Like other planetary gear hubs, the Kindernay promised a long-lasting drivetrain with less maintenance, zero gear adjustment, instant shifts, and components that are less susceptible to wear and damage.

The Kindernay 7 and 14-speed hubs had a few defining features:

• The gearboxes could be separated from the hub shell and you could move them between multiple wheelsets
• They used hydraulic trigger shifters
• They were designed specifically for 12mm thru-axles
• They were lighter than the competition (and only 400 grams heavier than a Shimano Deore derailleur setup!).
• They had a higher torque rating than other internal gear hubs
• They had a wider gear range than other internal gear hubs
  

Unfortunately, I’ve just heard some bad news from Kindernay…

The Kindernay Bankruptcy

The company behind Kindernay, CA Technology Systems, recently filed for bankruptcy according to an article on Shifter.no.

The trustee of the company is currently considering selling the assets and rights to the gear hubs. A date for a possible auction has not yet been set.

At this stage, aftersales support for existing Kindernay users is unknown. Hopefully, a large array of spare parts will be made available to a bicycle shop or distributor.

The Kindernay Void

It’s always sad to see a high-quality, niche cycling product disappear from the market. While not perfect, the Kindernay hubs had some appealing advantages over the competition.

Unlike most other internal gear hubs, these hubs were designed for mountain biking. The 7-speed hub added very little weight to a bike compared to a 1X drivetrain (300 grams extra unsprung mass), and the hydraulic trigger shifter was a welcome alternative to the grip shifters found with most internal gear hubs.

A defining feature was the Kindernay system’s modularity. This meant you could own one expensive gearbox that could be transferred between wheels. For example, you could leave the gearbox in your mountain bike year-round, but swap it into your fat bike in winter, or touring bike when you set out for your annual adventure.

These unique features will be missed.

What Are The Kindernay Hub Alternatives?

The closest internal gear hub currently is the Rohloff Speedhub. It has the same number of gears (14), a similar gear range (526% vs 543%), and almost identical gear steps (13.6% vs 13.9%).

After 25+ years of production, Rohloff hubs have an excellent track record for reliability and longevity. One owner has even cycled over 470,000km on one! These hubs have also been tested to have low frictional losses, which means the maximum amount of your pedal power will go toward driving you forward.

There are some other new internal gear hubs worth mentioning too.

The 3X3 Nine is a 9-speed hub that’s made in Germany and offers a choice between an electronic shifter and a regular grip shifter.

This hub has a bigger gear range (554%) and fewer gears than a Kindernay. This results in rather large gear steps of 23.8%, almost twice that of the Kindernay or Rohloff hubs.

Large gear steps like this are indicative that 3×3 is targetting the electric bike market. As e-bikes accelerate faster, it’s not uncommon to find yourself changing two or three gears at once on a typical drivetrain. Larger gear steps ultimately mean less shifting is required on eBikes, however, it also makes the hub less suitable for standard bikes as you might find yourself ‘in between gears’ more frequently.

Another indication that the hub is designed around eBikes is that it will handle 250Nm of input torque from a mid-drive motor. This is significantly more than both Kindernay (160Nm) and Rohloff (130Nm).

Interestingly, the 3×3 hub is lubricated with grease instead of oil. This lubrication choice has allowed 3×3 to reduce the hub maintenance. The grease change interval is a lengthy 25,000km, a figure five times further than the oil-change interval of a Rohloff hub (5000km).

Another fascinating German-made gear hub that’s available for pre-order is the Revolute Hub1.

This six-speed hub has been primarily designed around eBike use, so it too can handle 250Nm input torque. This hub has a narrower gear range (400%) than most gearboxes, and larger gear steps too (30%+).

An interesting feature of the Revolute hub is that it doesn’t spin backward! This means that when you stop on a hill, you do not need to pull your brakes to prevent the bike from rolling backward. This will be especially handy with heavily laden cargo bikes but could be nice on a regular bike too.

Lastly, don’t overlook the Shimano Alfine hubs.

These are notably quiet in operation, well-priced, and generally reliable. I really like the electronic shifting versions, which help to boost the reliability of the hub, and you can pair these hubs with the excellent Shimano Di2 drop bar shifters on a gravel or commuter bike.

Summary

The modular design of the Kindernay was nifty, the hubs were lightweight, and the hydraulic trigger shifter was a neat alternative to the usual grip shifter.

It’s sad to see Kindernay file for bankruptcy. I hope a sale of the assets and rights to the hub comes to fruition, and that the hubs can live on through another company.

Luckily for consumers, there are still a handful of other high-quality internal gear hubs available. For alternatives similar to Kindernay, I’d recommend looking into Rohloff, 3X3, Revolute, and Shimano Alfine hubs.

The post The Kindernay 14-Speed Gear Hub is No Longer (They Went Bankrupt) appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

But technology has come a very long way since the 1800s, especially when it comes to textiles – so, perhaps a rope, or “String Drive” bike is the ultimate solution?

In this article, I’ll introduce you to a very special chainless drivetrain that uses Dyneema ropes to propel you forward. These bikes were produced from 2011 to 2021 and used similar ropes to those found in fancy bicycle spokes, paragliding lines, sailing ropes, and even human-powered helicopters.

Here are some quick facts about String Drive to whet your palate: it’s completely grease and oil-free, it has 19 non-overlapping gears, you can change the gears while stationary, and the gears don’t ever require adjustment.

To prove that String Drive is no gimmick, Ferenc Szonyi (an ultra-endurance cyclist) used this drivetrain in the insane Race Across America, a non-stop 4,800 km cycling event (3000 mi). In just 11 days and 10 hours, the athlete on the String Bike completed the route. That’s a crazy 422 km (or 262 mi) per day!

Of course, there are downsides to a rope drivetrain too. So, let’s dive deep into the technology and determine if we will see ropes on bicycles again.

How Do String Drive Bicycles Work?

I know it looks crazy and complicated, but it’s actually rather simple in operation.

You pedal in a circular motion just like normal, however, instead of rotating a chainring, the crank arms move two levers that pull on ropes attached to either side of your rear wheel. The levers take it in turns to pull your wheel forward, with the ropes winding and unwinding neatly on the rear drums.

Incredibly, Dyneema ropes have a higher strength under tension than a bicycle chain.

A 3.5mm rope can handle over 16,700N of force, which is twice the industrial standard for bicycle chains (8000N). To put this into context, the best Tour de France sprinters don’t even hit a quarter of the tensile strength of these ropes. That’s pretty impressive considering these ropes float in water!

The gear ratios are changed by moving the front pulley up and down recesses in the lever arms. There are 19 gear options, where the highest gear is about three times larger than the smallest (304% range). This is equal to a traditional road bike drivetrain (53-39tT + 11-25T), or Shimano Alfine 8-speed internal gear hub.

You can choose between three rear drum sizes that can either give you lower gears for the hills, or higher gears for the flat.

The ropes typically last 1000 to 2000 kilometres, and as they don’t absorb water, they can be used in wet conditions and even snow. That said, grit significantly affects longevity, so while it can handle extreme conditions, it performs best when the conditions are good.

Let’s talk about advantages.

The Advantages of String Drive Bicycles

To start, this drivetrain runs smoothly and silently without any grease or oil. This virtually eliminates drivetrain maintenance, and means that you’ll never get grease on your hands or pants ever again.

Once set up, String Drive doesn’t require any gear adjustment, and the gears won’t ever skip when you change them. In fact, you can change gears any time with this drivetrain: that’s while stationary, while coasting down a hill, and even under a full pedal load.

There is also no rear derailleur to damage or bend out of whack, and while the lever arms are large and exposed, they sit high and out of harm’s way.

Interestingly, the advantages we’ve discussed so far are all shared with an internal gear system paired with a belt. Let’s now discuss the advantages exclusive to String Drive.

Firstly, the pedals automatically rest at the most favourable starting position, so you can just get on your bike and ride.

While most drivetrains wear out the front and rear sprockets, as well as the chain or belt, the only regular consumable on String Drive is the ropes, which are about $10 each. The spare ropes can be easily stored inside your seatpost, and anyone can change them in about five minutes without removing the rear wheel.

String Drive is also designed to minimise the ‘crank dead spot’. It does this by decreasing the gear ratio at the top and bottom of the pedal stroke, and increasing it when you can exert the most force. This provides torque to the rear wheel over a longer duration, which is said to be more efficient – it has the same effect as using an oval chainring on a chain drive bike.

When you remove the rear wheel, the entire drivetrain stays with the frame. This makes for easy wheel removal and it’s great for transport too – you can put the dirty wheels into bags, and the bike travels cleanly. The bike will also stand up by itself without its rear wheel fitted.

When these bikes were available, the price was quite reasonable. City bikes were just over €1000 (~US $1100), which was excellent considering that the frame and many of the high-quality components were manufactured in Europe.

The last advantage is that the gears are spaced very close together, which allows you to almost always find the perfect gear ratio. This is not dissimilar to the Enviolo hub we recently analysed. To illustrate just how close these gear ratios are, each step on an 11-21t cassette (1-tooth difference between each gear) is still 50% larger than what String Drive offers (7.5% vs 5%).

String Drive has shown some significant advantages, so what are the downsides?

The Disadvantages of String Drive Bicycles

One reason why String Drive never took off is that the drivetrain cannot be installed on any bike. Instead, a specially designed frame must be used – one with the right guides and attachments, and with notably wide dropouts to fit the two rear drums.

Not only did the frame need to be special, but almost all components and spare parts were exclusive to StringBike, making them hard to obtain.

The design of the drivetrain itself also made it a hard sell. This is because the left side drum occupied the same location as a disc brake rotor, which meant the drivetrain was only compatible with rim brakes. While rim brakes offer acceptable performance, disc brakes have become the industry standard – limiting the versatility of this drivetrain.

Modern drivetrains are ideally eBike compatible too. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to make a String Drive electric bike as the components occupied the same space as mid-drive and rear hub motors.

The Dyneema ropes also wore out quickly compared to other drive options. The best chains offer top-level performance for between 4000 and 7000km, while modern belts can last upwards of 30,000km (both with contamination). In comparison, Dyneema ropes only lasted 1000 or 2000km.

A grip shifter needed to be used to change gears on a String Bike. Some users found these shifters stiff to rotate, especially when they were wet. Grip shifters don’t integrate very neatly on drop bar bikes compared to modern brake/shift levers either.

As you need lever arms, ropes, and drums on both sides of the bike, there was a weight penalty of approximately one kilogram (2.2lbs) compared to a derailleur bicycle.

