Motors are rated by power and power is absolute.
You only get so much power out of a motor (W, hp) and through gearing you inversely trade off speed for torque. As you gear lower you gain torque and sacrifice speed. The general relationship is:
Power = Torque x Speed
(Apply appropriate units and conversions)
Another note to remember if you are interested in gearing for an FRC robot is that you are current limited. The CIM motors have the capacity to draw up to 133amps at stall (max torque, 0 rpm) but your power distribution to that motor is limited to 40 amps max. There is a white paper in CD-media somewhere that will explain the concept of a traction limited drive system based on the 40 amp max.
One of the bigger things that has helped me since I was a student in FRC is gathering a basic understanding of the mechanisms used in FRC. Take some time at your events and through these message boards to study the various mechanical devices some of these teams come up with and not only look at how they are used in this year's game but look at and learn how they function on a basic level so you can apply them to future scenarios.
One final note, wikipedia and howstuffworks are your friends. Most mechanisms can be broken down into something that is used in another industry and can typically be found somewhere on the internet with detailed sketches and little animations that assist the understanding process.
EDIT: Paul Copioli's White Paper on Drive System Design.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/papers/1378