pic: 3 speed concept - 1st gear

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Cory

Teams have been using this style of shifting for quite some time, and overall, when constructed properly, it seems to be extremely reliable. I suppose if you shift a whole lot, you may need to have extras of the meshing gears on hand, incase you happen to shear a tooth, or completely wear them down, but considering that a team who attends 4 events (2 regionals, nats, an offseason. Yes I know many teams go to more than this), with an average of 10 rounds per event, that's only 80 minutes of drive time, which should be well within the lifespan of most things built for FIRST.

I would agree. It's like one of those things that shouldn't work but does. I will note that as SVR I know 254 was having a good bit of trouble with it (I think it was Friday evening), but I don't know what it was caused by. So it wouldn't be fair to say mesh shifters are inherently troublesome. I don't think the design is nearly as robust as a constant mesh dog shifter, but there is no evidence to suggest that a mesh shifter is not robust enough for it's use. I don't like how mesh shifters work, but you can't deny the fact that they do work, and seemingly pretty well.

I have a couple questions. Do mesh shifters prefer to be shifted under speed and load? I know the dog shifters just love it, but I'm thinking the mesh shifters might like a slower easier shift.

Can someone who has driven one enlighten us?