A String Drive bike was also likely less efficient than a chain drive bike. Converting from rotary motion to reciprocating motion, and then back to rotary motion is never particularly efficient, and additionally, this drivetrain has many sliding surfaces that generate friction.

That said, the drive efficiency might just be superior to a gearbox or internal gear hub. The fact that four amateur cyclists could average 33km/h for 24 hours on String Bikes (Hungaroring 24H race), or that an endurance cyclist could cover over 420km per day (in the RAAM) suggests that drivetrain losses are not unreasonable.

The String Drive gear range was also small by modern standards (304%). It worked fine for most urban environments, but it became a bit limited if you wanted to climb both steep hills and have the gears for high-speed cruising too. For context, most road bike drivetrains now offer a 450% gear range and off-road drivetrains regularly exceed 500%.

Why Didn’t String Drive Take Off?

With the pros and cons laid out, you should have an idea about why String Drive didn’t take off.

Ultimately, the proprietary frame and components made it a really difficult sell, as did the clunky grip shifter, additional weight, lower drive efficiency, and short wear life of the ropes.

Furthermore, String Drive didn’t come out at a great time. It was developed just as disc brakes were becoming standard on bicycles, right when electric bikes were turning into the largest area of growth in the bike industry, and just as belt drive and internal gear systems had finally become a suitable alternative to chains and derailleurs.

Let’s finish this article with some of String Drive’s interesting quirks.

Other Interesting String Bike Quirks

Firstly, you can pedal backward and the bike will move forward! This is because the levers will always pull the ropes, no matter the direction your pedals are moving.

You also have the opportunity to set different gear ratios for each crank arm by using different-sized rear drums. This could be useful for those with a leg injury, or for training up a leg with a muscular weakness.

The reduction in ‘crank dead spot’ is another fascinating quirk. As I previously mentioned, String Drive was designed to decrease the gear ratio at the top and bottom of the pedal stroke and increase it when you can exert the most force.

While this sounds like a genius idea, it’s actually inconclusive whether there is a biomechanical advantage to using an elliptical driving path. According to carefully controlled biomechanical studies, your ankle movement changes when you ride with non-circular chainrings, and this change in movement effectively cancels out any possible additional power generated at your knees and hips.

That said, some people prefer the ‘feel’ of non-circular chainrings, and others say that they notice less strain on their knees, so I think reducing the crank dead spot is still an idea worth pursuing.

Summary

I honestly thought String Drive was a bit silly when I began investigating it. But after analysing every aspect of its design, I’m actually really impressed. The entire drivetrain is well thought out, and I had no idea that Dyneema rope tensile strength was so high.

The ropes are clean, maintenance-free, cheap, and easy to replace. I can certainly see how the designers imagined their bicycle drivetrain revolution, but unfortunately, they did not anticipate just how important disc brakes, electric motors, gearboxes, and belts would be in the decades to come.

The post Are Chainless String Drive Bicycles a Genius or Terrible Idea? appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

The efficiency of a clean and lubricated derailleur drivetrain is usually upwards of 97%. This simply means that 97% of the power that you put into the pedals is going into driving your rear wheel, and the remaining 3% is lost to friction.

The drive efficiency varies with the lubricant used, the quality of the drivetrain components, how worn the components are, the front and rear sprocket sizes, the chain angle, the chainring tooth shapes, the chain link shape, the rear derailleur’s one-way clutch design, the jockey wheel sizes, the power output and cadence of a rider… and more! A combination of these variables is why we see frictional differences between 1X drivetrains and 2X drivetrains.

The drive efficiency also varies significantly depending on the chain ‘dirtiness’ where the type of grit, amount of grit, and amount of lubricant left all play a role.

With all of these abovementioned variables, knowing exactly how much a ‘dirty chain’ slows you down is an impossible task. However, the following data should give us a good idea.

Note: the cover photo is by Tim Bardsley-Smith from when I biked the Mawson Trail.

How Do We Determine Drivetrain Efficiency

The drive efficiency data that we will be discussing was collected about a decade ago by Friction Facts, an independent test lab. I’ve previously analysed Friction Facts data in my articles that looked at the efficiency of belt drivetrains (the most recent belt data is found HERE) and 1X vs. 2X drivetrains.

All tests were conducted using a special test rig with a chain tension simulating 250 watts of power output. The cadence was set to 90 RPM. Each chain was run for five minutes, with data captured at the end of each five-minute run. When the chains were installed and removed from the test rig, they always faced the same direction.

The test rig is accurate within +/- 0.02 watts, and system losses from the four ceramic bearings in the equipment have been subtracted from the final results.

The Efficiency of A Dirty Bicycle Chain – Test #1

In this first test, a perfectly clean chain with a light oil-based lubricant ran at 97.6% drive efficiency.

The efficiency dropped by 2.8% after a test period in the rain*, and it was 3.2% less efficient with some wet mud contamination. Once the mud contamination had dried, the efficiency had dropped to 92.8%, which means that almost 5% more of your pedal power is now being lost to the dirty drivetrain.

*Unfortunately, details about the test period duration or conditions were not made available.

The Efficiency of A Dirty Bicycle Chain – Test #2

Friction Facts conducted a different test using six participants at a bicycle race in Boulder, USA. The chains were tested both before and after the one-hour cyclocross race to determine their drive efficiency after grit exposure.

Three participants were given Ceramic Speed UFO V1-treated chains, which are coated with a hot wax that dries onto the chain and provides lubrication. The other three participants used more common light oil-lubricated chains.

After the race, Friction Facts found the wax-treated chains lost an average of 0.7% drive efficiency, while the oil-treated chains lost an average of 1.7%. The likely reason for the difference here is that the wax lubricant simply collects less grit and even provides a barrier to stop it from entering the chain links.

The Efficiency of an Unlubricated Chain Drivetrain

The noise of a bicycle chain is usually a good indicator that additional friction is being experienced. After all, chain links are metal-on-metal so they need some form of lubrication to run smoothly.

What happens to the drive efficiency when you have no lubricant left on your chain? I’m glad you asked.

For this test, six different chains were perfectly cleaned and applied with a light oil-based lube. When they were put on the test rig, the drive efficiency exceeded 97% in all cases.

Next, the six chains were stripped back to bare metal with an ultrasonic cleaner. The drive efficiency was re-tested and was found to be as low as 89.6% and as high as 92%.

When we average out the decreases in efficiency we find that 6% of your pedal power is being lost when you don’t have any chain lubricant left. Even a dry muddy chain with a bit of lubricant works better than a chain without any lube!

Try to remember this next time you’re dealing with a squeaky chain…

How Much Does A Dirty Chain Slow You Down?

Using Bike Calculator, we can now simulate the speed differences between a perfectly clean and lubricated chain, and a chain of varying ‘dirtiness’. I will be using the Friction Facts data from the first test, and an average of the data from the unlubricated chain test.

Let’s assume our rider, bike, and equipment weigh a total of 85kg (187lb). The rider is on a gravel bike with their hands in the brake hoods.

Simulated Average Speed On Flat Gravel Terrain (250-Watts):

Clean and Lubed – 31.38km/h
Rainy and Lubed – 30.99km/h – 1.2% Slower
Wet, Muddy and Lubed – 30.94km/h – 1.4% Slower
Dry, Muddy and Lubed – 30.71km/h – 2.1% Slower
No Lubricant – 30.53km/h – 2.7% Slower

The differences in cycling speed are perhaps not as large as you’d think. This is because wind resistance and tyre rolling resistance are usually the two biggest forces that you work against on a bicycle.

Depending on the chain ‘dirtiness’, the reduction in cycling speed works out to be between 1.2% and 2.1%. And using a chain with no lubricant at all makes the bike almost 3% slower!

As the Friction Facts lab test was conducted at a power output that’s higher than that of the average cyclist, let’s run a simulation at a more suitable power output of 150 watts.

Drivetrain friction reduces linearly according to data shown in the belt drive test. This has allowed me to estimate a 31% reduction in friction for each chain condition when we drop from a power output of 250-watts to 150-watts.

Simulated Average Speed On Flat Gravel Terrain (150-Watts):

Clean and Lubed – 24.75km/h
Rainy and Lubed – 24.36km/h – 1.6% Slower
Wet, Muddy, and Lubed – 24.30km/h – 1.8% Slower
Dry, Muddy, and Lubed – 24.07km/h – 2.7% Slower
No Lube or Contamination – 23.88km/h – 3.5% Slower

The differences in speed are a bit larger with a lower power output. This is mostly due to the reduction in wind resistance. We now see a speed reduction of 1.6% to 2.7%, depending on the chain condition. And your speed could be 3.5% slower if you forget to lube your chain!

Summary

This data shows that a dirty bicycle chain can be anything from 92.8% to 96.8% efficient (depending on the contamination) and this can reduce one’s cycling speed by approximately 1% to 3%.

We see bigger differences in cycling speed when we test the aerodynamics of different luggage setups and the rolling resistance of different tyres.

That said, keeping your chain clean and lubricated is not a difficult task. When your drivetrain is running well, you will not only go faster, but your bike will be quieter, and you will experience less wear on your drive components – saving you money.

The post How Much Does A Dirty Bicycle Chain Slow You Down? (Drive Efficiency Test) appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

If you are riding (or considering) a Pinion gearbox bike, your only shifter options for drop bar bikes have been the grip shifters provided by Pinion.

However, the ergonomics and performance of this shifter location are highly compromised. You need to move your right hand away from the brake hoods to complete all shifts, and you need a special handlebar to fit them.

In addition, the shifter can be slippery when wet and can be hard to twist if you have a bit of sweat, mud, or sun cream on your hand. The gearbox cables are also not hidden neatly under the bar tape as many would like.

The recent release of the new 2024 Pinion gearboxes (Smart Shift) ultimately allows for the best drop bar gearbox shifting possible. But this is not the perfect solution for everyone – there is a higher price, you have to keep the electronic shifter battery charged, and you cannot retrofit these electronic shifters to older Pinion gearboxes.

The New HILITE Hibox Shift Adapter

HILITE has found a mechanical solution that allows you to fit your favourite drop bar shifters to any Pinion C-Line gearbox bike.

By installing a new “shift adapter”, you change how the cables pull at the gearbox, matching the pull ratio of many standard drop bar shifters (with a minor internal modification). This allows existing Pinion C-Line gearbox users the option to upgrade their shifters, and I’m sure the product will be popular with bike builders too.

