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What caught my attention is the connector on his PC. If that´s the wheel, the most common problem with Fanatec-stuff has been solve by using a dedicated USB PCI-card.

Bad planning to launch a range of new products and a new website at the same time. Also people who did manage to order having to wait till late July or August for delivery is a joke IMO.
Fanatec really shot themselves in the foot on this one.

Biggest problem and a reason why I won’t buy a Fanatec wheel. Order now play in 2015. What will happen if my Fanatec wheel will break down for some reason. Do I have to wait for ages to get it repared or replaced?

Hopefully this incredible interest will allow them to expand and make their future products launch way smoother. Having such massive demand should attract future partners.

In the past customer service wasn’t really good, in the last year or so it has improved a lot.

I am a bit curious why this “review” was linked here. There are about 70 reviews of this PRE-series CSW wheels in the web and most are very positive. Of course one or the other can show a problem in pre-mass production and I am 100% sure that this tester will get a new one. I don’t really get the reason for makin such bad publicity here.

This is the link to my review. I believe I was fair in pointing out the wheel’s strengths and weaknesses. I reviewed it from a Playstation gamer’s (GT5 racer) perspective (I also do PC sim racing). Really this is what you need to know. It delivers very good FFB, has some quality issues with assembly, is very expensive and is only worth it if you are deeply invested in sim racing.

Link: http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/Gran-Turismo-Series-General/Fanatec-ClubSport-Wheel-amp-ClubSport-V2-Pedals-Review-Top-End/m-p/37480347/message-uid/37480347#U37480347

Being an Apple-user for more than 25 years, I´m use to that kind of anti-propaganda.

I don’t really like your idea of bad publicity. I think everyone understands that even with best of the best you sometimes get a lemon. This guy was just unlucky. Fanatec has a chance to show how good their customer service is (even if it is a test wheel). If it is going to take weeks or months to get a replacement wheel then it is very likely that someone who bought a wheel will have to go through the same. Clearly this is important information for everyone who is thinking about buying this wheel.

It is good to know whether a product is good or bad but it is also important to know what the seller does when your product does not work. Some companies are hard to deal with and some companies do really good job.

Plus it is the job of these testers to tell us about these issues. It is not just about the positives but also about the negatives.

 It looks like the wheel base of this tester had the issue with the power plug which was damaged during transport. We used a different power plug on all production units so this issue should be solved (but we need to analyze it to be 100% sure).
I can understand that this tester is frustrated because very positive emotions can turn quickly into very negative frustrations.
Perhaps this video was used to express this negative mood at the moment but I see it positive and it helps us to reduce our server load.

These are the pre-production community test wheels so having a unit fail is dissapointing but from what I’ve read there have been numerous changes to the final release version based on feedback from other testers and whatever component failed in this test unit may not be the same component used in the final production units.

belt driven = fail. 

So anything negative about your favourite product is automatically anti-propaganda? Isn’t that the best definition of fanboi? Total ignorance and denial of anything negative about your favourite product?

“Perhaps this video was used to express this negative mood at the moment but I see it positive and it helps us to reduce our server load.”

Haha I loled hard when I read that :D

My advice for Thomas J. (Fanatec) is this:
congratulations on the sell out success. You should not produce anymore wheels for at least the next ninety days. This time period should be used, or more directly your CSW customers, as super beta/final production release test period, and to service them efficiently with bugs and any technical and quality issues as they arise. Then implement these improvements for the next batch along with improvements in production efficiency and quality control. Awesome best wishes to Fanatec!

Not sure if this article is correct the blog states that a few hundred people were lucky so i presume that means they will recieve there units immediately maybe Thomas can clarify?

 We have products in stock in both USA and EU and will start shipping them this week. Only orders placed from now onwards will be shipped in late July/August.

Customer service hasn’t improved at all in the last year.

