Quote:
Originally Posted by Abhishek R
What is it about a single speed drive train that allows it to accelerate faster than a two gear one? I don't see why it does, but it seems like there should be a technical reason that I'm missing as to why it does accelerate faster.
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The correct answer is "nothing, really", but the real answer is that it is because of the way people like to gear single speed drivetrains. In my mind, having a low traction limited gear "lets" you gear your top gear really fast, like 16+ fps. If you're doing a single speed drivetrain, you're likely going to gear less aggressively, as you likely don't want to be stuck playing defense with a robot geared at 19 fps. Some teams like to gear their single speeds in the 12 fps range, which do accelerate faster than the 18+ fps two speed teams.
Of course, a lot of it depends on how you like your drivetrains, here on the West Coast most good teams just gear in the 16+ fps range no matter if they're single speed or shifter. And a lot of butterflyesque drives (33, 2K14 drive in a day for example) are geared in the 18 fps range so they can do the reduction to their wheels in only one ratio.