Any other brand of tyres ?

[sunbeam]

Hi,

In the 30 odd years I have raced 10th electric off road, Schumacher tyres have just about been the only brand to use. I assume this is because no other company has made a tyre that grips as well, but why ?

Is the UK market (maybe the EU as well) to small? I would have thought that was enough profit in it for a small company to emply a few staff and make a living selling to just the UK and EU.

Most of the shops I have ever talked to say they don't like dealing with Schumacher, but have to at least buy tyres from them. I know of one shop that will not deal with Schumacher at all, other than tyres.

Are there any other brands that work on UK indoor and out door traks and I've just not seen them?

[mattybucks]

I personally have no problem with Schumacher. I place an order anusually it's with me the next day.

Tyres
Schumacher
Ballistic Buggy
DBoots
Fastrax (not used that often)

and there rumours that HPI will be launching a range of tyres.

[sunbeam]

My question is not really about if people get any hassel buying from Schumacher. It's really about why we can't buy another brand that works in 35 odd years of racing RC.

It would be nice to have a choice and not be beheld to one brand.

[Darren Boyle]

As Matty has said there is a good choice already with those that he has listed above......

[peetbee]

Indoors or outdoors Rob?
Outdoors, then in the wet Ballistic Buggy greens seem to work better than Schuey greens
Indoors, not so sure, but DBoots have just released a tyre that's meant to have been developed for indoor use on buggies.

As BB and Schuey are the control tyres for nationals and most setups have evolved around them, then IMO that would explain why most people have stuck with them at club level, etc

[sunbeam]

As Matty has said there is a good choice already with those that he has listed above......

Sorry, I did realize the list below was part of the reply :blush:
I thought it was part of his singature :blush:

Oops !

[Cardnim]

I would also add Losi and Proline into that list of tyres - LRP too although ive never used LRP tyres.
Loads of choice out there - do some research on the internet.

schumacher still the tyre to beat though when it comes to racing on astro.

For dirt, Ive had good success with Proline Calibers

[footey]

also j concept do tyres i belive

[Toyman]

Yes, JC Goosebumps are very good on astro. I personally like them more than MiniSpikes, but they wear out A LOT quicker than Schumachers

[kayce]

I think it more a matter of what you're exposed to, familiarity, and are readily available, being as Schuie is a UK brand - yet the fact remains I can't remember them having won a major race outside the UK where all the other major tire manufacturers (proline, jconcepts, losi) seem to clean up. At the same time, since every track worldwide seems to have "a tire" that works for everyone all the time, and is the choice of locals, it makes sense that yellow mini-pins would be the tire to use at certain tracks - yet it makes no sense that it should be the choice everywhere other than showing a lack of experimentation and instead everyone just copying everyone else. IMHO

[sunbeam]

So it seems there are plenty out there :)

I think I'll start trying other brands, maybe start with Dboots ?

[chris_dono]

I ran dboots at Eden Park recently and they work pretty well round there, lots of grip and last longer than Schuey yellows (in 2wd), they are not quite as fast though !

[RogerM]

As has been said BB & Schumacher are the typical control tires so that is what people use to gain experience / do setups for when going to regional / national races. It makes no sense to spend time getting to know a tire you will never use in anger.

I personally welcome the oppertunity to try some of the other tires out there but with the limited time I have for practice / setup work I can't do that until there is a point (i.e. I'll be able to use them at a point scoring meeting).

I'd stop using BBs tomorrow if there was a viable alternative as I'm not a fan of the way the car feels on the through direction changes etc. ... much prefer the way Schumacher tires drive for example.

[simoncrabb]

There's LOADS of choice in 1/10th off road for sure... I'll have to do a comprehensive tyres website... tum te tum... ;)

Last night indoors we had at least 4 brands being raced, Schumacher, Ballistic, dBoots, Fastrax, maybe even more, it was really interesting! And loads of different compounds too!

I love tyres, they're ace.

[Si Coe]

TBH I prefer this situation to the one that used to prevail in the past where racers used to travel around with a massive box filled with dozens of tyre types and compounds so that they always had 'the tyre' wherever they went. I'm sure yellow mini's aren't always the absolute best for a given track, but they always work well enough, and really simplify matters.

Though for reference, Schumacher tyres tended to dominate choices even before they were control tyres for nationals. After all, a UK designed tyre is always going to be closer to the needs of our tracks than one designed in Southern California.

[RogerM]

Agreed, control tires were the saviour of 1/10th off-road .... no way people like me would ahve been able to continue racing without it's introduction to west mids regionals a few years ago.