I recently bought a wheel from Fanatec that turned out to be a lemon. The 30 day money back guarantee wasn’t respected (couldn’t get anyone to respond to my calls or e-mails in that time period, impossible to return the gear), when I finally got an e-mail back from Fanatec support, I responded, then didn’t hear back for another month… finally got a response that wasn’t helpful, responded back… another month went by…. finally, after 3 months went by from the day I received the lemon, I was offered to send the wheel back for repairs (the wheel arrived with a mechanical defect), but given that it had taken me 3 months just to exchange 3-4 e-mails with them, I figured that sending the wheel into their black hole of virtually inexistant support was probably a bad idea.

I’d rather try and live with a slightly defective wheel than spend another 3-6 months waiting to get the wheel back from them, with 3-4 week delays between e-mail responses (most of which end up not being helpful), and no support number to call (they list some number In Germany that’s only available 2 hours per day, which is the middle of the night in my time zone). Better to have a semi-functional wheel than to *pay* to ship the broken wheel they sold me, back to them, with frankly no confidence that I’d ever get it back or get it back fixed.

When I read about the launch fiasco above, I wasn’t surprised in the least. Given how bad their support is, I’m not surprised that their IT infrastructure is a catastrophe as well… it’s all starting to point to some serious lack of competent management at a company wide level.

After my horrible experience with them, I couldn’t possibly contemplate shelling $500+ on another product of theirs, knowing that it’s a complete gamble and that if the product is defectuous, I’d basically be S.O.L. again.

Thanks for answering Thomas hopefully im one of the lucky 1s :)

Thomas, I was on fence about upgrading my modded to the teeth G25 but you willingness to interact with the community instead of hiding behind a corporate logo have made my decision easy! I will be ready when you servers are for round 2 :)

why’s that?

 What about Australia?

Because your an expert too…

But Thomas, he reported two completely independent failures.  First, the GT rim was dead five minutes after he started using it.  Then, weeks later, the power to the wheel died.  This tester has been buying Fanatec products for years, including Clubsport pedals and a Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel.  I think you should do more than minimize what he is saying to being about his frustration.  Rather, use this to help improve your company’s products.  This should not happen.

 You should read what Thomas wrote in a reply a bit further up: “We have products in stock in both USA and EU and will start shipping
them this week. Only orders placed from now onwards will be shipped in
late July/August.”

I don’t think our small market is worth much, if anything to them.

Thomas – As a reviewer, I feel that it is only fair to give the facts in an unbiased manner.  The video was not meant to express a “negative mood”, but simply tell of my experience with the test unit.  If you watch the video, I pointed out several positives with the wheel.  I have used Fanatec hardware over the past couple of years and have no agenda to bash your product(s).

Perhaps your last comment was meant to diminish my objective opinion as it comes off very pompous on your part.

 Second that.

It was a community test period, the wheels were not final production models, having been involved in hardware pre-production tests myself (though not with Fanatec) I’ve seen lots of changes from what I’ve tested compared to the final product. It’s only when you get devices like this in the hands of users that you get a better picture of how components will perform.

 I take it you havent used a belt driven wheel then. I have a GT3RS (Which I am not going to keep because of the very bad customer support) and it feels a lot better than my G25 did.

 Fanatec support is not good and hasnt improved. I have a GT3RS V2 with less than two months and it’s gone bad already. It first took 10 days for them to reply to my first email even though the rude Johannes Kirsch told me that they only take no more than two days to reply to their emails yesterday. The attitude of this guy put me off even more than before of owning another fanatec wheel because I dont want to be getting support from Fanatec. The only reason I bought a Fanatec wheel in may was because I heard their support has improved. Now I need to RMA my wheel and I cant because when I click the link I was given for the RMA site I am asked for login details.

 Endor Australia PTY will start its operation very soon but I cannot give an exact date at this point.

Come out of the closet. I don´t discuss with “burkas”

Why is Australia paying more? The Aussie dollar has been trading above or very near to the US dollar for months, yet we are slugged with extra for? We are even closer to China where the wheels are made than US. Will Endor be a rip off like Pagnian? I’d like to buy many products from you Thomas but all the bad support stories and high prices really put me off. Australia isn’t small a lot of people here will want these products.

