Mark......
Most crucially:-
* The difference between one make/model of chassis another is MICROSCOPIC!
* The difference between a GOOD driver and a club-level driver is MUCH larger.
* The difference between a Novice and a club driver is GIGANTIC!
95% of the time improvement that WILL occur between buying your first chassis and being an effective club-level driver will be IN THE DRIVER. It therfore matters VERY little the relative quality of the chassis when you are a novice. Buy one for which you CAN get spares, easily; that's VASTLY more important than the last 1/100th of a second between chassis.
And, YES.... the Sidewinder is STILL the current model so you should be able to get spares for it for quite a while.
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Next....
Chassis quality is rapidly degraded by the type of life that it has lead. Thus, if the BEST chassis that has had a rough life, it will be MUCH worse than an 'average' chassis that has had an EASY life. So... at this stage, concentrate on a tidy, lightly used chassis than the make/model!
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Finally
Your driver WILL 'visit the scenery' (crash!) while learning! He WILL hit kerbs, HARD. As he gets better, that will (should) happen LESS often. So.... the quality of your first kart matters VERY little! By the time he has LEARNED to drive and is CAPABLE of making use of a GOOD chassis.... he will have BENT it!
So....
* just buy almost ANYTHING that is good value and comes with lots of tools and USABLE spares (I.e., new spares, not piles of kn*ck*r*d stuff like old tyres, etc.)! * get plenty of 'bum-in-seat-time'. * Do LOTS of thinking and WATCHING! * Be CERTAIN that 80% of EVERYTHING said in karting is plain WRONG!
.....but most importantly..... have FUN!
Ian
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