One speed vs Two speed gearboxes

[asid61]

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

For Aerial Assist, if your strategy played that way it is very true, however it's dangerous to think that an extremely high speed is required for all games, and that was the point I was trying to get across to asid61. Your strategy for this year was more successful with a higher speed and you pulled it off amazingly well. That being said, running your same speeds in a different year - 2012, for instance - may not play as well to your strategy than slightly lower, more controllable speeds. Of course I know you understand this, but I'm posting this to clarify for asid61.

I understand many games require slowness. 2002 is not a good example, as IIRC there was only two cims in the KOP. Going 20fps was not an option. Now, 2010 was a year where speed was not very applicable, and where I think a single speed drive would make sense.
However, for games 2011-2014, fast robots are good. And to go fast and avoid trips (even accidental ones) you should really have a shifter.
Now 2012 I could see going under 20fps. However, six cim drives make going under 18fps almost pointless if you don't have to worry about breaker trips. So you slap on a shifter. The game is not just speed, it's distance/time. The greater that ratio is, the more maneuverable a robot is (depending on the driver, of course).
The primary downside of a shifter is space usage. Custom options are good for this. A team that needs to every inch of space on their robot for manipulators, etc. would need to go non-COTS.