 Have an American friend buy and ship one to you if it’s that bad.
Australia isn’t that popular (nor unpopular) and with any Human dynamic the ugly girl isn’t asked to prom.

 probably because Shipping from the US to Australia is incredibly expensive..!!

well, you’d be 100% wrong, because i bought a gt3 v2 clubsport wheel earlier this year, and promptly returned it back, because it wasn’t as effective as my old g25. 
because of the belt drive it gives a permanent resistance and simply doesnt provide the looseness of the g25, or direct drive wheels. thats why you’ll find all the top wheels which cost 1000′s use direct drive, not a belt system. 

and from 1 particular video review i saw of the clubsport wheel, he said the exact same thing –  the wheel didn’t rotate as freely as a g25 or g27. that free rotation is crucial, especially in oversteer and being able to quickly counter steer stuff. the belt drive adds an artificial ‘damp consistency’. even with the GT3  wheel set at 5, it wasn’t loose enough. that video review of the CSW confirmed to me that its definitely not worth the upgrade (as i was thinking of getting it). theres only 1 option, go go from a g25/g27 to spending a few thousand on a direct drive wheel, just like the wheel you see in the Reiza studio videos, with the developer driving in Gamestockcar. That is a direct drive wheel, and theres a reason he uses that to test the game on……because its what all the f1 teams and proffessional simulation companies use – that direct drive motor. 

hence – belt drive = fail. 

Prices in USA are without sales tax. This is the biggest difference but administration and logistic costs are much higher as well. As far as I can see it are our products not the only one which are more expensive in Australia, right?
Pagnian had higher prices but they offer excellent support.

 My answer was actually not refeering to the content of your video but why it was posted here in this environment in a post called “Fanatec – ClubSport Wheel Madness”
It is totally fine if you tell your audience that these technical issues occured and besides that it seems that you still like it so this is a different story.

 Honestly unless you are competitive drifter (who actually does this on sim racing games?), the “damp consistency” is barely noticeable. Especially with the Formula Rim. The GT Rim does have a definitive dampening effect, but this is more due to the larger diameter and weight of the wheel rim. The Formula Rim does not suffer from this at all. If you are driving a GT car or a Formula car you should not even be turning the wheel past 360 degrees anyways, so this is only really an issue if you are over driving.

Is it as immediate as a direct drive system? No, but my the smallest, fraction of margins. Is it better than a G27, I do not know how anyone who as actually tried the CSW could think otherwise. “Damp consistency” is nothing compared to the deadzone the G27 has. Not to mention the lack of notching and kickback. Until you actually try it, you do not have an argument.

 Time for you to learn to read.

 Oh really I am 100% wrong and belt driven wheels are slower to turn than the G25? I must be seeing things in this video then https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRIsYEd-o0w

A belt driven wheel can turn fast under power from its moter , but that is separate to the standing resistance I believe pastor is specifcaly talking about the soggy resistance you get when it comes to very small twitch movements.

For competitive racing in F1 cars or the more twitchy cars this will have an impact. 

As a business owner myself who has been in a similar situation with stock before… This is by far the best feeling position for them to be in. It is the coolest feeling in the world to put out a product that has so much steam that it sells out before it ever goes on sale.

That being said… If they want to keep the buzz up, it’s time for Fanatec to get on their high horse and work hard to produce more product and better saturate the market. So long as the product is good quality, it’s hard to see saturation as a bad thing in this type of field.

Good luck Fanatec, and many congrats on your ClubSport success!

-Blacker.

