With a reverse 4 bar lift, we hve found that our intake is too heavy which causes many problems with controling the lift (keeping it up, going up sideways, etc).
~Cassidy
I like side rollers a lot 
They’ve worked well for us so far.
Passive intakes work well, and don’t have the weight of motors. However, sometimes, you just need a motor to make it work right.
Siderollers are the best in my opinion.
Hooks are great. Either on a cycling belt or as a simple passive intake, they grab and score cubes really effectively. They also take up very little space and can be easily rigged to fold out.
Yes we currently have a hook cycle type of intake but it seems to be very heavy and messes up the lift.
whats your gear ratio if you gear it down it might give you more torque. Also It really helps if you have an axle going all the way through. personally I think the conveyor belt is best since you can pick up 3 cubes.
The way I see it is that there are many good intake designs, but you should choose the one best for your lift type.
Needle Intake
-Releases cubes instantly and straight
-2 cube capacity(generally)
-uses no motors, and no pistons if passive
-not much driver input needed, good for programming skills
-takes up small amount of space, leaves a lot of room both width wise and lengthwise (no intake tray)
however
-takes longer to pick up, because you have to lift up and down, but thats not too bad if your lift is fast
Heres a vid of a robot with this intake(its a passive version):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpcJQoqz6_c&index=1&list=PLbcmEwbIVPcbc1Fb3HsksAgmMJvernh2T
Conveyor Intake
-gives you a hight bonus, because the cubes roll down onto the post which lets you score on posts higher than lowest point of your intake
additionally, if you set it up properly so that it can dump cubes at the back, you can score on posts even taller than your robot
-equal pick up and dump speed
-3 cube capacity(generally)
however
-uses more intake space than needle, which CAN be difficult for lifts like RD4B with the motors in the middle vertical bar
-uses up 1-2 motors
heres a vid of robot using conveyor intake:First Ever Skyrise Match In China - YouTube
Side Rollers
-picks up cubes quickly
-without pneumatic dump(359A/245D) releasing the cubes can sometimes get them stuck on the top of the posts, and you are limited to 2 cubes because the pistons cant pivot more than the wieght of 2 without serious air consumption
-picks up cubes at any angle
-any capacity(without dump) when using fold out tray
however
-uses up 2 motors
-when using the pneumatic dump you need a lot of intake space, and thus preventing the use of x drives unless they are fold out and mecanum wheels
heres a vid of my robot using side rollers:https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ByGBDx7-SYk
Top Roller
-doesnt work lol, or at least it doesnt dump them on posts properly
Claw
-one cube capacity, and to carry more they have to be stacked
-light
-uses one motor or piston
-doubles as skyrise builder
There are also robots in the conveyore intake video that have claws.
Fork
-passive
-light
-one cube capacity, not as efficient as other intakes
however, for early season competitions its not bad
heres a video of a robot using this intake:[VEX Skyrise Auckland NZ #8 event 7682E robot skills run 34pts - YouTube
Generally, the most common intake is conveyor, and I agree with their choice as it is a very effective, however the sprocket size, height, and speed has to be tuned in order to get good performance out of the intake.
Usually, the wieght of the intake should not be an issue, as rubber bands can negate the weight of the intake, for example my previous 8 bar robot could carry 3 cubes, but without rubber bands it couldn’t even fully raise the lift.
However it is still an advantage to have less weight to begin with.](VEX Skyrise Auckland NZ #8 event 7682E robot skills run 34pts - YouTube)
It depends on your goals.
Are you going for a multi-cube intake? If so I would try cutting down on the weight of the lift and the intake itself as much as possible cause a conveyer belt is the best option it your trying to go for 3 cubes.
If your just trying to pick up one cube, maybe try considering a simple hook to pick a cube?
Also, are how are you planning to score skyrise sections? Because that also plays a factor.
We have a 7:1. However we may change the placement of the rubber bands to see if that helps more. That is our intake type currently
Side Rollers
-picks up cubes quickly
-without pneumatic dump(359A/245D) releasing the cubes can sometimes get them stuck on the top of the posts, and you are limited to 2 cubes because the pistons cant pivot more than the wieght of 2 without serious air consumption
-picks up cubes at any angle
-any capacity(without dump) when using fold out tray
however
-uses up 2 motors
-when using the pneumatic dump you need a lot of intake space, and thus preventing the use of x drives unless they are fold out and mecanum wheels
heres a vid of my robot using side rollers:https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ByGBDx7-SYk
Top Roller
-doesnt work lol, or at least it doesnt dump them on posts properly
Claw
-one cube capacity, and to carry more they have to be stacked
-light
-uses one motor or piston
-doubles as skyrise builder
There are also robots in the conveyore intake video that have claws.
Fork
-passive
-light
-one cube capacity, not as efficient as other intakes
however, for early season competitions its not bad
heres a video of a robot using this intake:[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUl4XRqrtVM
Generally, the most common intake is conveyor, and I agree with their choice as it is a very effective, however the sprocket size, height, and speed has to be tuned in order to get good performance out of the intake.
Usually, the wieght of the intake should not be an issue, as rubber bands can negate the weight of the intake, for example my previous 8 bar robot could carry 3 cubes, but without rubber bands it couldn’t even fully raise the lift.
However it is still an advantage to have less weight to begin with.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUl4XRqrtVM)
This is extremely helpful! The pros and cons of the different types are difficult to know without trying them all. We have tried a needle and currently have a conveyor.
Is it just me, or does your intake lack, well, everything? Or is it top secret and you just wanted to trick us into thinking you would reveal it? 
Yes a multi-cube intake. Our lift is pretty light…its the intake that is heavier. And we like the conveyor, as that is what we are using now.
Haha no its a pretty good intake. Our problem is that it takes up a lot of space and dont have a way to pick up skyrises. We are currently working on a separate skyrise intake though. I was really just wondering what other people were using since ours works but is causing problems with our lift.
The way your post was worded I thought you wanted to explain or show a picture of your current intake. I couldn’t see anything after that sentence though, so I thought there was a mistake.
In fact, by intaking cubes from the front side and scoring from the back (high) side, the robot can score on posts higher than its actual height. In fact, our robot extends only up to 45in but can still score on high goal.
Ah yes, right ive completely forgot that, ive even seen your robot already, ill edit that.
Oh sorry no…our intake now is a conveyor belt that has hooks on it that pic up the cubes from its top. It can hold three at a time. Sorry for any miscommunications!
Wow actually I never thought about that…that is a good idea! Only problem is driving and lining up backwards. However, our lift can reach all of the posts except to score on the seventh skyrise. Do you have this kind of intake?
I’m not 6724, but here is the video of his intake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssmEbqfDg34
(too answer, yes he does)