The shift adapter allows you to use Shimano GRX/105 shifters, SRAM Rival/Force/Red shifters, and various Campagnolo shifters too. The shifters can be paired with hydraulic brakes or mechanical brakes, depending on the model you choose.

In the future, you will also be able to pair SRAM and Shimano trigger shifters for mountain bikes too. But we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that upgrade kit.

How Well Does The Hibox Shift Adapter Work?

The Hibox shift adapter allows you to assign your right shifter for changing to higher gears, and your left shifter for changing to lower gears (or vice versa). This is typically how people set up the shifting of SRAM electronic groupsets.

The Hibox is not the fastest way to move through your gears – each press of the shift paddle is just one gear shift at the gearbox. If you would like something more responsive, you will want to look into the 2024 Pinion gearboxes with Smart Shift.

See a video of the Hibox shifters in action HERE.

The Shimano GRX brake hood ergonomics are some of the best around (in my opinion). The hood shape does a great job of distributing pressure over more of your hand, ensuring all-day comfort. The raised ribs on the hoods provide better grip in the rain when your gloves are wet and covered in grit. One-finger braking works out to be more effortless on the GRX shifters too.

How Much Does The Hibox Shift Adapter Cost?

The shift adapter is expensive due to the high-precision components and low production volumes. It comes in either a black or silver anodised finish and will start shipping in late October 2023.

Hibox Shift Adapter only – US $333 / 300CHF / €315
Shimano GRX RX600 + hydro brakes – US $1222 / 1100CHF / €1158
Shimano GRX RX800 + hydro brakes – US $1333 / 1200CHF / €1263
Shimano 105 + hydro brakes – $1244 / 1120CHF / €1179
SRAM Rival + mechanical brakes – US $733 / 660CHF / €695
SRAM Rival + hydro brakes – US $1144 / 1030CHF / €1084
SRAM Force + mechanical brakes – US $866 / 780CHF / €821
SRAM Force + hydro brakes – US $1255 / 1130CHF / €1190
SRAM Red + hydro brakes – US $1555 / 1400CHF / €1474

Complete HILITE Gravel Bikes

Alternatively, you can treat yourself to a complete HILITE gravel bike!

A complete titanium build with a 12-speed Pinion gearbox, Gates Carbon Drive, and Shimano GRX shifters starts at 8000CHF (US $8882).

As pictured, the bike tips the scales at 11.5kg/25lb. However, HILITE has some tricks up its sleeve to get their Pinion gravel bike under 10kg/22lb if you were to throw more money their way.

Get your hands on the Pinion Hibox shift adapter HERE.

The post You Can Now Use Shimano GRX Shifters With Pinion Gearboxes (Hibox Shift Adapter) appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Pinion gearboxes are offered with 6 and 18 gears, are weather-sealed from the elements, are super quiet, are belt-drive compatible, and require very little maintenance – just an oil change every 10,000km (6200mi). They can potentially last a lifetime too; many users have already exceeded 100,000km (62,000mi).

The 2024 update addresses two key issues that have long prevented the widespread adoption of gearboxes: shifting under pedal load, and the need to use a grip shifter to change your gears.

In this article, we’ll look at the new shifter options and why they are a game-changer in this space. I’ll explain how these gearboxes shift under load, and we’ll discuss why this update tips the balance and is a derailleur killer for many riders.

The 2024 Pinion Gearboxes

The 2024 range might look identical to the Pinion C-line gearboxes but they have been redesigned to cope with stronger shifting forces, there is a new crankset design, there are integrated sensors, and the way the electronic shift cables feed into the gearbox is different too.

You can identify these new gearboxes by looking out for an “i” in the product name (eg. C1.12i), and importantly, they are not compatible with a grip shifter.

The Problem With Grip Shifters

Grip shifters have long been a sticking point for both existing gearbox users and potential new customers alike.

Some people simply don’t like grip shifter ergonomics, but more practically, they can be hard to rotate when they are wet or muddy, or when you have sweat or sun cream on your hands. They can also be a problem for those who have wrist conditions, wrist injuries, or as a result of hand fatigue from endurance cycling.

Additionally, there has never been a great way to mount grip shifters on drop bar bikes… until now.

You might have already seen the Pinion electronic trigger shifter, as it was released last year for e-bikes, and is also used with the new combined Pinion Motor Gearbox Unit.

However, the mountain bike trigger is now available for those who prefer to ride without battery assistance, and there are new drop bar shifters too. These shifters are wired to a tiny battery near the gearbox and complete gear changes in just 0.2 of a second. Like all gearboxes, you can shift gears whether you’re pedalling or not.

You might think electronic shifting is completely over the top, but it’s actually essential for shifting under pedal load. This is because the gearbox can now engage the next gear when your crankset is at the vertical position, which is when there is a natural slump in torque.

The shifts don’t feel quite as immediate as a derailleur, but they’re definitely faster than other gearboxes that require you to briefly let off pressure from the pedals. And a cool thing is that you can move from the lowest to the highest gear in about two seconds flat, which is surprisingly useful when a trail instantly pitches up.

The New Trigger Shifter

The trigger shifter has a very familiar shape, and its rubberised haptic button surfaces have an excellent grip and feel. As it’s electric, you can decide which button shifts up and which shifts down.

On a battery charge, the shifter will make approximately 20,000 shifts, which will likely last multiple months for most users. The battery is small and waterproof and can be mounted either inside or outside the frame. It’s fully charged in under three hours.

With pedal and wheel sensors, new semi-automatic shifting modes are also possible. For example, when coming to a complete stop, the gearbox can automatically shift to a start gear. Or when coasting, you can ask the gearbox to make automatic shifts based on your speed and pedal cadence. The gearbox will then have the perfect gear lined up for when you next need to pedal!

These gearboxes use a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) interface and can be connected to the Pinion Smart Shift app. This is where you can configure the shifting behaviour and button assignment, and see information about the charging status and firmware updates.

There is also an optional Sigma display that will show your gear indicator, charging status, cadence, and even turn-by-turn navigation via Komoot.

Currently, the only brands to announce using the new trigger shifter are Priority Bicycles, Viral Bikes, and VSF Fahrradmanufaktur.

The TRP Drop Bar Shifters

The trigger shifter is certainly welcome news, but the drop bar shifters might even be more exciting as they bring Pinion gearboxes to gravel bikes.

Drop bars allow you to ride in a more aerodynamic riding position that’s simply more efficient for covering distance. They also offer multiple handholds, they can be better for splitting traffic in cities, and some find the hand and wrist angles to be extra comfortable too.

Pairing drop bars and gearboxes is usually clunky at best. There are a handful of aftermarket shifters that are designed to do the job, however, the shifter throw is often long, and the shifts are usually just one shift per movement.

Yes, you can install Pinion grip shifters onto some drop bars, but then you don’t have easy access to the shifter while riding in the brake hoods. The cables sometimes even require extra maintenance as they incorporate additional springs and ratchets into the system.

The new TRP/Pinion electronic shifters have an excellent shape and pair with TRP hydraulic brakes too. Both the brake line and the cable to the Pinion Smart Shift Box run invisibly under the bar tape or inside your handlebars for a super neat look.

The only confirmed bike model with the drop bar shifter is the Pilot Scram.

What Are The Downsides of A Pinion Gearbox?

With the ability to shift under load, and the shifters now sorted, Pinion gearboxes will probably tip the balance over derailleurs and be the ultimate drivetrain for many cyclists. Imagine never adjusting your gears, destroying a derailleur, replacing a cassette, or even cleaning and lubing a chain.

So, what are the downsides?

Firstly, the Pinion gearbox price will remain high for the foreseeable future due to the product quality and overall production volumes. Expect around US $3000 or €3000 to be the starting price for a complete Pinion bike.

But it’s worth noting that the gearbox space is heating up and Korean start-up All-to is aiming to produce a competitor at a significantly lower price.

There is still a weight disadvantage of approximately 1.5kg compared to a derailleur drivetrain. However, keep in mind that bike weight matters much less than you think, and this is especially the case if you ride on flat terrain, if your body weight is on the heavy side, or if you’re already carrying lots of luggage, food, and water anyway. After all, a kilogram is often just 1 or 2% of your combined bike and body weight.

There’s also a case to be made in terms of performance for a heavier gearbox drivetrain on a full-suspension bike. When you remove the cassette and derailleur weight from the rear swingarm, the rear suspension will respond quicker to ground forces (less unsprung mass). This means better small bump sensitivity and even more grip.

A bigger concern for some is that gearboxes will never be as efficient as a clean and well-lubricated derailleur drivetrain. Some quick napkin maths suggests a derailleur bike will have you cycling between 0.4 and 0.8km/h faster* depending on the gradient, and with the same power output. But keep in mind that mud and grit can very quickly cut into this speed difference.

*6% difference in drive efficiency, 80kg rider, 15kg bike+gear, 200-watt power output, gradient between 0 and 10%.

Summary

The 2024 Pinion gearbox is a derailleur killer if you prioritise long-term durability, a wide gear range, and an ultra-low-maintenance design.

With the new trigger and drop bar shifters, you no longer need to compromise with a grip shifter. And better yet, these new shifters allow you to change gears under a pedal load.

Yes, they are expensive, but have you seen the price of SRAM XX derailleurs (US $650), chains (US $150), and cassettes (US $600)?

It will take a few years, but due to these changes, I suspect more gearbox mountain and gravel bikes are on their way. I’m also fascinated to see how other gearbox and internal gear hub manufacturers stay competitive in this space.

The post The 2024 Pinion Gearbox Is A Derailleur Killer (Shift Under Load, No More Gripshift) appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

They are a great alternative to derailleur gears, as they still offer multiple gear ratios, however, the critical drive components are all sealed away from the elements. This results in an incredibly low-maintenance drivetrain, that not only lasts longer but is less susceptible to damage.

Internal gear hubs normally use planetary gear sets to achieve different gear ratios, and you can get them with up to 14 different gears. These gears can be spread across a range even wider than a 1X MTB drivetrain.

You can also get continuously variable transmission hubs that have not just 14 gears, but an infinite number of gears between two set points.

In this article, we will examine the advantages and disadvantages of the Enviolo CVT hubs. We will later compare these hubs to the gold standard of planetary gear hubs (the Rohloff hub) as well as the closer-matched Shimano hubs. And lastly, I’ll explain exactly how this CVT hub works.

But first, what is a bicycle CVT?

What is a Bicycle CVT?