Personally I’m just going to save up £2,400 and buy a leobodner wheel  ( or just buy the servo and control boards and make one myself) 

Sure the G25, and g27 have loads of issues especially with higher ffb but for competitive racing they provide the accuracy of input and raw FFB (at low strengths) that is lacking from belt driven wheels ( though belt driven wheels can do stronger  FFB better and are perfectly smooth in feel)
The fanatic CSW is good for what it is its probably the best wheel for its price when compared against the Frex  or ECCI and there is no argument of the quality of the rims.  But If I’m going to be committing over £600 to a wheel then for me i’d rather just go all in spend 2500 and get what the F1 teams are using and have something where the core mechanics of the device will easily last a decade. The future is direct drive wheels but the issue is the servoes for those wheels are VERY expensive ,have the potential to rip your arrms off , and need to be calibrated more specifcaly so it would be very hard to package it as a consumer product.

I’ve never been the closet type. I don’t wear burkas either. 

Anyways my real name is none of your business.

 Then you should have said that.  Rather, your post was primarily directed at the community tester and your longtime customer and user, as opposed to your true target, VirtualR.net.

What does the USB connection have to do with the GT rim failing after five minutes, and with an unrelated power supply problem?

Sorry to hear of so many problems.

 On a side note, I see that on your Porsche wheel, the front base plate is seperated from the top cover.

Did the front plastic face plate break at where the top small screw is?
I had that happen with my GT2. The plastic is super thin at that point. Thanks.

I had it all, the G25, G27, GT3 RS and the T500.
The GT3RS had a lot of damping/resistance, and it was slow to turn and i did felt disconnected as well. It also lost calibration out of the box.
The T500 on the other hand is still belt driven, still has some resistance, but it it feels a whole lot more detailed then any of my wheels, and since it is very very quick and powerfull it can and will transmit a lot of good usable information, including forces i have never felt before.

so..while the belt drive may not be the holy grail it is possible to make it very very well.

Then, based on what you are saying, Fanatec shouldn’t allow “reviews” of their beta
equipment. The tester should beta test it, report their findings and experiences to Fanatec and that is all. It was
Fanatec’s decision to allow beta testers to do reviews of these products
as part of their marketing strategy. The bad comes with the good. On
the flip-side, how does anyone know that some of the good won’t carry
over to the final version?

I didn’t say it was a beta unit, there are numerous different stages of development and Thomas felt it was ok for testers to post video’s, articles etc, if it were me I wouldn’t have. On what ‘good’ gets carried over into the final production units seems a pointless discussion as you appear to have come here from Insidesimracing to set up an account to put a negative spin on anything to do with this release.

Not true brother.  I am a longtime Fanatec customer, been buying stuff since November 2010, starting with the Fanatec GT2 wheel and Clubsport pedals, both of which I love and highly recommend.  I later bought a second set of Clubports, a Fanatec CSR wheel and a Rennsport wheel stand, all of which I also love and highly recommend.  I also bought a Clubsport pedals tuning kit and got a second kit for free.  I have bought two sets of CSR shifters, and one set of Porsche shifters.  I did get a CSR Elite which failed in March, but Fanatec was quick to replace it.  The second unit failed last month, same problem as the first, and Fanatec has kindly agreed to replace it as well.  So, although my Fanatec equipment has not been perfect, overall, I am happy with what I have gotten and Fanatec’s customer service. 

I have no axe to grind.  I call balls and strikes like I see them.  No more, no less.

Revvin:
“It was a community test period, the wheels were not final production
models, having been involved in hardware pre-production tests myself
(though not with Fanatec) I’ve seen lots of changes from what I’ve
tested compared to the final product.”

Semantics…
Revvin:
“you appear to have come here from Insidesimracing to set up an account
to put a negative spin on anything to do with this release.”

So you Google “Zero7159 Fanatec” and spot the 4th result listed and come to this conclusion? Wow… Keep searching, you’ll find more good comments about Fanatec than bad coming from both Zero7159 and the tester that made the video.

Not semantics at all, I’ve already stated there are numerous levels of testing done and these were pre-production units subject to change. If this was a review of a final product it would be a different story and cause for greater concern. If you cannot differentiate between a pre-production unit and a final production unit then there is no point in continuing any kind of discussion with you.

