[RyanCahoon]

Another issue to consider is acceleration. Andrew Palardy [apalrd] and others have a number of great posts on this already, but gearing for more torque, in addition to greater pushing ability, also allows you to accelerate faster. Especially given the restricted field (you have to drive around the pyramids) and the level of defense this year, it does no good to have a high theoretical top speed if you'll never be able to reach it. There's always a few rookie teams each year that try to gear their drive trains for 24 ft/s and learn this lesson the hard way when their robot won't move.