped for a couple yrs here in sac, & surrounding areas. After the very 1st one, i thought it was just this set of guys. But nope. Crawl geeks are everywhere. Being helped is cool. Getting lectured will get you drug outside. I've had some primo rigs that never saw paint on rocks. cuz of the geeks. Worst part is, i went to scalers cuz of the totally different attitude those cats had. That was 4 yrs ago. But guess what? Geeks are popping up in this joint too! Dig on scalers, winch points evry 10 feet. Makes me sad. & pissed. Whatever geeks, stay outta my way. You've been warned. See ya on the trail.

[B94Cast]

I don't do comps or anything to that extent for a few basic reasons. The biggest is I just want to have fun, not read some ridiculously huge set of rules, get looked down on because I don't have $2000 into my rig, and the general snobbishness that is prevelant with any hobby but is always concentrated in areas such as these (really anything "official" - its the same with flying planes, helis, running trains, slot cars, you name it). I do this hobby for fun, relaxation, recreation with friends and meeting easy going folks who enjoy this too.
I get enough "serious" at work, I don't need or want it in my free time. A hobby should be fun, and for me that does not include dealing with rule books and people that associate their ego with their rig and how much money they spent on it.

[Gravebane525]

money... money is the biggest part. 600 bucks is ALOT of money to most people but when it comes to the cars at the one comp I went to watch, that is a drop in the bucket. while the comp crawlers had more into them then most cars anyone in my family have owned, the Scalers looked more manageable price wise. instead of lots and lots of money, it seamed more about lots and lots of time to make the cars look good. if I had bought an scx10 instead of the ridgecrest I may have tried. once I recover from the money spent to get my ridgecrest and some of the upgrades for it, I'll be looking into some how putting together a cheap used scale crawler to go out and have some fun at the comps.

[winnerone23]

Ok, after only reading a few pages back, I feel I'm split.. I do go to comps an drive hours to get there. I find myself pretty lucky, as the club I comp with is very mellow an do do it for fun, but also to win..
I'm backwards tho.. i loved the scale scene an wasn't huge into comp rigs. It seemed easier and less money. But after doing a couple an not winning for no other reason then losing to scale points I leaned more towards the driving side. I was top driver in scale an landed in 5th or something.. if I'm goin to spend hundreds of bucks its goin to be for a reason, not building a scale rig with huge scale points so I don't have to know how to drive. What's the point in winning? Its not skill.. I dont take anything away from anyone with a decked out rig that's nicely built an has 70 scale points.. but its not a car show its a comp.. so I do that for fun an cause a two hr drive for one class isn't as much fun as 2 classes..

For the comp scene, I do it for fun. Not for what anyone else has to say or give a crap bout their attitudes. If they don't want to have fun, that's on them. I want to know what I built an my driving skill is on the up an up to what I do on my home course an surounding area is any good. Its hard to know an understand everything on the site if you don't know whats all goin on in the hobby..

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by winnerone23

OK, after only reading a few pages back, I feel I'm split.. I do go to comps an drive hours to get there. I find myself pretty lucky, as the club I comp with is very mellow an do do it for fun, but also to win..
I'm backwards tho.. I loved the scale scene and wasn't huge into comp rigs. It seemed easier and less money. But after doing a couple and not winning for no other reason then losing to scale points I leaned more towards the driving side. I was top driver in scale an landed in 5th or something.. if I'm going to spend hundreds of bucks its going to be for a reason, not building a scale rig with huge scale points so I don't have to know how to drive. What's the point in winning? Its not skill.. I don't take anything away from anyone with a decked out rig that's nicely built an has 70 scale points.. but its not a car show, its a comp.. so I do that for fun an because a two hr drive for one class isn't as much fun as 2 classes..

For the comp scene, I do it for fun. Not for what anyone else has to say or give a crap about their attitudes. If they don't want to have fun, that's on them. I want to know what I built and my driving skill is on the up an up to what I do on my home course and surrounding area is any good. Its hard to know and understand everything on the site if you don't know whats all going on in the hobby..

Ummm...you're confusing me......



You comp (sorta why I'm wondering why you posted in here), but gave up on scale comps (?)...(maybe you should have posted in the "Why I don't comp anymore" thread???).

Sigh.....no understanding on my part......unless you're trying to make a point to others in this thread??

