VEXPro 2014 Product Initial Impressions

[T^2]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

Emphasis mine. Really? Then go buy a different gearbox if you feel this way. I know my PR people are going to be angry with me, but what the heck are you talking about? Have you even compared prices to other products? None of the competitors' products include cylinders. None of the competitors' baseline products include the more expensive aluminum gears. And the Ball shifter is less expensive than any of those products. Your facts are totally wrong. Totally wrong.

Did you even think that some people may not want the cylinder? This cylinder is $40 and is an unnecessary expense if you already have it. We clearly put on our web site that it was not included.

I unfortunately don't have PR people of my own, so I can only try to be as honest as possible about my VEXPro experience. Yes, I did consider that some teams may already have the specific cylinders required for the gearboxes. However, I did not and do not know how great that number is. Frankly, I assumed it would be a small minority of teams who choose to purchase a shifter from VEXPro. I'm curious to know if I'm wrong about this.

To me, and to several other posters in this thread, it was fairly clear that we had to additionally purchase a cylinder. I don't think it was clear enough for everyone, though; oftentimes, what instructions are obvious to some can be missed by others. Example 1: the FRC game rules, and the numerous CD threads that follow Kickoff asking for clarification. Example 2: When my team purchased a Classmate laptop last year, the website came with an option to buy an AC adapter for the computer, in such a way as to imply that we needed to buy it separately. Eventually we found that this was not the case. Upon exploring the new VEXPro product pages, I got a similar feeling.

This, I believe, could be easily rectified with a few changes to the website's formatting. First, let the defaults for the parts that need purchase be what most teams actually buy. I'll use the 3-CIM shifter page as an example, because it has the most options. I notice that the default for "Base Options" isn't "none", but rather "3 CIM Ball Shifter Base Kit". Similarly, the default for cylinders should be for 1 cylinder and 1 fitting kit. Second, options should not be completely hidden. Currently, when I change the radio button from "Base Kit" to "Base Kit with WCD 3rd Stage", "3rd Stage Gear Kits" and "WCD Sprocket Options" appear. (I can't select "Base Kit with 3rd Stage" at the moment, but I assume that only "3rd Stage Gear Kits" will appear.) This is a bit confusing for customers who want a third stage. Having the "3rd Stage Gear Kits" and "WCD Sprocket Options" sections be grayed out, rather than invisible, when purchasing the base kit or "None" would be preferable. These are both small changes, but they would make my buying experience better.

Are you stating that you purchased VEXpro items from us last year and they did not make it through last season? If so, then I am interested to know what products you are referring to so we can determine if that was normal wear or unusual circumstances.

I was talking about this year's items, not last year's. I simply meant that no new parts have been in competition yet, hence the "initial impressions" thread.

[pfreivald]

I think it was as clear as it could reasonably be that the cylinder wasn't included.

[donkehote]

Originally Posted by pfreivald

I think it was as clear as it could reasonably be that the cylinder wasn't included.

QFT

[kjohnson]

Originally Posted by pfreivald

I think it was as clear as it could reasonably be that the cylinder wasn't included.

It wasn't clear at all. We ordered 2-CIM shifters on January 7. The bold, red text that you see now was not there. The description of the "pneumatic hardware kit" listed in the kit contents was not very descriptive at all and as a team that had never used shifting gearboxes before, we assumed the cylinders were included. The webpage has since been corrected, obviously.

We ordered early enough that we were able to place an additional order for the cylinders and had no problems getting the shifters or cylinders in a timely fashion.

[jwfoss]

I mentioned in my previous post that 558 is using a modified 2014 Drive in a Day chassis, attached is a picture of our practice chassis. We added the ability to run an un-equal spaced 8wd and bolted in some of the single reduction single speed gearboxes. We are very happy with how this chassis is performing. Please excuse the quality of the image.