Limitless Pinions from Ali Express

[dure16]

I'm new to speed running and need to stock up on gears. I know Saga is good but also pricey. Especially in bulk.

Has anyone tried these Surpass Hobby gears from Ali Express for 1/3 the price? Do they hold up?

8mm pinions

5mm pinions

 

[LicketySplit]

I wouldn’t use those. These cars aren’t cheap why skimp on gears?

 

[dure16]

I wouldn’t use those. These cars aren’t cheap why skimp on gears?

I still try to save money where I can

Has anyone tried these pinions?

 

[Moonstonemike]

I've used the surpass ones but from the Surpass Official store.
You have to watch for sellers that use similar names. Look to see the amount of followers it helps figure out which is the real one.

I've had no problem with them. Their gears are pretty wide. Some of the cheaper ones are more narrow. Machining and material seem good. Never had one loosen off, unlike the Arrma ones.

SURPASS HOBBY Official Store
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrMyEv8

 

[LicketySplit]

I still try to save money where I can

Has anyone tried these pinions?

I completely understand. But look at is this way. If you’re speed running and a gear made from inferior metal decides to grenade on you, you may have a rather large repair bill. I don’t want to see you crash from an exploding gear. Just where I was going with that.

 

[dure16]

I've used the surpass ones but from the Surpass Official store.
You have to watch for sellers that use similar names. Look to see the amount of followers it helps figure out which is the real one.

I've had no problem with them. Their gears are pretty wide. Some of the cheaper ones are more narrow. Machining and material seem good. Never had one loosen off, unlike the Arrma ones.

SURPASS HOBBY Official Store
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mrMyEv8

Thanks. Good call on making sure it's the official store.

I completely understand. But look at is this way. If you’re speed running and a gear made from inferior metal decides to grenade on you, you may have a rather large repair bill. I don’t want to see you crash from an exploding gear. Just where I was going with that.

I appreciate it. Can you expand a bit on the risk? What kind of damage might result if a pinion grenades at high speeds?

I assumed the car would lose power and that's it. But now that I think about it more, that also means it would lose brakes which could obviously be a huge problem. Is that what you're referring to?

 

[Lennart]

I use the 46T 8mm in my vte2, but I am not doing speed runs so I don't have to worry about quality issues so much.
Maybe you can use the cheap gears for testing and then use high-quality ones for longer driving times.

AGFRC PG18T8 - PG46T8 V2 Hardened Steel 8MM MOD1
I will try the 43T version of the agfrc gears on aliexpress. As far as I can tell they are 2.5 times more expensive. But 40% lighter and better tolerances
for fewer vibrations (yes, probably not noticeable).

 

[Diem Turner]

I use these gears myself. They may not be the very best but they're way better than most other stuff you get (obviously not SAGA but there's not much in it).

I completely understand. But look at is this way. If you’re speed running and a gear made from inferior metal decides to grenade on you, you may have a rather large repair bill. I don’t want to see you crash from an exploding gear. Just where I was going with that.

I completely agree that, particularly in speed running, gears made of quality steel are a must. I buy these gears (or gears very, very similar to them) in Sweden and the steel they use is really good. It's not monkey metal or some other cheap . As far as I was able with primitive methods, the quality of the steel is right up there with SAGA. It's properly hardened steel, the tooth cut is really good, the wear characteristics are outstanding and they cost me less than half of what I'd pay for SAGA gears. Import duties and VAT sucks bro, a single SAGA gear runs me about $30 all in). For the money, these good.

 

[dure16]

I use these gears myself. They may not be the very best but they're way better than most other stuff you get (obviously not SAGA but there's not much in it).

I completely agree that, particularly in speed running, gears made of quality steel are a must. I buy these gears (or gears very, very similar to them) in Sweden and the steel they use is really good. It's not monkey metal or some other cheap . As far as I was able with primitive methods, the quality of the steel is right up there with SAGA. It's properly hardened steel, the tooth cut is really good, the wear characteristics are outstanding and they cost me less than half of what I'd pay for SAGA gears. Import duties and VAT sucks bro, a single SAGA gear runs me about $30 all in). For the money, these good.

Thanks. To clarify, are you talking about the Surpass gears or the AGFRC gears mentioned by @Lennart ?

 

[Diem Turner]

Thanks. To clarify, are you talking about the Surpass gears or the AGFRC gears mentioned by @Lennart ?

Surpass. The ones you linked to.

 

[Moonstonemike]

Just measured them. The Arrma geared section is about 9mm wide. The Surpass ones are 7mm wide.

 

[Mikeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal]

Run the Surpass gears for shakedown/testing/etc. Once you find the combo you like replace em with Saga.

 

[Moonstonemike]

Run the Surpass gears for shakedown/testing/etc. Once you find the combo you like replace em with Saga.

Agreed. I only use them for bashing and speed runs on my stock infraction.
These are probably good to buy to have a bunch of sizes to narrow down what pinion size works good for your setup. Then you can just buy better quality ones in that size range.

Updated:

Sorry was just checking my order history. My mod 1 pinions are new Enron brand. My mod 0.8 and 0.6 pinions were the surpass ones.

 

[Cypher]

Sorry was just checking my order history. My mod 1 pinions are new Enron brand. My mod 0.8 and 0.6 pinions were the surpass ones.

Anyone have an opinion on quality from new enron? See they have a lot of "good" upgrades, and the price is a little cheaper than HR, but not like super cheap. So maybe quality is ok?

 

[joshludden]

New enron?

 

[Cypher]

New enron?

Yes, I was just wondering if they where any good, if someone have any information on quality?

 

[joshludden]

Yes, I was just wondering if they where any good, if someone have any information on quality?

Sorry man, just have never tried/heard of them on ebay or something?

 

[Cypher]

Sorry man, just have never tried/heard of them on ebay or something?

Yes. AliExpress. So I guess it's like most things there did find HR there tho, at twice the price compared to new enron. So maybe that's actually HR stuff. Not sure.

 

[Dan B.]

As long as the pinion is the same or wider than the spur you’re ok. I’ve never had a chinesium gear grenade, but I have had them lose teeth and wear much more quickly. If you’re abroad like @Diem Turner and have to pay VAT or other import tariffs as well as international shipping and taxes, it’s hard. If you’re in the U.S. then Saga, Robinson Racing, and Tekno are the best options for quality in 6s rigs.
I feel fine about cheapo monkey metal garbage gears in 3s or lower applications. You can buy a whole bag of the things for like $3.00.

 

[Diem Turner]

Yes. AliExpress. So I guess it's like most things there did find HR there tho, at twice the price compared to new enron. So maybe that's actually HR stuff. Not sure.

You're right next door to these guys. These are the gears I run. They're proper hardened steel, the machining is good, they have great wear characteristics and should last you a long time, they run smooth and quiet (as steel M1 gears go), the price is less than half of what you'd pay for SAGA gears once you factor in shipping and import duties and VAT and they ship super fast.

That's my Top Gear: Top Tip of the day for anyone looking for good quality 8mm M1 gears inside Europe.