[Shelbot]

I live around the Philadelphia area and it is dead here. I can't even find friends to bash with, let alone any clubs or comps that don't involve short course or flying. Even my lhs has an indoor track for the sc & buggy guys, but no one running scalers or crawlers. I've been bashing, by myself, for the last 8 months(since I got my Wraith) and I have really been feeling lonely lately, so I decided to get a Bully roller to get into comp crawling to make friends and possibly earn some winnings to pay for my hobby. Bully arrived yesterday and I thought that I had done enough research to get this project going, but now after reading a ton of threads in the bully section, I am completely floored at how much this thing is going to cost me if I want it to be a good comp crawler. Then there's the whole mod section which consists of shaving axles, drilling gears, clocking who knows what and basically overhauling the entire thing to the point to where it's not even the same rig you purchased anymore. I do not have access to any machine shop tools, nor do I have any know how in fabricating anything. Thinking of sending it back as I have already spent $1300+ on my Wraith and I'm not even running brushless/lipos or any hardcore stuff. Then there's the rules. How can anyone have fun when they're constantly modding their trucks and having to worry if the new mods will be acceptable or if they'll be thrown into another class or not able to compete at all? If there were actually some people into comp crawling in my area, then I would at least check it out, but for now I'm on the fence as to keep this bully or not. Sorry if I got off topic, this is just something that's been eating me up for a while now. Basically I don't go to comps because they're far away, ridiculous amounts of money required to set up a worthy rig and tons of rules and stipulations.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Shelbot

I live around the Philadelphia area and it is dead here. I can't even find friends to bash with, let alone any clubs or comps that don't involve short course or flying. Even my LHS has an indoor track for the SC & buggy guys, but no one running scalers or crawlers. I've been bashing, by myself, for the last 8 months(since I got my Wraith) and I have really been feeling lonely lately, so I decided to get a Bully roller to get into comp crawling to make friends and possibly earn some winnings to pay for my hobby. Bully arrived yesterday and I thought that I had done enough research to get this project going, but now after reading a ton of threads in the bully section, I am completely floored at how much this thing is going to cost me if I want it to be a good comp crawler. Then there's the whole mod section which consists of shaving axles, drilling gears, clocking who knows what and basically overhauling the entire thing to the point to where it's not even the same rig you purchased anymore. I do not have access to any machine shop tools, nor do I have any know how in fabricating anything. Thinking of sending it back as I have already spent $1300+ on my Wraith and I'm not even running brushless/LiPO's or any hardcore stuff. Then there's the rules. How can anyone have fun when they're constantly modding their trucks and having to worry if the new mods will be acceptable or if they'll be thrown into another class or not able to compete at all? If there were actually some people into comp crawling in my area, then I would at least check it out, but for now I'm on the fence as to keep this Bully or not. Sorry if I got off topic, this is just something that's been eating me up for a while now. Basically I don't go to comps because they're far away, ridiculous amounts of money required to set up a worthy rig and tons of rules and stipulations.

There are a lot of comp/scale peeps not far from you. I'm with GSRCRC which is based in NJ but we do comps in PA as well.
There is also EPARCC which is in PA.
You should check out the regional forums on the main page and look these clubs up.
Not sure what you consider a "long trip", my closest comp is ~40 miles away, furthest is ~130 miles away. Yes, it's a whole day for a comp between travel & the comp itself.

As to "having to spend a lot of money", wrong. You need to do a few mods for reliability, then go drive....a lot........most of a good score is the driver, a bit is the rig. Granted, a real crappy rig will be a PITA and not fun, but a good driver can do well with a basic rig.

[Gravebane525]

near philly there is the EPA guys but the comps so far have been 2+ hour drive for me. a hobbytown in the springfield / upperdarby area has a small crawling course set up on the little but of grass they own. they are working on extended it as they get rocks to use. but even that is about 30-60 mins from you depending on the traffic. most trucks the people have here will eat the course up apart from some of the scalers maybe. its really more of a newbie comp trying to get people into crawling. my ridgecrest what the most modded rig there and its mainly still stock with a few minor upgrades. you don;t win much at the comps, but its still fun do to. last one everyone that showed up got 2 hobby bucks.

[heartless]

Originally Posted by Olle P

What (to me) stands out as the most common argument is to the effect of: "No comps held around here."
It's interesting to read how far (or rather how short) people are willing to travel to get to a comp. Most seems to think that a one hour drive is beyond acceptance!

With such a small area available to gather competitors there's no wonder no comps are held. Downtown in a major city seems to be the only type of place acceptable for comps...