A bicycle CVT is a type of gearbox that eliminates the steps between each of your gears. Instead of shifting from your first gear to second, and second to third, the transition between gears is completely seamless, creating the smoothest shifting possible, and allowing you to ride at your perfect cadence – or crank rotation speed.

CVTs are common in industrial and automotive applications but are uncommon on bicycles. However, there are significant advantages to a bicycle CVT including a very user-friendly design, gear changes while stationary, no gear skipping, and an eerily silent operation.

And when paired with electronic shifting, you can even achieve fully automated shifting that keeps your legs spinning at your preferred cadence, no matter the speed, and without you even having to think about it.

So, where did this CVT technology come from?

NuVinci to Enviolo

A hub called the NuVinci 171 was released in 2006 by Fallbrook Technologies. At the time, it was about four kilograms (8.8lb), which was more than twice as heavy as any other gear hub.

Over time, the hubs were refined, the weight was brought down by 40%, the gear range was increased, and the hubs were engineered for a broader range of applications.

NuVinci was later rebranded to Enviolo as part of a bankruptcy restructuring.

These days the company is thriving. Over two million bicycles now use their CVT hubs, including many in bike share fleets around the world. You can find Enviolo-equipped bikes from over 150 different bike brands and a third of those use electronic shifting.

I’ve already touched on some of the advantages of internal gear hubs and CVTs, but it wouldn’t be a CyclingAbout article without a deep-dive analysis.

Advantages of Enviolo CVT Hubs

The User-Friendly Design

The big drawcard of a CVT hub is its user-friendly design. There is just one rotary shifter, and it’s highly intuitive to use. If you feel like your legs are spinning too fast, you wind the shifter one way, and if your legs are struggling up a hill, you wind it the other. It’s really as simple as that.

In addition, the Enviolo hubs can be shifted at any time (including while stationary) so it doesn’t ever matter if you’ve forgotten to shift.

The Instant and Stepless Gearing

As soon as you rotate the shifter, the CVT is instantly engaged. You never have to wait for any gear changes, and there is no chance of your chain skipping between gears.

The step-less gearing also ensures you’re never stuck in between gear ratios. This means your cadence can always be exactly as you desire.

The Electronic Shifting

If you use an eBike with a mid-motor, both electronic shifting, and automatic gear changes are possible.

First, you set your desired cadence in RPM on your smartphone (or eBike display). Then the motor and shifter will work together to automatically keep you at your perfect RPM – no matter the cycling speed.

And when you stop at traffic lights, the shifter will also put you in the perfect gear for take-off.

In addition, this system allows for ‘manual’ gear shifting in 5% increments simply by pressing up and down on the thumb buttons. This is particularly useful for riders who still want gear control, but have hand or wrist impairments. It’s also a great upgrade over the manual shifter too, for reasons we’ll discuss in the disadvantages section.

It’s worth noting that an electronic shifting retrofit is also possible on some eBike and hub combinations.

The Smooth and Silent Operation

Most internal gear hubs generate noise as the planetary gears are whirring away inside the hub body. Some hubs have more internal noise and vibrations than others, and there are even hubs out there that constantly tick while you pedal.

The Enviolo is the most silent gear hub of the lot – you almost never hear it working underneath you.

The Reduced Susceptibility to Damage

As there is no derailleur to knock or get things caught in, the Enviolo drivetrains are much less susceptible to damage. This is one reason why they’re so popular for bike fleets.

The Suitability For All Weather Conditions

Compared to derailleur gears, the Enviolo gear components are all hidden away and sealed from the elements. This reduces both component wear and drivetrain maintenance significantly.

The hubs can also be used down to -20° Celsius as well as in the planet’s hottest conditions.

The Low Maintenance Design

Incredibly, the Enviolo hubs are sealed for the life of the bike they are operating on. That means zero oil changes and zero bearing changes too.

The hub comes with a guarantee for 20,000km of use, but some users have reported exceeding 80,000km, which is similar to some Shimano Alfine or Nexus hubs.

The only maintenance required is cable replacements for the rotary shifter and possibly a service of the freewheel mechanism too.

The Relative Affordability

Compared to other gear hub options, the Enviolo products are considered affordable. And when you factor in the reduced need to replace worn components – these hubs become even more reasonably priced.

There are currently six different Enviolo hubs with prices starting at US $199 and maxing out at US $499. There is even a gearbox with a sprocket on both sides that’s intended for three-wheel cargo bikes.

When you spend more money, you essentially get a wider gear range, and more premium hub shell and internal components. You also get a higher input torque rating and hubs that can be fitted to heavier bikes.

The best way to compare Enviolo hubs is to look at the spec sheets on the website.

The Reduction in Chain Hassle

Provided you keep up your chain tension, you will also never experience dropped chains, skipping chains or chain slapping on your frame. It’s all the benefits of a single-speed bike but with infinite gear ratios.

The Belt Drive Compatibility

Better yet, you can pair Enviolo hubs with smooth and silent belt drivetrains. You’ve probably already noticed that most Enviolo-equipped bikes come with belts.

That’s because belt drive works out to be lower maintenance than chain drive, as it doesn’t require any grease or lubrication. As a result, belts stay very clean – you’ll never get black muck on your hands or pants ever again.

Belts also don’t rust, don’t stretch, and are very long-lasting too. Most cyclists go years without needing to replace a belt or sprocket. I’ve recently put 35,000km (22,000mi) into a belt drivetrain, which is more than three times further than I’d expect from a well cared for chain.

But if you prefer a lower-cost chain drivetrain, remember that you can fit a chain case with an Enviolo hub. This keeps water and grit away from your chain, and will likely double its wear life.

The Stronger Rear Wheels

Enviolo hub flanges are both the same height and are spaced equally from the frame on both sides. Unlike a typical cassette hub, this results in even spoke tension, building the strongest wheel possible.

The High Input Torque Rating

High-torque eBike motors are a great way to damage internal gear hubs. The good news is that the Enviolo hubs are rated up to 100Nm input torque, which is higher than the Shimano Nexus 5-speed hub (85Nm).

Some manufacturers such as EVELO have found the Enviolo Trekking hub will comfortably handle a 600-watt, 120Nm motor. According to the company, Enviolo hubs are their most reliable gear system with less than a 1% warranty replacement rate. They have so much confidence in the hubs they even extend the warranty duration.

Right, after all that I probably sound like a spokesperson for Enviolo, so we need to look at the disadvantages too.

Disadvantages of Enviolo CVT Hubs

The Drive Efficiency

When you put pedal power into the Enviolo hub, some of that power is lost through the transmission.

Most internal gear hubs are somewhere between 3% and 7% less efficient than a perfectly clean and lubricated derailleur drivetrain (on average). In comparison, the Enviolo CVT hub is around 14% less efficient (on average).

Now, I know 14% sounds like a lot, but this is really not a big deal for many users, notably those who use their bikes for transport. And the benefit of always using the perfect cadence might even outweigh the drive efficiency loss.

When using a regular bike on a 5km flat trip along a bike path, I’ve calculated you might lose 20 seconds over 11 minutes compared to a Shimano internal gear hub (200W @ 100kg weight, gear 6). And if you were to use an eBike, you could expect slightly less range from your battery. But we’re talking a handful of kilometres here compared to other gearboxes – it’s nothing drastic.

This is obviously no big deal for short urban trips, but the battery range or time penalty might of course add up for long-distance use.

The Weight

These hubs are around 800 grams (1.8lbs) heavier than a Shimano Alfine internal gear hub with a similar gear range. And they are around 700 grams heavier than a Rohloff hub that offers a much wider gear range.

Now, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: bike weight affects cycling speed much less than you think. This is because 800 extra grams is likely just 1 or 2% extra weight to your overall system weight (body+bike+gear).

When we run the calculations, this weight difference will barely slow you down on the flat, and in the hills, it’s likely just a one or two-minute penalty per 100km of cycling.

Where weight becomes more important is if you frequently carry your bike up and down stairs.

The Heavy Shift Actuation

Some people find the Enviolo manual shifter to be quite stiff to rotate. And it’s even harder to change gears when the shifter gets wet.

If you have hand or wrist issues, the Shimano Alfine hubs with a trigger or Di2 shifter might be the better option. Or if you’re planning on using an eBike anyway, simply choose the Enviolo electronic shifter.

The Fast-Wearing Shift Cables

The Enviolo hub when coupled with the manual shifter is notoriously tough on cables. However, the duration the cables stay in good working condition is usually based on how smoothly and carefully you shift.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when shifting.

Firstly, make sure to back off on your pedal power for a split second to make your shifts. This takes a bit of time to master but becomes second nature in no time. Doing this allows the internal hub components to move with ease, putting less strain on your cables.

Secondly, you don’t want to force the shifting. You often cannot rotate the shifter across the full gear range when your bike is stationary, so only rotate it as much as the hub will allow. It’s also quite easy to strain the cables by rotating the shifter past the highest and lowest shift points, so try to be aware of these limits.

And lastly, maintain your cables! This involves keeping them clean and lubricated, making sure the cables have the appropriate tension, and checking for any sharp bends in the external housing.

If you keep these things in mind, your cables can last for years.

The Wheel Removal

Rear wheel removal is not quite as easy on an Enviolo bike.

With the electronic shifting, you just pull the connector cable and can remove your wheel with a spanner or Allen keys (depending on the hub model).

It’s a bit trickier with the manual shifter because two cables must be unhooked from the hub interface before dropping your wheel. Also, make sure to avoid bumping the hub interface as you can accidentally reduce the gear range of your hub.

If the hub interface is moved, the Enviolo channel has a video showing you how to reset it.

The Low Gear That’s Not That Low

The Enviolo hubs require a minimum front-to-rear sprocket ratio of 2:1. This results in a climbing speed of 8kph when you’re pedalling at 60RPM or a low gear of approximately 28 gear inches.

To put this into context, the climbing speed on many mountain bikes is often 30 to 40% lower. And even lightweight gravel bikes have a 10% lower climbing gear.

While this climbing gear is perfectly adequate for most urban uses, if you’re planning on cycling in hilly terrain without electric assistance (think 10% or steeper), the Enviolo climbing gear is likely not low enough.

The Gear Range

The gear range of the Enviolo hubs is between 256% and 380%. This simply means the top gear is 2.56 times (or 3.8x) bigger than the smallest gear.

To put these numbers into context, modern derailleur drivetrains exceed 500% gear range, and there are gearbox drivetrains that even exceed 600%.

