Nicolai does some cool stuff… they just need to hire an industrial designer with an eye for nicer lines…. those bikes look hideous to me…
gearbox bikes
My suggestion is to modernize this bike.
Gripshifts kinda suck. Why not put an electronic servo in the pinon box to a bluetooth shifter button (like the Magura dropper post) and shift this box electronically with no wires. The casting for the gearbox could be done in carbon fiber (lighten it up) and work on the drag (drivetrain loss).
KILL THE DERAILLEUR.
"If everything seems in control, you're not going fast enough."
-Mario Andretti-
^all that stuff is going to require a good chunk of additional $$ on top of a product that's already priced of the fringes of feasibility. it's a bit of a conundrum. we really need to see big player involvement to produce a solution that's a truly viable competitor to the std drivetrain, but it's so inherently esoteric (ie, packaging that's not compatible with many suspension platforms), that it's probably not going to happen any time soon.
an interesting review of the ion here. same old gripes - gripshift, weight, expense, efficiency. not easy hurdles to overcome.
Enough with this draggy gearbox garbage.
Why is nobody putting a cassette and derailleur in a box. To me this seems like the best solution. The honda dh team did it years ago.
^takes a lot more real estate to package a full range diab (derailleur in a box), and you're still going to require replacing internal bits (albeit much less frequently that exposed drivetrains) if you're still dragging a chain up [HTML_REMOVED] down a cassette. i assume you'd also have to pop open the can to fine tune the derailleur mechanism. gearboxes really should last the lifetime of the bike without having to be opened up - just change the oil periodically. this has been my experience with the rohloff; not sure if the bb integrated designs have similar longevity.
But but the effigear box can't be used in the pinion frames.
It totally sucks that the Alfine internals can't be swapped into a pinion box.
Stupid standards. 7spd 9x135 with Thumbshifters 4Life. :rocker:
^yeah. i still kinda like the simple frame mounted gearhub configuration for its relative "universality", and (at least potential for) cheaper cost. like any old joe can fabricobble one together.
The twist shift of the Pinion is likely a huge negative for many people. Effigear is apparently making an X.0 trigger adaptor (No idea when that'll show) Pinion going electric or trigger would be a huge plus for them. Aftermarket crank arms too!
Why slag free swag?:rolleyes:
ummm, as your doctor i recommend against riding with a scaphoid fracture.
Electric is in the works for Pinion. Should be retrofitable to previous model boxes.
No word on availability date, though…
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i can't say i hate the gripshift, but it's certainly a significant detractor to many. a servo makes lots of sense - easy to implement within the packaging of a gearbox.
i take it your experience with the pinion has been positive? i saw a pic of one of your bikes somewhere (care to post here?); pretty cool stuff.
The old Honda gearbox would be ideal, no? Best of both worlds. Sry if re-post. http://www.pinkbike.com/video/8166/
Mech/gears out the way and centralized weight. Is it a patent that keeps others from doing something similar?
a few years old, but an ambitious bit of machining:
^That's very similar internally to the Honda derailleur-in-a-box. The driver sprocket on the crankshaft is very small, meaning that the pull running through the chain will be way too high for standard bicycle chain. If that's what they are using it's a ticking time bomb.
http://www.rb-bike.cz/cz/racebike/revoluzzer
http://www.rb-bike.cz/uploads/pdf/patent.pdf
There's a better way :)
i love this thing. it's a freakshow for sure, but great out of the box thinking. inboard derailleur (and brake!), center mounted chainring, etc:
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