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Why No Love for the Ascender?

S

Stomp

Quarry Creeper
Joined
Nov 16, 2018
Messages
233
Location
🌎
I have an Ascender that has added SSD brass weights and just a few mods, but the thing crawls like crazy. When you watch video's on youtube with the Acsender vs ......., the Ascender always seems to do better. TRX4, SCX10, SCX10ii, Capra, etc. the Ascender seems to dominate. I keep thinking I want to buy another rig, maybe the TRX4 Sport or Axial Capra, but when I watch videos comparing the them, it seems that there is no point. When there are rc crawler shoot outs, most times the Ascender is left out. Is there some bias that these people have that makes them afraid to put the Ascender in the mix. Are they afraid their so and so rig will be beat by the Ascender?


I am genuinely curious, because I want to try out something different, but none of the videos seem to suggest anything would be better then the Ascender I have. Yes it has a bit of torque twist, most of which I have fix, but who cares if it crawlers better.


What are your opinions?


Thanks!!!!
 
So my first hobby-grade crawler was a wraith which I still have. It’s set up like a scale rock bouncer. I just picked up a like-new ascender blazer for $100. Put a HW1080 in it on 3s everything else bone stock and I gotta tell ya, I am absolutely impressed at how well it does. It crawls at least as good as the wraith and the only thing the wraith is better at is extreme side hill angles. I never expected this thing to be so capable.
 
Problem of the Ascender :
_ its large amount of torque twist ... for many, it's a no-go ...
_ limited aftermarket support
_ it's now an old product with very little chance to get an successor

Still have mine and still love it. Sure torque twist is not always easy to deal with but it's still a great capable platform.
 
I agree completely. The Ascender crawls great. It always seems to do well compared to almost any crawler in the market. It does not need a ton of mods to do well. It is priced better than most trucks too. Durability is great.

The media is bored with it, so they don’t bother reviewing it anymore.

The torque twist. I just don’t see why this is a big deal. Is it an appearance thing? It rarely seems to be a problem for me performance wise. I don’t don’t do comps though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The Ascender is a fine truck; it is well built, durable, and performs great.

On the flip side, it is basically ancient in scale truck years. The K10 and F100 you can buy today are essentially the same thing I bought in 2015. That fact combined with the very real possibility of the platform going away in the not too distant future makes it hard to pick it over the other options on the market.

As for performance, it was great at the time of release and a breath of fresh air in the SCX10 dominated market. Now, a lot of trucks drive great which makes the Ascender get lost in the pack. I have them all (except the Venture), none of them are a clear cut winner above the others in the out of the box driving department. The Ascender remains what it has been for years, a very good truck in a sea of very good trucks.
 
Because Horizon gave up on it. They relegated it to a plasticy, RTR mess with the Suburban.

I used to be a diehard Ascender fan. Time has moved on. It's still a good truck, but if I was buying something now it certainly wouldn't be an Ascender.
 
The Ascender needs very little mods/aftermarket parts right out of the box it's a very capable crawler. Do a few free and cheap mods, and it's crawling much better than most other trucks (even after lots of extra money and aftermarket parts), in addition it's design is very interlocking and therefore frame flex is almost nil. The axles pumpkins are nice and small scale which also increases ground clearance, the plastics are all Losi high grade, no noodles here.


IMO it is over-looked because the initial release pinion gears sometimes broke and the smaller diameter driveshafts sometimes twisted off, both of which were very quickly fixed by Horizon with release of upgraded pinion gears and beefier drive shafts. I've never broken either of the upgraded parts and am not easy on my Ascenders and let many people drive them on 3S with 540 and 550 motors. The aftermarket companies don't love them because their's very little if any upgraded parts that are needed. However, I love customizing and modifying all my RCs as most of us here do. I've been to many competitions where the photographers were all over until they realized our trucks were Ascenders and then they very quickly walked away of were careful to photo the trucks all around us, but keep us out of the pictures. Makes no sense to me, but I've experienced it numerous times, although not as much these days fortunately. "thumbsup"
 
So basically what some of you are saying, is that performance is secondary to new and exciting? The technology has not really made any great leaps and bounds any time recently. My experience is that torque twist is nearly eliminated with SSD weights added and shocks out bounded. Sure there is some if you peg the throttle, but nothing that really effects performance in my opinion. The few times I have been out with other people and different crawlers the Ascender always seems to have an edge, even if just slightly. I would love to see a video with the TRX4 Sport doing things the Ascender can't. Then I would buy one, but I hate to get another truck such as the TRX4 Sport and be dissapointed with it when compared to the Ascender. Not trying to start a fight about the Ascender be the best, because I know it isn't, just trying to justify a reason to buy another truck I guess. Probably I should just the TRX4 Sport just for something new to play with.
 
Last edited:
Natedog said:
The Ascender needs very little mods/aftermarket parts right out of the box it's a very capable crawler. Do a few free and cheap mods, and it's crawling much better than most other trucks (even after lots of extra money and aftermarket parts), in addition it's design is very interlocking and therefore frame flex is almost nil. The axles pumpkins are nice and small scale which also increases ground clearance, the plastics are all Losi high grade, no noodles here.