Again, a smaller gear range works for most urban environments. That’s especially the case if you have electric assistance. Where it becomes a bit limited is if you want to climb both steep hills and have the gears for high-speed cruising too.

The Need To Send Away Enviolo Hubs For Repair

The Enviolo hubs are not a typical product found in bicycle stores outside of Europe, so you might need to send your hub to a service centre for repair. And yes, there is a big service centre in the United States.

In other regions, the bike companies that sell Enviolo-equipped bikes are usually able to help.

But it’s worth noting that problems with the hubs are quite uncommon, and most issues can usually be solved by changing the shifter or replacing the cables and/or freewheel mechanism.

Right, let’s find out what the extra US $1000 gets you if you were to upgrade to a Rohloff hub.

Enviolo Hub vs. Rohloff Hub

In short, buying a Rohloff ensures a longer-lasting hub, that’s lighter, much more efficient, and with both lower and higher gear ratios. It will also handle more torque from a mid-mount eBike motor.

Rohloff hubs are known for their long-term durability – there is even a Rohloff out there that has travelled 500,000km, which is five to ten times further than you can expect from an Enviolo.

When it comes to drive efficiency, the Rohloff has been tested to be over 94% efficient across its entire gear range compared to Enviolo’s 83% (average). With all things being equal, this results in around a 1.5kph difference in speed on the flat (200w, 100kg total weight) making the Rohloff undoubtedly the best option for long-distance use. It’s also the best way to get the maximum range from a battery.

The Rohloff also offers a 526% gear range compared to Enviolo’s 380%. This allows you to ride at both much lower and higher speeds.

The lowest permissible gear ratio can be set considerably lower on a Rohloff, making steeper hills much easier to conquer. In fact, the lowest permissible gear on the Enviolo is the equivalent of the sixth gear on a Rohloff!

The Rohloff is not only 700 grams lighter but it will handle up to 130Nm from a mid-drive eBike motor. In comparison, it’s 100Nm with some Enviolos.

There are more shifter options with the Rohloff too. If you want to use drop bars, you have the option between Cinq integrated shifters or even SRAM shifting using the Gebla Rohbox. And if you use an eBike, the Rohloff has electronic shifting too.

I hope you can now see where the value lies in a Rohloff hub. But the advantages of the Enviolo should not be taken lightly. The hub is quieter, more user-friendly, has automatic shifting, requires zero oil changes, and is offered at a fantastic price.

A fairer comparison might be to the Shimano hubs…

Enviolo Hub vs. Shimano Hubs

When we compare the Enviolo to the Shimano hubs, we get a much closer match-up in terms of price (US $200-500), gear range (409% vs 380%), lowest permissible gear ratio, and long-term durability (both around 80,000km).

It could be said that the Shimano feels snappier and sportier with its distinct gear changes, and the 800-gram weight saving helps in this regard too.

The drive efficiency difference is around 7%, which results in a 1kph faster cycling speed on the flat for the Alfine hub (200w, 100kg total weight, flat road).

The Alfine also uses a trigger shifter, which is often preferred over the Enviolo’s rotary shifter. And you don’t need an eBike to use the electronic shifting options for Shimano hubs too.

That said, the Shimano hubs are a bit noisier, the gears can skip if you don’t maintain the cables well, the auto shifting is not as seamless, the input torque rating is lower (85Nm), and the hubs require regular grease or oil changes.

And finally, let’s go inside the Enviolo hubs to see how they work.

How The CVT Works

The best way to understand how this hub works is to watch from 20:19 to 22:25 in my video.

We are looking at the hub from the back of the bike, so the sprocket is on the right side, and the disc rotor is on the left.

Here you can see the main shift components: there are two rings and a set of large metal spheres that sit on an idler. The input ring on the right side is connected to the rear sprocket, which is driven by your legs. And the output ring on the left side is what propels your bike forward.

Power from your pedals moves from your rear sprocket to the first ring, then into the spheres, and then from the spheres to the second ring, and finally to the wheel.

One reason why Enviolo hubs are somewhat inefficient is due to the metal spheres that are moving in a slightly different direction (and at slightly different speeds) to the two rings. This is known as “contact spin”.

Interestingly, these components are not directly touching. Instead, a specially-designed oil passes through microscopic spaces between the components, solidifying momentarily under pressure, and transferring the pedal power. This is why there is such little wear inside Enviolo hubs, and why you don’t need to service them.

To understand how this hub achieves its infinite gear ratios, we need to take a closer look at the spheres.

When you twist the shifter at the handlebar, the idler on the axle tilts the spheres. This changes the contact patch size on the spheres that the rings interact with.

When the contact patch is large on the right side and small on the left side, the wheel will spin slower than the rear sprocket (underdrive). When the contact patch is small on the right side and large on the left side, the wheel will spin faster than the rear sprocket (overdrive). And when the contact patches are identical on both sides, the wheel and sprocket will move at the same speed (1:1).

Summary

Congratulations, you now know virtually everything about Enviolo hubs, including how they work!

I think these hubs are super cool. They are intuitive to use, require little maintenance, are super silent, and the fact that they’re priced well only makes them more appealing. Even as a very experienced cyclist, the Automatiq gear shifting was an absolute delight to use.

Yes, the hubs are a bit heavy and inefficient. But for many user groups, I’m not really sure that matters.

If you’re after the best-performing and longest-lasting hub, you will still be best served with a Rohloff. And for a sportier ride experience, as well as more shifter options, I think the Shimano hubs are the way to go.

The post The Incredible $199 Internal Gear Bicycle Hub: Enviolo CVT Explained appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

While the performance of belts is known to be great, there are three things that prevent their widespread adoption:
(1) They are incompatible with derailleur drivetrains, which means you’re limited to an internal gear hub or gearbox
(2) They require a specially-designed belt drive frame in order to fit the one-piece carbon belts, and
(3) Spare belt drive components are rarely found in shops.

But with e-bikes making up over 50% of bicycle sales in Europe, and e-Bikes using more internal gear hubs and gearbox drivetrains than ever before – belt drive product development is in overdrive.

Gates is the market leader by a huge margin. Their belt drivetrains are clean, low-maintenance, reliable, long-lasting, and can be used in all kinds of crazy weather conditions.

I can personally vouch for the quality of the Gates CDX product, as I have cycled over 135,000km using these drivetrains – with very few issues along the way. Actually, why not read about why I think belts are better than chain drivetrains HERE.

In this article, I’m going to show you three promising new belt drivetrains that I found at Eurobike, the world’s biggest bicycle trade show. After speaking to the product managers and engineers behind each belt drivetrain, here’s what I found…

Advanced Belt Drive

Advanced claims that their belts will last as long as Gates, are suited to all weather conditions, can be used on e-Bikes, and can run just as quietly and efficiently. They are compatible with all the usual internal gear hub manufacturers (eg. Shimano, Rohloff) as well as the typical HG cassette bodies.

This was my first opportunity to actually test the Advanced belts, and they rode great. They honestly felt identical to my usual Gates belt drivetrains.

According to Advanced, their biggest advantage over Gates is that you can run their belts at a lower tension, as their system will tolerate more side-to-side frame flex while cycling. This means rear frame triangles do not have to be engineered to be super stiff, which will allow the belt drivetrain to suit a broader variety of bikes.

I asked why there are so few Advanced belt drivetrains in use, and the representative essentially said their business is very small and they pour most marketing resources into their Schlumpf Drive two-speed planetary cranksets instead.

If their belt drivetrain is as good as they say, this is certainly a missed opportunity for Advanced, especially as more and more bikes are shifting to internal gear hubs and gearboxes.

Optibelt Twin Track Belt Drive

Optibelt Twin Track is a new belt drive system ready to compete with Gates.

This German company similarly uses eight carbon fibre tensile cords for strength, along with a centre track on the sprocket to keep the belt on. With this design, the sprocket teeth actually penetrate right into the belt, and the teeth are a bit deeper than Gates as well.

There are currently 17 belt lengths, and sprockets for 4-bolt, 5-bolt, and Pinion up front, as well as Shimano internal gear hub and HG 9-spline cassette bodies.

Time will tell whether it’s as durable as Gates CDX.

Veer Belt Drive

And lastly, Veer, who is best known for its split belt design. These belts have been available for four or five years now, and are unlike any other belt because the belt itself can ‘break’ in half and be retrofitted to any bike.

However, with so many bicycle frames now accommodating one-piece belts (thanks to Gates), Veer has seen an opportunity to release some non-splittable drivetrains too.

There is the Veer Super Belt Pro for high-power electric motors and off-road mountain bike use. Veer claims this is the most durable belt on the market, especially for high-power motors.

Then there is the Veer Xpert Drive, which balances performance and value and is approved for low-power e-Bikes and urban use.

Veer was also showing a small belt tensioner, and a super crazy two-speed sprocket concept (it’s worth seeing it change gears on my Instagram).

Summary

With e-bikes using more internal gear hubs and gearbox drivetrains than ever before, belt drivetrain development is currently moving quickly. In fact, there were many more belt drivetrains at Eurobike than I’ve shown here.

Advanced, Optibelt, and Veer look to have some products that could potentially keep up with Gates in the coming years. But time will tell whether they are truly comparable, or better yet – superior belt products.

Gates has been on the top of the belt drive roost for over a decade now, and I think their CDX product is great. But I’m excited that new players are moving into this space, as it will encourage Gates to continue to innovate.

The post 3 Promising New Bicycle Belt Drivetrains From Eurobike 2023 appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

Pinion gearboxes are offered with 6, 9, 12, or 18 gears, are weather-sealed from the elements, are belt-drive compatible, and require very little maintenance – just an oil change every 10,000km. They are expected to last for hundreds of thousands of kilometres of use. I don’t even think Pinion knows the true limit.

But there has always been one part of the system that could be better: the shifter.

The Pinion Grip Shifter

For more than a decade, the Pinion gearboxes came with a grip shifter, rather than a trigger-type shifter like you would find on a mountain bike.

Grip shifters have long been a sticking point for users of the Pinion gearbox. That’s because these shifters can be hard to rotate when they are wet, or when you have a minuscule amount of sweat or sun cream on your hands (gloves definitely help here). They can also be a problem for those who have wrist conditions or injuries.

Some people simply don’t like the design and ergonomics of a grip shifter, while others find water and grit ingress at the side of the gearbox can cause headaches. The Pinion gear cables can also develop a lot of friction over time.

Additionally, there has never been a great way to mount the grip shifter on a drop handlebar.

But these downsides are now easy to overcome.

