Meet team 1516:
Builders of one of the most enigmatic drivetrains in FIRST.
In the last few years this team has won:
-Highest Rookie Seed 2005
-Cal Games Champion 2006
-5th Seed? Silicon Valley Champion 2007
-8th Seed Archimedes division 2007
Most of these years they have not scored any points, and have just played defense. Most people will tell you that a kit-bot running four skyway wheels off a couple banebots cannot play defense. But how can those people explain team 1516? They certainly didn't win all those competitions scoring points.
So here’s my point: the age old question of "who pushed who" cannot be solved by merely looking at traction, gear reductions, or motors. Its a combination of infinitely many things.