The runners up are closing the gap hopefully:-)

[DrKnow65]

Yup, more people are finding that there are in deed more and better choices out there, and now that Novak is loosing businesss to shops like Tekin and Castle they are starting to "upgrade" their products in a similar fashion, hense this thread. But to awnser your question people were pushed into buying Novac stuff because when they went to their local track they found (and still find) it to be a ROAR regulated environment where sensors are mandatory, 2S lipo was the limit, and many classes required you to run a very specific motor. All of which was geared to keep the sales pointed at Novak.

And that's why even if Novak clones the very best Castle ESC's, makes Neu motors to the finest detail and sells TRUE 50/100C lipo's for pennies on the dollar versus buying the real stuff, they will never see a dime of my cash.