[Qbot2640]

Just in case anyone was thinking I advocated complete subsystems in an off the shelf package with my earlier post....I definitely do not. I was just trying to express that the nature of COTS items that is currently available has not changed the way my team designs or builds very much. We did buy some belt pulleys and some other hardware type items for 2013...but we have always used the kit drivetrain - and we have always constructed our specialized systems from our own designs.

I will concede that the current stock of available items has changed the activity greatly since the early years - it was my impression that this thread (and other similar current threads) were speaking more to very recent changes and/or comparison to seasons only a few years ago.