Your only activity here has been to put a negative spin on this discussion, some may call you a troll, me on the other hand, I’m just calling the balls as I see them

Not true again brother, I got involved over here because I saw a Fanatec community tester and longtime user and customer being maligned over an objective, candid review he did at Fanatec’s request.

I’m not going to argue about what is and is not semantics, in fact I’m not here to argue any point… Beta would be pre-production, as would anything not final, you are correct. Though I didn’t think I’d said otherwise. However, even though you seem to understand the point that was being made and agree with it, you are still on the defensive. Sorry, I’ll leave it be.

You’re obviously not reading or comprehending what I’ve posted so perhaps it’s better not to continue but there are numerous levels of testing done before production and later wheels apparently were sent out with fixes earlier ones didn’t have. I’m not on the defensive I’m simply re-stating what I’ve already posted as you don’t seem able to understand it first time around.

It is true though but I’m not your brother, your posts here have been negative. It’s a pre-production unit, now ‘that’ is true so it’s not inconceivable that there will be failures as all mass produced electronics even in their final production state have a certain level of failure and that’s why I’ll wait and see what the reviews of the final product are like.

 I am comprehending what you’ve written just fine. In fact I don’t think anyone disagrees with your comments regarding this wheel not being a final version… I don’t. However, your comments seem to suggest that since it is pre-production, the fact that it failed is somewhat irrelevant. It may be… However, this is what this particular tester was given to review and for some reason, people have put quite a negative spin on him having done so.

When presented with a discussion point regarding the decision to allow reviews of pre-production products, you became defensive and proceeded to cast accusations. You aren’t having a discussion, you are unnecessarily repeating yourself without making any points and blaming it on what you believe to be incompetence.

I apologize if I came across a bit short in my original post and really for continuing the conversation. It was mostly due to the accusatory nature of your original response to Zero.

If you are indeed reading what I’m saying then you will have already read my comment made some time ago on the point about reviewing these units where I quite clearly stated “Thomas felt it was ok for testers to post video’s, articles etc, if it were me I wouldn’t have” There was no defensiveness, I re-stated my opinion because you posted a one word response which indicated to me that you had not read what I had posted and were being very dismissive and churlish not to take the time to expand your response. Now that the hype has subsided a little I will wait and see what the reviews come in like for the final production versions.

I also wish the best for FanaTec but it’s still frightening having so many users post about their problems. Maybe I’ll buy one in 3-5 years.

My gt3 rs feels way better than my g25 did.  I’ll never go back to those sloppy gear drive wheels.  

You’re actually referring to a $3000+ wheel (Leo Bodnar’s Servo Drive Motor).  But to say that a G25/27 performs as well because it’s also a direct drive wheel is rather misleading.  Unless the G25 also comes with 300W power supply and has the same fluidity of a Servo Motor (which in the case of Bodnar is the type of motor used for CNC machine).  

Against older belt driven wheel- the Fanatec GT3RS or even the CSR (non-Elite)- it’s crap-shoot.  One reason is that none of these older belt driven FF wheels have adequate Power Supply/Motor in order to control the belt.  But once you improve both the motor and the Power Supply (for example, the PS of the T500RS is 4x that of the G25/G27), that problem is somewhat diminish.  The CSW is actually a hybrid- it uses the both belt and worm drive gear.  Like the T500RS, it also uses powerful motor (2 x 60W motors) and adequate power supply.

I’ve been using a GT3 RS V2 (former V1 upgraded myself) for now 2 years and I didn’t face a nugget of a problem! So please don’t make it a generality!

What a smart conclusion!

 Looks like it is time for us to start develop a direct drive base which is compatible to all ClubSport rims so that people can upgrade the base. Making something better, if people are willing to spend the money, is not that difficult. Making high qulity affordable was a much bigger challenge.

 I have a GT3RS V2 thats less than two months old and its broken already so why not make it a generality?

 I would buy it once its not too expensive and not too noisey. Just please dont put fans in the wheel that are very small and noisey. Maybe do what you did with the CSR and CSR elite. Make a very good version and a standard wheel but with changeable rims. Just make the base of the unit similar to the CSR Elite or CSW without the see through top.