IMO it is over-looked because the initial release pinion gears sometimes broke and the smaller diameter driveshafts sometimes twisted off, both of which were very quickly fixed by Horizon with release of upgraded pinion gears and beefier drive shafts. I've never broken either of the upgraded parts and am not easy on my Ascenders and let many people drive them on 3S with 540 and 550 motors. The aftermarket companies don't love them because their's very little if any upgraded parts that are needed. However, I love customizing and modifying all my RCs as most of us here do. I've been to many competitions where the photographers were all over until they realized our trucks were Ascenders and then they very quickly walked away of were careful to photo the trucks all around us, but keep us out of the pictures. Makes no sense to me, but I've experienced it numerous times, although not as much these days fortunately. "thumbsup"
Click to expand...


Maybe the Ascender intimidates them?
 
Nowadays first point for buying a new truck is aftermarket upgrades availability to install before even running ... then comes portals, because no way a truck can perform without portals [emoji12]
 
Just looking at the Ascender with TRX4 axles thread. Now that is pretty cool.
 
The Ascender was almost to good for it's own good. Being very durable out of the box kept much of the aftermarket away. Being able to fine tune it without needing much $ seemed like a blessing at the time of money pit Axials. I'm still praying for an updated upper link mount/axle truss though.

I still play with my first batch Blazer kit and it hangs with my Trx4's and Venture, and even near my Trail king. Makes me agree that new doesn't necessarily mean better.

Amongst my fleet of 30+ trucks the Ascender stands out in its playtime to workbenche time ratio. Meaning it's been the most miles, seen the worst abuse, and yet it's hardly ever needed work. It's even my loaner rig, so newbs bash on it.

Long live the Ascender.
 
meatmonkey said:
The Ascender was almost to good for it's own good. Being very durable out of the box kept much of the aftermarket away. Being able to fine tune it without needing much $ seemed like a blessing at the time of money pit Axials. I'm still praying for an updated upper link mount/axle truss though.

I still play with my first batch Blazer kit and it hangs with my Trx4's and Venture, and even near my Trail king. Makes me agree that new doesn't necessarily mean better.

Amongst my fleet of 30+ trucks the Ascender stands out in its playtime to workbenche time ratio. Meaning it's been the most miles, seen the worst abuse, and yet it's hardly ever needed work. It's even my loaner rig, so newbs bash on it.

Long live the Ascender.
Click to expand...


The Ascender was my first hobby grade RC. It seems like I’ve set myself up to be disappointed by anything that follows it. I love a good playtime to workbench ratio.

I don’t really like working on my RCs that much. I just want to drive ‘em.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Did you all see the SCX10 III got a frame very much like the Ascender's?
 
JatoTheRipper said:
Did you all see the SCX10 III got a frame very much like the Ascender's?
Click to expand...


I really like how the SCX10 iii was inspired by designs and lessons learned from both the SXX10 ii and the Ascender.



I'll definitely be interested in watching the iii move through it's life cycle, as various iterations make it to market. There has been some pretty strong hints at a straight axle version. I'm sure they have several tricks up their sleeves that they will be releasing in the coming months and years.
 
Natedog said:
The Ascender needs very little mods/aftermarket parts right out of the box it's a very capable crawler. Do a few free and cheap mods, and it's crawling much better than most other trucks (even after lots of extra money and aftermarket parts), in addition it's design is very interlocking and therefore frame flex is almost nil. The axles pumpkins are nice and small scale which also increases ground clearance, the plastics are all Losi high grade, no noodles here.


IMO it is over-looked because the initial release pinion gears sometimes broke and the smaller diameter driveshafts sometimes twisted off, both of which were very quickly fixed by Horizon with release of upgraded pinion gears and beefier drive shafts. I've never broken either of the upgraded parts and am not easy on my Ascenders and let many people drive them on 3S with 540 and 550 motors. The aftermarket companies don't love them because their's very little if any upgraded parts that are needed. However, I love customizing and modifying all my RCs as most of us here do. I've been to many competitions where the photographers were all over until they realized our trucks were Ascenders and then they very quickly walked away of were careful to photo the trucks all around us, but keep us out of the pictures. Makes no sense to me, but I've experienced it numerous times, although not as much these days fortunately. "thumbsup"
Click to expand...
Great post Nate"thumbsup"

There is no doubt the quality of the plastics on the Ascender were always top shelf. I assume they still are? The wheelbase adjustable frame was so ahead of its time it’s been stolen by Axial for the new SCXiii:ror:. The stock shocks were and still are excellent, even by today’s standards. I have never had leaking issues with them. As Nate mentioned, the small pumpkins on the hard plastic axle housings provide excellent clearance and have have such a clean look. Harder plastic slides better over rocks. The plastics are strikingly similar to those SSD uses on their Pro44 housings which are also sweet, so sweet.

I have always been of the understanding that Axial holds a vaunted position in crawler history. A lot of guys are, to use a popular RCC expression, ‘Fanboys’ as a result. There’s is something to be said for that. A good example might be the story Nate just shared about the photographer:lmao:

I think there is something to be said for innovation and taking chances. Axial has produced many rigs over the years that have brought me much joy(Exo-Terra, Wraith, Bomber come to mind) Sadly they have all required a great deal of after market support. Neither my Twin Hammers nor my Ascenders have required much for repair. Focus has been more on tuning and scaling. There is also something to be said for this.

I have plenty of love for my Ascenders, all three. Winter had me giggling over my new Traxxed-up X4’s, but I am pretty excited to get the Ascenders back out on the trail this spring. I miss seeing that most endearing torque twist...
 
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