Yes they are! I have a Holmes Hobbies CrawlMaster Expert 16t going into a Vanquish VS4-10 build I will be starting soon. I have their puller pro 2200kv in another VS4-10 build, and just ordered the puller pro L 2700kv for my Axial Ryft build
Very true... A Hobbywing 1080 for $44 and a Reedy Radon 16t for $34 is a hard combo to beat. I've used that combo on an axial Capra and a couple crawler builds. Plenty of wheel speed and low speed control.
If you are new to the hobby my suggestion is to get you a trx4 sport kit and build it. You will learn a lot along the way and see them from the inside out. I put a sensored brushless setup in mine, so no need for a 2 speed.