Well, I guess we all agree about belts.
But, I guess we've had some different experiences with gear sets.
My own personnal experience: I will only try another gear set in an OHV pushrod engine, IF and only IF it is without idlers and has a built in dampening system.
The gear sets I looked at beat chains in only one category: fastest to the trash bin.
The slop in a chain sits to the passive side of the cam. The driven side remains pretty consistent within the duty cycle of a race application. I agree, over time the chain does degrade. But that time is a long time in "race car years".
I agree too, at slow checking speeds the gear is more consistent. But at higher speeds contributes to more valve train violence.
Shaun, if you are reading this, I consider this analogous to Ultradyne's closing ramp as it transitions to the base circle. I used to run a cam from a company that has an opposite philosophy. Their profies tend to hit the base circle REAL fast and hard. Hmmm, should make more power? Right? Wrong. In my own personal track test of two VERY compatible profiles (I personnaly measured the lobes), the other brand was a full tenth and a half slower...and pounded my locks and retainers on a regular basis.
Violence in an engine, of any kind, isn't good. Violence = lost power + lost reliability.
Quick question: Before belts, how many Comp Eliminator, PS and NASCAR team used gears instead of chains?