The Pinion TE1 E-Trigger Shifter

Pinion unveiled electric trigger shifting for urban e-Bikes last year.

While this shifter is powered by an e-bike battery, its shape is similar to other trigger shifters, and its rubberised haptic button surfaces have an excellent feel. The button assignment is fully customizable and it has semi-automatic shifting modes. It also makes sure to shift when your crankset is in the 6 and 12 o’clock positions (to make proper shifts under pedal load!).

And now, this technology is available for non-E-bike gearbox bikes too.

Pinion Smart Shift For MTB and Non-E-Bikes

Pinion Smart Shift is essentially a shifter wired up to a battery, and a small motor unit (just for changing the gears).

Shifting takes just 0.2 seconds at the push of a button. The system will change gears while pedalling, when stationary, and under load.

On a full battery charge, the shifter will make approximately 10,000 shifts, which according to Pinion, will last over 100 hours of riding. The battery is waterproof to IPX7 and can be mounted either inside the frame or outside. The battery is fully charged in under 3 hours.

With pedal and wheel sensors, new semi-automatic shifting modes are possible. For example, when coming to a complete stop, the gearbox could automatically shift to a start gear. Or when coasting down a steep hill, the gearbox could automatically go to the highest gear.

The Smart Shift system has a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) interface and can be connected to the Pinion Smart Shift app. This app allows the shifting behaviour and button assignment to be customized, along with information on charging status and any firmware updates.

There is an optional Sigma display that will show your gear indicator, charging status, cadence, and even turn-by-turn navigation via Komoot.

Drop Bar Bikes With Pinion Gearboxes

The Smart Shift system is drop bar friendly too. This is big news because it truly brings Pinion into the gravel bike world.

For those who are not aware, pairing drop bars and gearbox shifting (or internal gear hubs) is clunky at best. There are a handful of aftermarket products that are designed to do the job, but the shifter throw is often long, and the gear shifts are usually just one shift per movement.

Not only that, but they require significantly more maintenance as they incorporate additional springs and ratchets into the system.

Then there are all the different ways of mounting grip shifters on drop bars – divisible handlebars, bar-end adapters, small accessory bars, and more. While you can get used to these options, you don’t have easy access to the shifter while sitting in the brake hoods. That means that every time you want to shift, you will need to move your right hand to a different part of the handlebar. Not ideal.

With Pinion Smart Shift comes a new drop bar electric shifter – and this has got to be the best way to pair a gearbox and belt drivetrain with a gravel bike (Shimano Alfine Di2 is also good).

The TRP HYWIRE electric shifters look to have an excellent shape and pair with TRPs hydraulic brakes too. Both the hydraulic brake line and the cable to the Pinion Smart Shift Box run invisibly under the bar tape or inside your handlebars.

I suspect these new shifters alone will open Pinion up to significantly more bike brands in the gravel, commuting and touring spaces.

Can You Retrofit Smart Shift To Your Pinion Bike?

Converting existing Pinion gearboxes to Smart Shift is not possible.

Unfortunately, Pinion Smart Shift gearboxes differ internally from the grip shift gearboxes. The Smart Shift gearbox is modified to cope with stronger shifting forces, the system has a different crankset, there is an integrated cadence sensor, and the way the cables feed into the gearbox is different too.

What About Electric Shifting For Rohloff Hubs?

I asked Rohloff for a comment about electric shifting on non-E-bikes.

Unfortunately, Rohloff does not have anything coming soon, as their electric E-14 shifting for e-Bikes relies a lot on the mid-mount motor to do the controlling. I have seen various people make their own motors though, and will report on any developments.

Summary

Grip shifters have long been a deterrent in the adoption of gearbox bikes. They are not great when wet, they can chew through cables and are sometimes not ideal ergonomically. Not only that but there has never been a great drop bar solution.

The Pinion Smart Shift not only solves these problems but adds semi-automatic shift controls and the possibility of gear indication and cadence.

The product improves the shifting experience on flat bar bikes but also brings lots of possibilities for drop bar bikes. I really like the look and feel of the new TRP HYWIRE brake and shift levers.

Right, I’ll be sitting right here to watch the new crop of drop bar gearbox bikes rolling in…

The post Why The New Pinion Smart Shift Gearbox Is A Big Deal (New Possibilities) appeared first on CYCLINGABOUT.

I’ve been an avid user of belt drivetrains on my bikes for about 12 years now, and have somehow clocked over 135,000km (~88,000 miles) on these chain alternatives.

I’ve taken belt drivetrains up the world’s highest roads, across dry deserts, through wild jungles, along windy beaches, over monstrous salt flats, and into epic snowscapes.

In this article, I’ll tell you why belt drive is better than chain drive for many cycling applications. I’ll then explain why you don’t see belt drive on more bikes. And lastly, I’ll comprehensively answer every question I’ve ever received about these drivetrains.

Throughout this article, keep in mind I’m referring to my experience with one specific product – Gates Carbon Drive CDX. But this is not a sponsored article and I have no affiliation with Gates. If I come across as enthusiastic it’s simply because I’m a happy customer.

Let’s start with the characteristics of bicycle belt drive.

What is Bicycle Belt Drive?

A bicycle belt is different from all other types of belt. They are constructed from a polymer that is reinforced using multiple carbon fibre cords.

It’s these tensile cords that make them especially strong; Rob Rast from FLX bikes shows that you can even lift up the back of a van without breaking a bicycle belt.

These belts are usually paired with steel rear sprockets and alloy front sprockets, and can be run single-speed, or multi-speed when paired with a gearbox or internal gear hub.

Why Are Belt Drive Bikes Better Than Chain Drive Bikes?

Firstly, belts are very long-lasting. Most cyclists go years without needing to replace a belt or sprocket. I’ve recently put 35,000km (22,000mi) into a belt drivetrain that saw many steep hills and every riding condition possible. Others have even exceeded 40,000km. This is often three to four times further than you can travel with a chain.

Belts are also very low maintenance. This is because they don’t require any grease or lubrication, and much less cleaning too. Just a splash of water is often it.

Due to the lack of grease and oil, belts stay very clean. This means you’ll never get black muck on your hands or pants ever again.

Belts also run eerily silent. Normally, all you can hear is a light hum coming from your drivetrain.

Belts are particularly good in adverse conditions. This is partly due to the sprocket design, which can very effectively shed debris from its surfaces, unlike a chain. But it’s also because you will likely be pairing your belt with a gearbox drivetrain, which keeps your critical drive components sealed away and protected from the elements.

Belts do not rust. This is advantageous at the beach or in cold parts of the world where salt is put on the roads.

Ultimately, belts save you a lot of time. Most people don’t like maintaining their bikes, sourcing replacement parts, or going to bike shops for repairs. Belted bikes minimise all of these things so you can spend more time learning about bikes on CyclingAbout!

If belts are so good, why don’t we see them on more bikes?

Why Don’t We See Belt Drive On More Bikes?

The biggest downside is that belts are not compatible with derailleur gears. This means you need to use a gearbox or internal gear hub for the gears.

Now, I love gearboxes and think they’re perfect for hard-working cargo, commuter, and touring bikes. Gearboxes are strong, reliable, low maintenance, less susceptible to damage, and you can even change gears while stationary.

But gearboxes are also often one kilogram heavier, and 5% less efficient than derailleur gears. They also don’t shift that well under load. So, if you want the lightest or fastest bike, it won’t be sporting a belt.

Belts also require a special frame. These frames must have a way to adjust the tension, they must have a split in the rear triangle to install a one-piece belt, and they must have an especially stiff rear triangle so that the belt cannot skip on the rear sprocket.

Belts are often not found in bike shops. This means that you will need to order replacements online – it’s obviously best to do this before you need them.

Belt components have a higher upfront cost. A new CDX drivetrain is around US $250 or €250. But keep in mind the cost-per-kilometre can be similar to a high-performance chain drivetrain due to the longer wear life.

Belts cannot be repaired. This means that if you damage your belt – it will need to be replaced. The good news is that broken belts are uncommon (I’ve only ever broken one) but you should still carry a spare on long rides. They coil up small and weigh under 100 grams, which is about the same weight as the chain breaker tool that you can now leave at home.

Let’s now move on to the questions, which will get more technical as we go.

General FAQ

How do belts feel to ride?

They feel like an even smoother version of a well-lubricated chain. Despite the way they look, there is no noticeable ‘stretch’ in the belt thanks to the carbon fibre tensile cords that are hidden inside.

Why don’t they use belt drive bikes in the Tour de France?

To compete at the highest level of cycling, it’s necessary for riders to have the lightest and most efficient bikes. Unfortunately, belt drive bikes are heavier and less efficient (as a result of the gearbox), so you’ll never see them in the Tour de France.

Don’t automotive timing chains last longer than timing belts?

This is often true. But keep in mind that belts on bikes are a different application and technology. All durability tests suggest that belts last longer on a bicycle.

How expensive are belt drive bikes?

A belt drive bike with a 3-speed internal gear hub starts at US $599 (Priority Classic Plus). And a bit over €1,000 gets you a bike with an 8-speed hub (Cube Hyde). The prices go well into five figures for fancy e-bikes.

Can you use belt drive with eBikes?

Most belts are approved for eBike use. But in the Gates range, it’s only the CDC and CDX models that will allow for mid-drive motors. There’s a torque limit to be aware of – the lower-cost CDC model is approved for 50Nm motors while CDX is good for 90Nm.

Can you use belt drive in the mud and snow?

I’ve taken my belt drive bikes through thousands of kilometres of mud and snow. But keep in mind it’s only Gates CDX that’s rated for riding in the mud. The models that are rated to shed snow and ice are CDX, CDC, and CDN.

Can you use belt drive on fixed gear bikes?

You can, and it looks pretty rad. Fixed gear belted bikes can be found over at Schindelhauer and Priority.

Can you use belt drive with full suspension bikes?

Yes, a spring-loaded tensioner makes this possible. The tensioner is actually a super cool bit of kit as it accounts for the increasing chainstay length as you get deeper into your travel.

For more, check out bikes by Zerode, Nicolai, Gamux, Riese & Muller, Aska, and Cavalerie.

Do belts ever snap?

They do. The good news is that a broken belt is not a common occurrence and it’s usually preventable (I’ll answer this in more detail in the section “Why do belts break?”).

Do vandals cut belts?

This has never happened to me, and I have never heard of this happening to anyone else.

How expensive are belt drive components?

