The axials are cheap because they have low machining tolerances as well as cheap bearings and materials. This isn't to bash on axial but I have worked on many. People have had the main bearing let go with under a gallon on them (stock) I had three on my bench at once and all the cranks had different induction timing, to the point that you would see a very noticeable difference in performance right out of the box. Others have had a leaky front end, bearings won't fix this as they don't seal the engine, the seal is made between the bearing and induction opening and if not machined to the proper specs it will leak and cause tuning issues. There is a reason you can break-in an axial with 6-8 tanks as apposed to a gallon, the axial uses a cast piston as well as a lot of other company's. Picco uses billet and machines the piston out of it for a much higher quality piston. Picco suffers from induction timing fluctuations as well, some are rippers out of the box and some are much more tame. For $100 the axial is hard to beat as long as you get a good one, it is a risk you take just like most engines out there, none of them come hassle free unless you lay out big bucks, even then you can have a 528 nova spit out the one way bearing and destroy the engine in under a gallon..... seen that too.