Sometimes too much choice is a bad thing

[mattybucks]

Agreed, control tires were the saviour of 1/10th off-road .... no way people like me would ahve been able to continue racing without it's introduction to west mids regionals a few years ago.

Sometimes too much choice is a bad thing

Agreed, it's also a nightmare for shops to stock loads of different tyres trackside.

[RogerM]

Indeed Matt, the tire situation was part of the reason I came back to 1/10th from rallyX ... I used to have to carry 2 haulers full of tires and sometimes still had to buy trackside.

[mattybucks]

Indeed Matt, the tire situation was part of the reason I came back to 1/10th from rallyX ... I used to have to carry 2 haulers full of tires and sometimes still had to buy trackside.

Reminds me off the time I went to Harper Adams with Alec, the shop had one pair of 1/10 tyres left, and Alec was just before me and snapped them up! I had to try and run on Schumacher yellows!

[kayce]

After all, a UK designed tyre is always going to be closer to the needs of our tracks than one designed in Southern California.

:rolleyes: If that were the case, then it seems you would all be running UK-designed cars as well. :lol:

[RogerM]

:rolleyes: If that were the case, then it seems you would all be running UK-designed cars as well. :lol:

Not at all true, the racing surface (usually grass or astro turf in the UK) has a huge impact on tire choice. After all the tire is 90% of the setup, no matter how nicely balanced your roll centres etc are if you have no grip your not going anywhere quickly.

A well designed car should have geometry adjustable enough to cope with most situations (although some are harder to get to work than others).

[kayce]

Not at all true, the racing surface (usually grass or astro turf in the UK) has a huge impact on tire choice. After all the tire is 90% of the setup, no matter how nicely balanced your roll centres etc are if you have no grip your not going anywhere quickly.

A well designed car should have geometry adjustable enough to cope with most situations (although some are harder to get to work than others).

I just luv how the myths keep piling up. :thumbsup:

So now you're also going to say Schumaker's rubber formula, and pin designs, was designed specifically for astro/grass?

[Si Coe]

Not so much, but they are better suited to it than the compounds and pin designs from companies like Proline who mostly work on dirt surfaces. And the reverse is also true.

Schumachers current range is a result of evolution - they have made other compounds in the past that have not survived, and other tyre patterns. When I started the range was 'hard' or 'soft' and you could have spikes, cut spikes or blocks. No minispikes or pins, 2wd fronts were either studs (2 row) or ribspikes. Models come and go, the ones that last are basically the ones that sell - and the ones that sell are those that work best.
With a large share of the UK market, Schumachers tyres have simply evolved to meet our needs better and better. At the same time, US companies have evolved their ranges to suit the needs of their key market - the US. This means that their tyres are less and less suitable for our tracks.

Not magic, just marketing.

[Gunter]

Not so much, but they are better suited to it than the compounds and pin designs from companies like Proline who mostly work on dirt surfaces. And the reverse is also true.

Schumachers current range is a result of evolution - they have made other compounds in the past that have not survived, and other tyre patterns. When I started the range was 'hard' or 'soft' and you could have spikes, cut spikes or blocks. No minispikes or pins, 2wd fronts were either studs (2 row) or ribspikes. Models come and go, the ones that last are basically the ones that sell - and the ones that sell are those that work best.
With a large share of the UK market, Schumachers tyres have simply evolved to meet our needs better and better. At the same time, US companies have evolved their ranges to suit the needs of their key market - the US. This means that their tyres are less and less suitable for our tracks.

Not magic, just marketing.

Well said and totaly agree.

Could i just ask how much better wearing are dboots than schumachers?

And is the grip that much worse?

[kayce]

Schumachers current range is a result of evolution - they have made other compounds in the past that have not survived, and other tyre patterns. When I started the range was 'hard' or 'soft' and you could have spikes, cut spikes or blocks. No minispikes or pins, 2wd fronts were either studs (2 row) or ribspikes.

:confused: I thought Schumacher all but invented the mini-pin, with their original release way back in the late 1980s/early 90s ????

With a large share of the UK market, Schumachers tyres have simply evolved to meet our needs better and better. At the same time, US companies have evolved their ranges to suit the needs of their key market - the US. This means that their tyres are less and less suitable for our tracks.

Not magic, just marketing.

That might be true - but all I'm suggesting is that it's likely also a matter of availability, so while a U.S. shop might be lucky to have any Schumacher tyres on the wall, I would guess there the complete line on the wall of every U.K. shop (and vice versa in the U.S. where brands like Proline and JConcepts are more readily available and accessible).

[Si Coe]

I remember running Kyosho H patterns long before I'd ever seen a set of mini-pins so I'm not so sure.