A replacement drivetrain for my bike costs around US $250, which is a lot, but when you consider that you can travel more than 35,000km for this price – it’s not any different from a high-performance chain drivetrain.

That said, chains can be run cheaper. I’d estimate that Shimano Alfine components work out at half the price on a per-kilometre basis.

You might be enticed by the entry-level Gates SideTrack drivetrain costing just US $100, but it lasts less than half the distance of CDX, resulting in a similar cost per kilometre.

Aren’t there limited gear ratios available on belt drive bikes?

There are lots of gear ratio options these days. You’ll find eight front sprockets, 13 rear sprockets, and 23 belt lengths in the Gates CDX range.

Can you modify a frame for belt drive?

You can, and I’ve actually added belt splitters to multiple frames over the years. Some heavy-duty frames will be well-suited to modification, but for the best user experience, I recommend using a frame that’s engineered with the correct stiffness to use a belt.

If your modified frame turns out to be too flexy, the belt can lose too much tension, and will slip on the rear sprocket. You can combat this with a higher belt tension, but this is less efficient and wears out your sprockets faster.

Maintenance FAQ

What’s the belt maintenance like?

Belt drivetrains are often said to be zero maintenance but I didn’t squeeze 35,000km (22,000mi) out of my drivetrain without a little bit of care.

Debris from the road or trail wears the sprockets down quicker, so make sure to periodically use a toothbrush and a splash of water to remove any grit.

What does a belt drivetrain look like after 35,000km?

The front and rear sprockets are now less than 1mm (1/32″) thick and are sharp to touch. This is approximately 1/3 the thickness of a new sprocket, but I’ve seen sprockets worn down much more than mine.

Do belts ever make noise?

In dry environments with ultra-fine dust, you will likely end up with a squeaky belt. I use treadmill silicone lubricant to keep things quiet. The good thing is that this is not an aerosol, so you can put it in tiny bottles for short adventures.

There is a new product from Universal Transmissions that dries on as a film – I’ll be testing that next. Please avoid the Hanseline belt care stick as it’s very sticky and attracts grit.

How do you set the belt tension?

Unlike chains, belts do not get longer with use, so you won’t need to adjust the tension until the sprockets have worn down significantly.

There are two typical ways to set the tension of a belt. Some bikes use sliding rear dropouts, and others use adjustable eccentric bottom bracket shells (see picture below).

You can use your smartphone to determine the appropriate tension. By plucking the belt, your smartphone app will decipher the frequency and determine if your tension is correct.

That said, I’ve found that frames with especially stiff rear triangles will allow for significantly less belt tension than is recommended by Gates. Make sure you’ve got a ‘belt snubber’ on your bike (which keeps the belt on the rear sprocket), and tinker with your tension.

How do you find the right belt length?

Gates has a calculator on their website that allows you to input both the chainstay length of your frame and the gear ratio you’re looking to achieve. It will then spit out all of the sprocket sizes and belt lengths that will work on your bike.

Do belt drive bikes destroy hub and bottom bracket bearings?

It’s possible that a belted bike with the maximum belt tension could prematurely wear bearings. But on a properly engineered frame, the tension while riding will be similar to using a chain.

Gates Carbon Drive Components

Are there any belt drive manufacturers other than Gates?

Gates has the biggest market share by a huge margin; they claim more than 1000 bike models are fitted with their drivetrains.

You might have seen drivetrains from other manufacturers too, such as Veer, Advanced, Accord, Driveline, or Continental (which is now a discontinued product).

Veer is the most interesting of the lot. They use a split-belt design which means the drivetrain can be retrofitted to any bike with adjustable dropouts. I cannot comment on the performance or reliability, but the Veer sprockets are currently available in just two different gear ratios, which significantly hinders its use.

Advanced claims to operate with less belt tension than other manufacturers thanks to the deeper belt teeth, but there’s almost zero information about them online.

What are the products in the Gates Carbon Drive range?

There are currently four different drivetrains: Sidetrack, CDN, CDC, and CDX. The best way to compare these products is to look at the table in the Gates catalog.

As the products get more expensive, the performance increases as a result of more advanced materials. For example, inside the belts, there are two different compounds for the teeth and three different materials for the carbon tensile cords. The sprockets are made using different types of steel, as well as aluminium, and nylon composite.

The CDX drivetrain offers the most strength, durability, and weather resistance, and can be used on the widest array of bikes.

There are now two different versions:

Regular CDX is what you’ve seen me using on my KOGA WorldTraveller for half a decade. This model uses stainless steel rear sprockets, and either stainless steel or aluminium front sprockets, depending on the number of teeth.

CDX:Black sprockets are brand new this year and are designed to be extra durable. These Chromoly steel sprockets should be better suited to torquey mid-drive electric bikes, and with the new fin tooth design – should shed debris better too.

Are there any known Gates Carbon Drive problems?

In 2015, it was very easy to break the teeth on the first-generation Gates CDN plastic-coated rear sprockets. As a solution, Gates upgraded CDN users to stainless steel sprockets under warranty.

And in 2016, some Rohloff hub belt sprockets developed a creak on the original splined carrier (part #8540). This issue was resolved in 2018 with a new carrier design (part #8540L).

Performance

Why do some belts wear prematurely?

The conditions you cycle in are likely the biggest factor when it comes to component wear. Gritty conditions wear out your sprockets much quicker than clean conditions, so make sure to clean your drivetrain for the best mileage.

High amounts of torque also wear sprockets faster, so expect less distance from high-torque mid-drive e-bikes. If you want, you can reduce the effect of torque on a rear sprocket by pedalling at a higher cadence, or by employing a higher drive ratio.

The rear sprocket size is important too as smaller sprockets have fewer teeth engaged and will, therefore, wear proportionally faster. I get great mileage from my 22-tooth sprockets.

A high belt tension will result in faster wear. This is one reason why you want a dedicated belt drive frame – you can employ a lower tension.

Belt alignment is another key factor. You will wear your sprockets much faster if your belt is not perfectly straight.

Why do belts break?

Belts can break from poor alignment, insufficient tension, or internal cord damage.

If the belt rides up onto the rear sprocket, it can damage both the belt teeth and the internal carbon tensile cords. This situation occurs when there’s insufficient tension, the rear sprocket is loose on your hub, or there’s poor alignment between sprockets.

A product called a ‘belt snubber’ should ideally be fitted to all belt drive bikes. These guide wheels make it impossible for your belt to lift up onto the rear sprocket teeth.

Belts can also be damaged before they’re even fitted to your bike – twisting, back-bending, or crimping belts can damage the carbon cords.

Ryan Van Duzer made a video about how his user error caused a belt to snap. He ‘rolled’ his belt onto the rear sprocket, damaging the internal cords. The lesson learned is that if your belt comes off, take your wheel out, put the belt on the sprocket, and then refit your wheel.

Are chains or belts more efficient?

Belt drive is just as efficient as chain drive, but can be more or less efficient depending on the scenario.

I’m going to get a bit nerdy here, but just know that the small differences in drive efficiency across all these scenarios result in virtually no difference in your riding speed.

It’s the gearbox or internal gear hub that’s paired with the belt drive that results in the greatest efficiency losses, usually somewhere between 2 and 6%, or slower riding speeds of 0.25 to 0.75km/h*. This is in perfect lab conditions; expect the difference in drive efficiency to narrow when the riding conditions are muddy or gritty.

*Calculated on BikeCalculator using an 80kg rider, 15kg bike+gear, flat road, 200-watt power output

With that preamble out of the way, some have suggested that belt drive is less efficient than chain drive because when you spin the cranks with your hands, you can feel some resistance. But this test doesn’t tell the full story.

According to data collected from three different lab tests, belts do have an inferior drive efficiency at low power outputs. This is because a belt is always under tension, whereas a chain can run with some slack. As we introduce more pedal or electric power into a drivetrain, a belt soon becomes just as efficient as a chain.

The Trier University lab test (independent) suggests the crossover point is at 120-watts power output, while the Friction Facts lab test (independent) suggests it’s up over 200-watts. And Universal Transmissions (non-independent) found the crossover to be at just 30-watts. Either way, most cyclists will hit these crossover points.

Universal Transmissions (or UT) has recently published some additional belt and chain data that’s worth discussing.

Please note that UT developed the original belt drivetrain in partnership with Gates, and they are also the distributor for Gates Carbon Drive in Europe. As a result, we should remain skeptical of the chain efficiency, resistance, and wear rate data – as these numbers can vary significantly between chain models and lubricants used.

Alright, let’s get onto the interesting findings.

The first is with regard to the drive efficiency on worn chains and belts.

The data suggest that worn belts run more efficiently than worn chains after both 5,000km (100% wear) and 10,000km (200% wear). In fact, the belt at 10,000km was running more efficiently than the chain at 5,000km. This is simply because the chain gets longer over time and can no longer mesh as well with the sprockets.

How about if we use a new chain with the 5,000km old sprockets? That’s also less efficient than a belt after the same distance.

But note that you’ll go through multiple chains over the lifespan of one belt. This means the efficiency of a belt drivetrain continually reduces over time, while the chain will jump between 96% and 98% depending on how worn it is.

The other interesting test was regarding belt drive efficiency at low, medium, and high tensions. This test shows that low tension is best at most power outputs, but by 50 watts, all belt tensions are within 1% – suggesting tension plays a minor role in cycling speed.

Are belt drive bikes worth it?

If you’ve made it to the end here, I think you deserve an honorary Ph.D. in belt drive. Congratulations!

Many world bike travellers have now demonstrated (in the worst riding conditions possible) that belt drive bikes are long-lasting, strong, and low maintenance.

If you prioritise durability and ease of use over everything else, belt drive is the best drive option available. I recommend belts for touring, commuting, bikepacking, cargo hauling, and recreational riding, in particular.

However, belts are not the best for every application. If you want the fastest and lightest bike, you will still be best served by chains and derailleurs.

To learn more about gearboxes, check out my articles on affordable Shimano internal gear hubs, as well as Rohloff hubs, Pinion gearboxes, and Effigear gearboxes. There are also a bunch of new gearboxes coming in for 2023.

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The company channels around 6% of their annual revenue into research and development, making them particularly well-known for its innovation.

But Honda’s innovation isn’t just limited to products with motors. Two decades ago, they were experimenting with some top-secret bicycle gearbox drivetrains. And after a handful of seasons on the downhill World Cup MTB circuit, the Honda gearbox bikes had won the world championships and five World Cup rounds.