 I’ve actually come to the conclusion that Fanatec support isnt that bad after having good contact with them between Friday and yesterday. I wont say their customer support is good , but its not the worst. Still theres no excuse to leave me hanging for 10 days. They surely have more than one support guy. The guy I was in contact with said he was on anual leave when I emailed so surely there was somebody else could have helped me.

Anyway thanks to Johannes Kirsch for sending in an RMA ticket for me because their site was down. They are shipping out a replacement wheel to me today. I will return my faulty wheel tomorrow.

Because mine is working properly while yours isn’t! So it’s 50/50! A generality would be near to 100%! Do you get it now or you need a graph! LOL

If you don’t see a difference between a belt-driven and a mechanic one then maybe you should replace your hands! ;)

 Because you would be wrong to generalize.  Bought my GT3RS/CSP setup in Nov ’09….not a problem with either to date.

 Question thomas. Is there any possibility you guys could make a replacement rim for the GT3RS V2 thats lighter or is it possible to change the GT3RS V2 Rim for the CSR rim?

Yes , I can certainly see the challenge in getting the balance right between , quality , performance   and cost. 

I think the CSW base and wheel is of good quality for its price and is a well designed product for its target market.  

Its a shame that the servos for a top quality direct drive wheel cost between $2500 – $10000 USD 
So it seems that belt driven wheels are the only way to get the torque , combined with 
smoothness but then on the flip side they introduce a small amount of dampening and a degree of latency into the system.  

I would love to test the CSW wheel and do a hands on review of the product especially with the F1 rim , if you have any spare lying around    ( worth a try  ;) ) 

Hope this guy get his wheel sorted soon. 
My T500RS was out of action for almost 2 months. Thrustmaster never once offered a replacement, instead I had to wait whilst they fixed it. At least it looks like Fanatec are now quick to respond to problems and replace faulty parts straight away. 

 No theyre not. They are still a bit slow.

I dont see with my hands I see with my eyes. Yes I do feel the difference and the belt driven wheel feels much better. Its only a tiny bit slower than my 5 and a half year old G25 was when the belt loosened out on the GT3RS V2.

thomas, will there be more cheaper rims for the clubsport wheel?

oi wheres me post..

i was just asking if there will be more lower priced rims…..

Yes but not this year. The QR system is a quite costly piece of the rim so there is always a natural limit. But we are working on both – more simple and more advanced rims.

Because it must be already post #100 where you complain about us and our products while many customers who did not have a problem remain silent. The bashers always get more attention.
We are now at a defective rate of about 3% which is industry standard. Otherwise we could hardly be still in business.

Thomas – Sean emailed me and said a replacement unit would be sent out yesterday.  I have not received confirmation of this yet.  Can you follow up on this and let me know.

 We are workin into many direction ;)

thats fantastic news Thomas. If you can do a direct drive base, like the LeoBodner thing, or the wheel that Reiza studios use in their Gamestockcar vids – for £1000 – I’ll buy it. 

 Before my wheel became defective and I was getting bad customer support I was defending Fanatec even months before I got the wheel from Fanatec.

I’ve posted more positive things about Fanatec in the past six months than the few bad posts about Fanatec. That was not post #100 but more like post 5 or 6.

You are also selectively reading my bad posts because if you read some more you will see I’ve defended the GT3RS more than once on here and I’ve also said that your support is not as bad as I Initially said it was.

Yes customers with no problems will remain silent or defend the product. This has always been the way and it will always be the way as long as we have freedom of speech.

Yes please draw me a graph. When I said why not make it generality I was not saying that all the wheels were bad.

this is kinda what we would like Thomas! 

http://www.racedepartment.com/forum/threads/leo-bodnar-releasing-a-wheel.29885/ 

I was told they would send my replacement out yesterday.  Just waiting on confirmation of this.  

Do you post to Australia yet?