Personally I have no problem driving two hours for a weekday evening get-together. One day competitions can be up to twice of that and still make it worth while.

If you can afford the gas to drive to those comps, great for you! I cant.

the nearest competitions to me would be at least 3 hrs - one way. I can have just as much fun (maybe more so) in my own backyard and not spend a dime in gas, or entry fees - and don't have to deal with the "geeks" as one poster mentioned...

I live in a very rural area - the nearest city of any size at all is about an hour away, and it is a rather small city at that - around 40,000 people. To get to a major city is, like I said, at minimum, 3 hours one way.

For me, it is about having FUN - period, end of discussion. Spending 3 or more hours driving somewhere, dealing with traffic, and the usual idiots involved with traffic, is not my idea of fun - in fact, after 18 years of driving for a living - it has become a chore!

Sure, i would like to get together with like minded folks and have a fun day of wheeling, maybe a BBQ, etc, but probably not going to happen anytime soon around here - mainly because there are very few into the crawler scene around here, and even fewer in the scale arena (working on changing that).

If you like spending hours in a car going to a comp - go - don't let me stop you - but what works for you may not work for everyone.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

There are a lot of comp/scale peeps not far from you. I'm with GSRCRC which is based in NJ but we do comps in PA as well.
There is also EPARCC which is in PA.
You should check out the regional forums on the main page and look these clubs up.
Not sure what you consider a "long trip", my closest comp is ~40 miles away, furthest is ~130 miles away. Yes, it's a whole day for a comp between travel & the comp itself.

As to "having to spend a lot of money", wrong. You need to do a few mods for reliability, then go drive....a lot........most of a good score is the driver, a bit is the rig. Granted, a real crappy rig will be a PITA and not fun, but a good driver can do well with a basic rig.

Hey, I thought this thread was "not looking for comp guy replies"....?

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Hey, I thought this thread was "not looking for comp guy replies"....?

True, but I'm not the 1st.

I'm also trying to point out that there are groups around, but it depends on how far he wants to drive.

BTW, you replied here......

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

I'm also trying to point out that there are groups around, but it depends on how far he wants to drive.

And that should be the reason why comp guys SHOULD reply here.....to help answer questions and point people in the right direction.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

And that should be the reason why comp guys SHOULD reply here.....to help answer questions and point people in the right direction.

I'm not disagreeing with the "comp guys answering questions" part, I just didn't want comp guys stating why they don't comp anymore, thus my thread in a different section.

I'm trying to keep the threads a little seperated, I think it has done well thus far.

Thanks for your comments though.

[ChrisShooting]

Why I don't comp or...why I don't comp YET. Oh, I will. Currently I'm one of the millions of people that have to work weekends which kills it at the moment. I'm planning scale comps of course and there is a ton of stuff going on in my area. Could be that the KC area is blessed to have a great bunch of people who seem to be very supportive and fun. Am I going to dump $2K into my rig...no, but I'll do the few things that I feel needed for my driving style. I may be different though since I raced on-road years ago and enjoy competing...and I suck. I've never won, I've never been to a national competition or large scale sanctioned race of any sort. I still enjoy it. Meeting new people who are into the same things I enjoy is a big part of the fun. It's not for everyone and I've found that crawling and scale rigs are great because I don't HAVE to go compete. I can play in my back yard or find a park or cool place just to go run. Much less fun doing that with on-road cars. Comps don't survive without people just like on-road racing has died in many areas do to costs, places to go and (in some cases) jerks at the track.

[minimonster]

Why don't I go to comps... simple. I'm not competive by nature, no matter what it is. Life is about enyjoyment, or getting as much of it as one can. Personally, I see any form of compitions as a gathering where competer's attempt to demonstrate who is the best. That's fine if you enjoy that kind of thing, but personally, it's all about ego. Being the best has nothing to do with doing the best that one can. If you can't see the difference, then, this post will be misunderstood and taken as "bashing" those who enjoy competive events.

This thread got my attention wondering if others shared my perspective on comps, however, it appears this is not the case based upon the preceeding posts. Nonetheless, I'm into scale rigs (the more realistic, the better) and enjoy watching them trail in the dirt, climbing a steep hill as dirt flies off the tires or watching mud flick in the air while I'm attempting to not get bogged down. And if and when that happens, it's also entertaining to do a scale pull out, either via a chain to a buddies rig, or winch!!! I guess, the kid in me is alive and doing well...