I designed 256's entire 2014 robot utilizing the 2x1x.1 tubing and the 1x1x.04 tubing, and it was by far the most competitive robot we've built to date because we were able to finish faster than we normally did even with the late shipping accident from last year, and our robot was strong and reliable. Like Chris said, the .04" thick 1x1 is not suitable for any application that takes a lot of load. Luckily 256's design last year did not use any 1x1 under load (apart from bumper support, but they took that fine) and it all held up for us. The new .1" thick 1x1 should solve that. Also agreeing with Chris, I prefer drilling out to 3/16 and using 3/16 rivets. 5/32 rivets are great if you're using 10 of them per joint, but with the linear fashion of the gussets we had some 5/32 rivets shear on our shooter last year, so drilling to 3/16 is helpful (and pretty easy).

In regards to the gussets, for almost every application the .09" thick gusset is great, except in some very specific high load applications we had our gussets bend over like paper (<110 degree bend). This was the one piece that held on our shooter so understandably there'd be a lot of torque there, and the easy solution for us was to just double up on the amount of gussets.

Like Bill said - the 1" hole pattern is pretty easy to replicate yourself if you have the resources and don't mind thicker tubing, and a lot cheaper. I like the .1" and .04" thick walls that you cannot get elsewhere, and the pre-drilled holes definitely saves you time. Having been on two teams on opposite sides of the resources spectrum, I've experienced the versachassis from both points of view. On 256, the versachassis enabled us to quickly and easily get a competitive robot put together with hand drills and saws. As a junior mentor on 1323, a team with a lot of resources, I've found out that the team uses the versachassis as well because of the time saved from not having to use our machines on fancy hole patterns and because of the thinner walls.

Overall I really love the VersaChassis system designed by WCP and VEX. It is definitely not the end all be all solution for every team, but for those who can benefit from it*, it is a fantastic way to bring your team up to the next level or enable your already competitive team to do more and save time.

*Disclaimer: I would not recommend this system for teams low on monetary resources or experience. Those teams are better suited for the kitbot because of its cheaper price and the manual that comes with it. I think the teams that will benefit the most from the system are: 1) Newer teams who have their stuff together and have a bit more money to spend than rookie teams but maybe not the machining capabilities of veteran teams, 2) Veteran teams who want to save time in the build season and use their machining resources for more important things, and 3) Veteran teams who have been around for a while but still may not have a lot of resources but do have experience and want to easily bring their game up to powerhouse level.