Attempting the impossible

[JesseK]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

If your "chains broke" in several matches, going chainless (unless you only have four wheels, each direct driven) via gears/belts will only make the problem worse. Gear and belts need higher tolerances than [35-pitch] roller chain does.

If your chains broke, it's probably because they were improperly tensioned or misaligned. Look at solving these problems before you write off chain and attempt something else. If you don't solve the root causes behind your chain failures, the same issues will affect whatever other drive train design you implement.

These words need to be emphasized; too often inexperienced teams are unable to identify this problem on their own.

This year and last we've used Andymark Toughboxes (nano this year) direct-drive to the wheels. The Toughboxes stood up to the banging up and down the bumps this year with cantilevered wheels and NO signs of wear, though we only did 1 competition. It's slightly heavier than a typical drive train, but we really liked the idea of 4 direct-driven wheels when dealing with the bumps.