CRG, Birel-ART, or OTK?

Hi, I’m trying to start out in karting. But I’m not sure what Kart chassis I should buy.
There are 3 sellers in my region, Birel-ART, CRG and OTK(mainly Kosmic and Tony Kart)
I’ve sorted out my finances and equipment, I’m just unsure of what I’m into.
The class I’m looking at is TaG/125cc class.
Can anyone provide some inside?

They are all good karts, you can have success on any of them. There are certain things I like about all of them.

Outright what one would I purchase? That’s a tough choice most likely OTK as much as I hate to say it. CRG gets a bodywork and wheel updates and I would likely steer in that direction. I dont have much luck with brakes on Briels but maybe that just Matt Abel’s fault.

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Honestly, it won’t matter what brand you get when you’re starting out. You likely won’t be able to feel any difference between them anyway. Go with whichever shop offers you the best support.

All three brands are top-tier, national and international-level winning karts.

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I personally am a fan of Birels. For me even the base setup seems to suit my driving style. It takes very little adjustment to get it really dialed in. But don’t try and run a whole season and a 125 lap endurance race on the same set of brake pads. You’ll be fast just can’t stop, ask Ronald :wink:.

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Hi Alex,

…and welcome to the forum. I think @tjkoyen is right. I would go with whomever has the best support. When you buy from a specific vendor, they will likely be there for you when you have questions. How do I improve this or that. Parts surplus is always a good thing when something goes wrong. Not so often with new compared to used, but advantageous none the less. Lastly, do your research. You want to find something that is going to work for you. Are you tall, heavy or light? Are you running junior, senior or masters? Depending on brand, seat choice can have an affect on tunability of the chassis. Talk to the each of the distributors and ask then what they think will work best for you and what level of support you can expect after the sale. Then weigh the pros and cons for each.

Still learning myself, but some humble advise to pass along.

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Fully agree you’ll not really tell much of a difference. Go with whomever can give you best support. Personally I went with CRG this last season (my first) and very glad I did. I love it. I love that I can tweak caster without affecting camber, not sure if that’s standard across others but I’d not seen it before. CRG is also quite tough - I know guys who’ve complained about their frames (other Marques) bending after they whumped over a kerb too hard. CRG seems to be quite resilient in this regard (my ribs aren’t so much haha)

Bottom line go with what feels right, and have a lot of fun

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Bringing this tread back to life…

For you guys running Birel / BirelART, what’s the issues you have with the braking? Just curious.

Also which brand has the best / more reliable braking system? OTK / Birel / CRG.

Thanks

I run OTK stuff but the brakes are a weak point in my opinion not because of performance but because they regularly need bled to be at their best.

There’s something goofy with the design of the master cylinder of the OTK brakes that requires the master to be bled regularly to keep pedal feel and modulation at its best. I also didn’t care for the. Factory pads as they require a good bit of heat to work to their best I chanted out for Ferodo pads on mine.

Think we bled the caliper 2x the whole year but bled the master ever 2 races to keep pedal feel how I liked it. As long as I was on top of it I could brake with the best of them…let it go a few weeks and they tend to be more of an on/off switch.

I have to agree with Andy, OTK stuff seems to need bleed to keep peak efficiency. I know they use to have a rotor upgrade that was pretty much required when you would run a fast rear brake only kart. I am not sure if that is still an option or now standard. The Briel Brakes seem to be good if again you stay on top of the maintenance of the brakes master cylinders seem need rebuilt once a year with fresh seals to keep them happy. The CRG brakes are pretty much bulletproof but IMHO not the best on the market. I have always liked the IPK (Praga/Formula K)brake setups the best. My new kart is an Intrepid which is a different brand now (Starts an M) but It also carries the IPK brake setup as a carry over from when they were the manufacture.

We run a Birel, and have had no issues with the brakes in the 2 seasons we’ve ran it. However, this off season will require new pads to be put in. We run a 2018 RY28 chassis that we purchased new.

My Birels seem to use a lot of pads, and I’ve worn out a disk as well (after 6 or so seasons).
I am trying to decide if this has been unusual, or just that all the karts in the fleet went through the “brakes need attention” phase all at the same time and I’ve got a distorted impression.
They do work really well though. Lots of power.
I tend to agree that you need to stay on top of the maintenance. Change the fluid every season or so, keep the master cylinder clean and refresh the seals when required.
I don’t think that there will be a significant difference between any major brand, they will all have their pros and cons.

I haven’t run Birel equipment, but the CRG brakes were honestly the best feeling brakes I’ve had on a kart. OTK brakes aren’t bad, though. I didn’t like the feel as much compared to the CRG but that’s just a personal preference more than anything else.

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I am so confused right now, then who the hell is this behind me…

Wait… shit that’s your brother Adam! Haha forgot

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Fun fact, that’s actually a Comet Eagle. And yes, I am wearing a DR Kart suit. Nothing made sense on that 206 kart.

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Well played, your misdirection with bodywork was top notch!

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