0.17 / 0.18 - What to put on the main bus?

[Hannu]

I do put gears on the bus. I thought they were common bus items.

I have local busses in my factories and I put gears on belt if need is non trivial. I.e. about 6-8 assemblers.
Gears are more packed than iron and may save belt lines, but mostly it is personal preference. Either way work equally from practical or technical point of view. I can not estimate UPS effects. Gear belt saves some belts in very large setups but on the other hand needs more inserter and belt operations than direct feed from assembler to assembler. In my games UPS have never been an issue.

[5thHorseman]

Gear belt saves some belts in very large setups but on the other hand needs more inserter and belt operations than direct feed from assembler to assembler. In my games UPS have never been an issue.

Me either, and I'll admit I got into the gear bus habit when science used turrets and miners, so maybe it's more that I didn't feel (or notice) the need to change my practice. I have noticed I make far less of them than I used to.

I believe on my next run I'll forego the gear bus and see how it treats me.

[astroshak]

I may, or may not as the mood strikes, put gears onto dedicated belts within the mall. There are a fair number of things in there that need them, after all.

But for the main bus? Not enough demand for them, IMO, to take two belts of Iron Plate and compress them into one belt of Gears.