Thoughts on the new AM14U 2014 KOP Drive train?

[Oblarg]

So, after working with this thing for a while, here's some more developed feedback:

1) Direct-drive center wheel is fantastic, and I like how easy it is to mount nonstandard gearboxes.

2) The sheet-metal construction is nice, but would benefit from more rigidity - even with the stiffeners it's more wobbly than I'd like.

3) There is absolutely no good reason for the outer plate to be set lower than the inner - all this does is make mounting things harder. Mounting to the frame is, in general, easier than in previous years but still a pain.

4) Having to remove the outer plates to do any reasonable drive maintenance is horrible. Serviceability is one of the core design features of any good FRC drive, and servicing the AM14U looks to be a real pain. Time will tell if it becomes a problem at regionals.

5) There should have been holes pre-drilled for construction in alternate frame dimensions - it's a lot more effort this year than in previous years. The lengthwise plates are the cause of most of the issues; having to make that weird angle cut, and additionally hacksaw off a portion of the flange is really annoying, and it's compounded if you're not going 23x32 and thus need to drill a whole bunch of new holes as well (which could easily have been pre-drilled without compromising structural integrity)

6) Belt tension is very good compared to last year, but still seems a little loose on all three of the AM14U's I've seen.

Final note: Churro stock is probably my favorite new AndyMark product over the past two years. I absolutely adore it.