I looked into a fanatec wheel, before buying a t500. Too overpriced here in AUS for chinese made kit, not to mention the support horror stories.

Hopefully there will be improvements in both of these areas as the potential is there.

 No buttons on the wheel? Not sure if this is the direction to go for a super high-end wheel.
If we do it it would have to be fully compatible with the QR system and all wheel rims of the CSW.

wheel looks really great, unfortunately at this time upgrading is not really an option for me, just throwing this out there that I have had the CSR elite pedals for a few months now and they are the biggest upgrade from DFGT pedals, So far they are going strong as one would hope although have developed a really annoying squeak, touch wood that that last a couple more years yet!! The shipment and service i received was really really good and i wouldn’t hesitate to buy another product off them! best of luck to them!

 Thats good to know Thomas. I must say sorry for my bad attitude too. I must learn to keep my silence when I get upset because in the end I just upset others too.

 I bought the CSR Elite pedals a few weeks ago too and they are fantastic. They make the G25 pedals feel very toy like.

That squeek you are talking about can be fixed by spraying the squeeking piece with spray grease. I know most bicycle shops use this instead of oil because it lasts longer. Also you might have one of the springs too tight.

sorry, i was just referring to the base in that thread – so, one of your brilliant wheel rims (like the f1 rim), but on a direct-drive servo’d base, like leo Bodners wheel.

just for reference, in that thread, I’ll quote 

‘Yeah Cary, I get that a lot and I don’t mind asking questions and emails The price is around 2,400 UK Pounds ($3,700USD)

Todd, this unit is at the moment a very limited run. It’s primarily used by F1, GP2, Formula Renault teams for testing due to the massive torque and incredible accuracy it’s capable of.

As we get ourselves closer to where we’re happy, CST will definitely be producing a wheel.’

 Uhmmm Steve, I would recommend you find a new bike shop! Having working in bike shops for the past 15 years I would shoot someone if they sprayed pam on my 12k bike.

 The Bike shop I worked in used that all the time.

 I would like to point out since apparently I sparked a much larger conversation than I expected to that I was not commenting on the quality or reliability of Fanatec’s products. I signed up to be a Beta tester and didn’t get any gigs, and unfortunately I don’t yet have the money to toss into a new wheel.

I’ve heard the stories about their stuff, and frankly I won’t buy it until I see it for myself. I’m not a fanboy of anything but the products I personally sell lol. I just think it’s an awesome predicament to be in — Having such an overwhelming desire for a product is the best feeling in the world as a business. It’s a hell of a lot better than seeing a warehouse full of failed product, that’s for sure.

-Blacker.

 As an independent business opinion here, I’m a system builder for low, mid, and high end PCs. I’ve been incredibly lucky to sell as many systems as I have and never had a warranty or failure issue.

That being said, one of these days I will sell someone my product and it will die in a week. This is the unfortunate reality of electronics — You can buy the best, and it might not show you the best. I own a 2003 Honda Accord, known as one of the worst cars Honda has ever made because they chew through auto tranny’s every 50-75K. They gave Honda a terrible rap… Except when purchased with a manual by people that know better, like myself :). Every single company that produces a product will see problems from time to time, they will also lose customers because of it.

It’s hard for me to see Fanatec’s quality control being all that bad considering what this article is about to begin with. I don’t mean that as an argument, just a statement of simple opinion and observation. Hopefully some day I can finish building my businesses and get a Fanatec wheel, than I might have the chance to speak on their quality firsthand.

-Blacker.

 No bad feelings whatsoever.

 In one of the replies here Thomas said

” Endor Australia PTY will start its operation very soon but I cannot give an exact date at this point.”

 I dont think our market is as small as it was five years ago. If it was there wouldnt be so many High end wheels being sold lately. For instance the CSW and rims were all sold within a few hours which indicates to me that the racing sim community is after growing a lot in the past few years.

ok thanks :), I hope I don’t have to wait too much longer

WHAT A FUCKIN WANKER THIS TROLL IS :-)