[Finnster]

The only parts I've seen readily reccomended off site that compete w. Mike's are the lipos. (I'll take your word on the boxes, I've just never paid attn to those.)

Its a tough call on those, bc I don't think you can just ignore the fact that they exist. Mike can't carry every lipo on the planet, nor does he try to compete w/ the cheapies from HK. Mike tends to carry top shelf racing quality batts like Hyperions. However, these are not for everyone, and sometimes you just need something cheap that works well enough. Given the # of people that run these, they are an important aspect to the hobby. I know BL may be cost prohibitive if there were only high end batts to choose from, so hopefully they bring more people into the hobby and the RCM store who may have not gone BL to begin with. It is a bit of a turn off to have a highly censored forum like some other sites, and may just drive more people away than it does bring in.

As far as the other parts, I hope people use the money they saved on the cheap lipos to support the store here, as Mike's parts are always innovative and top quality.

The only ones that really annoy me are the ones who buy cheap chinese copies of Mike's mounts and conversion kits, have problems, and then come here for help. Personally I just ignore those threads, but I'd be happy to help anyone else.