I cannot recommend SuperTrack
Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2013 2:21 pm
Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.
Last night, I worked as a starter at my son's Pinewood Derby and got a very close look at the inner workings of a SuperTrack brand Pinewood Derby track. Everything about it felt cheap and poorly made. Because of its flaws, a number of events transpired last night to seriously dampen the kids' Pinewood Derby experience. For these reasons, I seriously urge DerbyTalk board members to avoid this brand of Pinewood Derby track.
About the only nice thing I can say about it is that plastic construction means that it is significantly lighter than the aluminum tracks which makes it easier to store and set up.
For the last six years, my sons and I were members of another Pack that used an aluminum Piantadosi track. The Piantadosi track was heavy and not the easiest thing to store, but it was steady as a rock, impeccably crafted and performed extremely well. The SuperTrack on the other hand, is not.
Because of the lack of a center rail, your car is bound to connect with the side walls of each lane. Only thing is, the seams are rough. On a Piantadosi track, they assume your car's wheels may touch the center rail, so at the joints, they taper the bottom piece of the joint to make sure that there is always a smooth transition from the rail piece above the joint to the rail piece below. You would think SuperTrack would do the same thing on its lane side walls since that is where a car is liable to connect. These joints are not tapered and somewhat rough. So if a car is running down the track on the side. It's liable to receive a significant jolt at the seams.
Gravity kept pulling the power supply plug loose for the electronic starting system. We would have to constantly pull it loose, reinsert it, and wait for the electronic system to reboot itself. Annoying and a serious design flaw.
To open the starting gate, the starter has to hold down a switch at the top of track. Another race official then presses a button at the bottom of the track to electronically drop the starting pins. The starting pins got hung up a number of times because the part that rests against the motor that opens the gate doesn't always fit against it cleanly. The spring-loaded Piantadosi is much lower tech, much more durable, and works flawlessly.
The foamy car stop at the end of the track was cheap and completely unusable. Our pack just tossed it aside and added a wooden gravity stop at the end of each lane. This didn't work all that well either. All kinds of mayhem would transpire at the end of the track with cars careening into each other. I'm surprised my son's car didn't come home with a bent axle.
We had a complete computer meltdown with the SuperTrack software in the middle of the race. It was so bad that everyone except the Tiger Den had to race without the computer. It was only back up and running again for the finals. I don't know whether to attribute this fiasco to an older computer or to the SuperTrack software. Either way, our unit was left high and dry and the kids in the middle of the race didn't get their full six races that they would have if the computer was up and running. Instead, it turned into a double elimination type of scoring. The electronic timing system still worked worked without the computer, but it was a lot less elegant.
The supports for the track are made out of PVC pipe. Not nearly as stable as the aluminum supports on other tracks. I suspect, but can't prove, that this theoretically could add more vibrations to the track which could affect the cars stability on the track.
For all these reasons, I cannot in good conscience recommend this brand of track to any Pack leaders. I would avoid it at all costs. Save up and get a good quality aluminum track.
Paul
Last night, I worked as a starter at my son's Pinewood Derby and got a very close look at the inner workings of a SuperTrack brand Pinewood Derby track. Everything about it felt cheap and poorly made. Because of its flaws, a number of events transpired last night to seriously dampen the kids' Pinewood Derby experience. For these reasons, I seriously urge DerbyTalk board members to avoid this brand of Pinewood Derby track.
About the only nice thing I can say about it is that plastic construction means that it is significantly lighter than the aluminum tracks which makes it easier to store and set up.
For the last six years, my sons and I were members of another Pack that used an aluminum Piantadosi track. The Piantadosi track was heavy and not the easiest thing to store, but it was steady as a rock, impeccably crafted and performed extremely well. The SuperTrack on the other hand, is not.
Because of the lack of a center rail, your car is bound to connect with the side walls of each lane. Only thing is, the seams are rough. On a Piantadosi track, they assume your car's wheels may touch the center rail, so at the joints, they taper the bottom piece of the joint to make sure that there is always a smooth transition from the rail piece above the joint to the rail piece below. You would think SuperTrack would do the same thing on its lane side walls since that is where a car is liable to connect. These joints are not tapered and somewhat rough. So if a car is running down the track on the side. It's liable to receive a significant jolt at the seams.
Gravity kept pulling the power supply plug loose for the electronic starting system. We would have to constantly pull it loose, reinsert it, and wait for the electronic system to reboot itself. Annoying and a serious design flaw.
To open the starting gate, the starter has to hold down a switch at the top of track. Another race official then presses a button at the bottom of the track to electronically drop the starting pins. The starting pins got hung up a number of times because the part that rests against the motor that opens the gate doesn't always fit against it cleanly. The spring-loaded Piantadosi is much lower tech, much more durable, and works flawlessly.
The foamy car stop at the end of the track was cheap and completely unusable. Our pack just tossed it aside and added a wooden gravity stop at the end of each lane. This didn't work all that well either. All kinds of mayhem would transpire at the end of the track with cars careening into each other. I'm surprised my son's car didn't come home with a bent axle.
We had a complete computer meltdown with the SuperTrack software in the middle of the race. It was so bad that everyone except the Tiger Den had to race without the computer. It was only back up and running again for the finals. I don't know whether to attribute this fiasco to an older computer or to the SuperTrack software. Either way, our unit was left high and dry and the kids in the middle of the race didn't get their full six races that they would have if the computer was up and running. Instead, it turned into a double elimination type of scoring. The electronic timing system still worked worked without the computer, but it was a lot less elegant.
The supports for the track are made out of PVC pipe. Not nearly as stable as the aluminum supports on other tracks. I suspect, but can't prove, that this theoretically could add more vibrations to the track which could affect the cars stability on the track.
For all these reasons, I cannot in good conscience recommend this brand of track to any Pack leaders. I would avoid it at all costs. Save up and get a good quality aluminum track.
Paul