Unfortunately for us, the gearboxes that Honda developed were never meant to be commercial products. It turned out that Honda poured money into this program purely to challenge the minds of their engineers.

As the patents on these gearboxes are expiring soon, I thought this would be a great time for us to analyse all three generations of the Honda bicycle gearboxes. You’ll learn about the designs and how they all work, we’ll examine why there aren’t more gearboxes following similar designs, and we’ll look into the next generation of gearboxes in this space.

But first, let’s find out the advantages and disadvantages of using a gearbox over a derailleur drivetrain for mountain bike racing.

The Advantages of a Gearbox Drivetrain for Racing

One big advantage on a downhill race bike is the reliability boost via additional ground clearance. Derailleurs hang low on a bike and are susceptible to damage from rocks, sticks and crashes. On a short-timed run, a broken derailleur, or a missed shift, can be the difference between winning and losing.

Additionally, a gearbox has the ability to instantly shift gears without the need to pedal. This allows riders to pre-load the perfect gear before a corner, in the air, or while riding through a rock garden.

Speaking of rough terrain, by moving the shift components to the centre of the bike, the rear suspension performance can be improved due to a reduction in unsprung mass at the rear wheel. This allows the rear suspension to react faster, increasing traction, and the bike can also handle better with the weight central and low.

A modest boost in performance could also be found in adverse riding conditions. Derailleurs and jockey wheels can get jammed with mud and grit, affecting their ability to shift or operate efficiently. A gearbox seals away many of these critical drive components.

But really, the biggest advantages of bicycle gearboxes are realised at the consumer level, as you get an incredibly low-maintenance drivetrain, that’s weather resistant, crash resistant, and with fewer components that will wear.

Why Are Derailleurs Still Common in Racing?

Simply put, derailleur drivetrains are the lightest gear system with the highest drive efficiency, which in bike racing, is the perfect recipe for winning. This is why almost all bicycles raced at the top level use derailleurs.

Mountain bikes with derailleur drivetrains are, at minimum, one to two kilograms lighter than gearbox bikes (2.2-4.4lb). Derailleurs can also transfer more of your pedal power to the rear wheel – it works out at around 5% more power than if you were using a Pinion gearbox (in ideal riding conditions) but this number can narrow depending on the power output and cadence of the rider, along with the riding conditions, lubricants used, chain contaminants, drivetrain wear, and much more.

In addition, derailleurs allow for a very broad variation in bicycle frame design, as a rear hanger is the only necessary infrastructure for installing gears on a bike. In comparison, the packaging requirements of a gearbox significantly limit the ability of a frame designer to optimise the suspension layout.

And lastly, derailleur drive components can be quickly and easily replaced, which is ideal for mechanics who have limited time for race repairs. And it’s even more ideal for derailleur manufacturers who really like selling derailleurs.

Right, let’s get into what you’re really here for – the Honda gearbox tech!

The Honda CVT Gearboxes

The first two Honda gearbox generations are, by far, the most fascinating – but unfortunately, there are very few photos and limited information about them outside of their patent.

When you think of a bicycle gearbox, you often think of big spur gears meshing at the crankset (Pinion), or much finer planetary gears rotating around sun gears inside a rear hub (Rohloff, Shimano).

The first two generations of Honda gearboxes were neither. And they didn’t even have set gear ratios! They instead used a camshaft and a series of levers to change the drive ratio.

Very few people knew of these gearboxes, and even fewer understood how they worked. Stick around until the end and I guarantee a cam and lever bicycle gearbox will make sense to you.

Why did Honda design their earlier gearboxes this way?

Firstly, you got to choose from an infinite number of gears between two set points – this is known as a continuously variable transmission, or CVT. Shifting was instantaneous, and the gearbox would never ‘skip’ like a poorly-tuned derailleur.

The CVT gearbox was also particularly compact by the second generation – almost half the volume – and in theory, could be quite efficient too.

Unfortunately, the Honda CVT boxes were seen just a handful of times at bike races and trade shows, and were never raced on the World Cup circuit. We will never know why Honda shelved these earlier gearboxes, but that’s ok because they had another gearbox ready to go.

The Honda Derailleur in a Box

The G Cross Honda team burst onto the downhill World Cup circuit in 2004 with a bunch of talented riders. The Honda bike ended up winning the first World Cup race it was entered in, instantly proving the carbon-shelled gearbox was the real deal.

For more than a year, we could only guess what was inside the third-generation gearboxes, as they were racing with them long before anyone was allowed to look inside. In fact, Honda mechanics performed all gearbox maintenance hidden from view, and the gearboxes were never stored with the bikes. Instead, the gearboxes stayed inside hotel rooms with the mechanics to not only prevent theft but to keep the design a secret.

After the patents were eventually made public, we found out that the latest gearboxes were nothing particularly genius. The solution was a derailleur-in-a-box: a 7-speed gear system that used the same components as a regular drivetrain, but was all sealed away from the elements.

While not as innovative as the CVT boxes, the internal derailleur drivetrain still achieved Honda’s goals of shifting without pedalling, reducing the unsprung mass at the rear wheel, and creating a gear system that was less susceptible to damage.

The gearbox worked by transferring pedal power into a sprocket located on the crank spindle. When this sprocket turned, it would drive the internal chain onto a small cassette where the gear ratio was selected. The cassette then directly drove the external sprocket, which went on to drive the rear wheel.

The freewheel for this drivetrain was located at the crank spindle, which meant that whenever the rear wheel was moving, the internal chain was running, and the gears could be changed without pedalling.

A really cool thing about this miniaturised derailleur drivetrain was that the chain line was always straight because both the sprocket on the crank spindle and the derailleur moved in unison when you shifted.

A straight chain line is key for ensuring a high drive efficiency – some quick maths suggests this drivetrain would likely operate within 2% of a regular derailleur setup, but it could be more efficient in adverse conditions.

While the Honda gearbox was refined and race-proven almost 20 years ago, it’s worth noting that PeteSpeed had a very similar patented gearbox on bikes at around the same time. This design was later licensed by Hayes, but I don’t think it ever made it onto any production bikes.

The Downsides of a Derailleur in a Box

As a derailleur-in-a-box uses existing bike components and offers a high drive efficiency, it seems like an ideal solution for a gearbox bike. So, why aren’t bike manufacturers working on this tech for consumers?

One issue is the physical size of the gearbox – when the box becomes too large, it considerably limits frame design. Just look how big the Honda box was when it was using a tiny road bike cassette with just over 200% gear range. If we were to squeeze in a modern cassette from a 1X drivetrain (eg. 10-52t), it would be monstrous!

To maximise bike compatibility, gearboxes are currently being designed around eBikes as well as regular bikes. With the extra packaging constraints of a motor and battery, this makes a derailleur-in-a-box even less commercially viable.

But despite these downsides, people are still forging on with this concept.

The Next Generation

Williams Racing Products has recently been teasing a working prototype of a derailleur in a box. This design is impressively compact, and might even fit a standardised frame design in the future. But again, the gear range is limited to the cassette size that will fit inside their box.

Cesar from UNNO bikes holds a recent patent for a similar gearbox, so there are likely working prototypes in existence. The interesting thing is that there is no derailleur inside this gearbox, instead, it’s the cassette that slides back and forth. This is cool, but it creates further packaging issues due to the extra gearbox width.

Three years ago, I made an in-depth video about Shimano’s 13-speed gearbox patent that uses a form of derailleur. Again, a very cool design, but right now in 2023, there are no updates on its development.

And Nicolai bikes have always been tinkering with gearboxes, however, the most recent derailleur-in-a-box prototypes are now a decade old.

Ok, let’s switch gears for a bit, and find out how Honda’s first and second gen CVT gearboxes worked. I think you’ll find this bit particularly fascinating!

How Does the Honda CVT Gearbox Work?

Note: this section is best watched in my Honda gearbox video (11:18) as the visuals will help a lot.

Here’s a cross-section of the CVT gearbox to help us understand it. The crankset is located down the bottom and the output sprocket is located up the top.

We can break the gearbox into three key sections:

The first section increases the rotation speed of the sprockets inside the gearbox. This allows the final sprocket to spin about 11x faster than the crankset – meaning this gearbox moves at around 1,000RPM under a typical rider cadence (90RPM).

The speed of the sprockets is increased using three gear sets: one from the crank spindle to a separate assembly, another gear set back the crank spindle, and another to a special sprocket housed on a camshaft.

The second section is all about turning rotation into a repetitive linear movement using a camshaft. The last sprocket from the first section of the gearbox is connected to an eccentric cam, so every time it spins, a series of four connecting links can move up and down. The best way to understand what’s going on here is to imagine a piston going up and down.

We now need to look at a line drawing to understand what happens next, and this is where it gets a bit tricky to follow. The lower link is the camshaft, and the upper link is connected to the final section of the gearbox, the one-way clutch. Every time the camshaft moves up and down, it moves the upper link up and across, along a circular path.

The final section is all about turning our reciprocal movement back to rotary movement. As the upper links move on a circular path, Honda employed a one-way clutch so that only the rearward movement would drive the external sprocket, while the forward movement would simply “freewheel” – to put it into bike terms. This clutch would operate similarly to an Onyx rear hub, offering instant engagement.

But here’s where things get crazy. Our external sprocket would not move in a totally smooth motion if the clutch is constantly engaging and disengaging, so the geniuses at Honda designed a wavy gear set that can offset these oscillations.

And what about the infinite gears?

Well, a twist shifter at the handlebar adjusted the geometry of the drive links. When the shift actuator arm was high – as shown in this upper gearbox line drawing – the camshaft pushed the clutch a shorter distance per rotation than when the shift actuator arm was down. The distance the clutch moved in the highest gear was about 3x further than the lowest gear – resulting in a ~300% gear range.

The geometry of the links could be manipulated anywhere between these two points when shifting, and this is what gives us an infinite number of gear options.

Summary

Two decades ago, Honda did something very impressive. To create a gearbox bike that could keep up with derailleur bikes at the top level was unheard of back then, and hasn’t been done since.

Their derailleur-in-a-box design was so simple and effective in execution, I’m surprised we haven’t seen it replicated in downhill mountain bike racing where the design clearly works.

That said, the Honda and PeteSpeed patents expire soon, and we’re seeing new prototypes coming through – so perhaps the next derailleurs-in-boxes are closer than not.

The first and second-generation CVT gearboxes were truly innovative, with their camshafts, links and one-way clutches. I’d love to know why the idea wasn’t pursued further, but I suspect that’ll stay as Honda’s little secret.

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