Re: To Shift or Not To Shift, That is the Question
 

I have to echo the ideas above: it's all in your strategy. We wanted to be a fast arm robot, but I've had a hand in far too many flying bricks over the years for the robot to be unable to push. AndyMark Shifters allowed us to hit that sweet spot (ours, as I recall, were set for about 12 and 5.5 fps through sprocket and wheel choice).

What we do for next season will depend on a lot of things, at least on my end:

1) The game next year. Obviously, a robot that's going rock-crawling will not be using Uppercut's drivetrain.
2) Durability of the 2008 KOP gearboxes. If we can do the job with the kit gearboxes, I'll be more than happy to put them on. But if we had another year with gearboxes showing problems, I'd start investigating alternatives fast.
3) Resources available to us. If we need the $500 difference between AM Shifters and AM Gearboxes for other parts of the robot, decisions have to be made, particularly if item #2 is in question. (Ideally, of course, this would not factor into the equation.)
4) Familiarity. Given the choice, I'd much prefer to use a system someone else has had all the frustration fun of debugging already. ("Someone else" can be us.)