Vyro is not a company you’ve likely heard of – they’re a recent start-up from Austria – but their debut product certainly looks pretty interesting – meet the AmEn1:
It’s a crankset with a difference. There’s a (more or less conventional) inner ring, and the outer ring is split into 4. Each one pivots inwards. So you get perfect chainline in your inner ring. If you want to go into the big ring, each segment simply folds inwards, picking up the chain and carrying on with the same chainline. It’s mad-clever, but to get a better idea watch the video here:
You shift using an inner ISCG mounted collar which (via some mysterious mechanism) interacts with the outer ring and makes it fold inwards. It looks mechanical, though.
Claimed advantages?
Well, there’s the ‘one chainline’ one, for a start. Vyro say you can shift under full load, there’s less chain and tooth wear as there’s less torsional stress on the chain and rings, and instantaneous pickup. 
Looks pretty interesting! The initial product is, it seems, something of an XC affair, with a maximum rider weight of 90kg, but there are trail, DH and road cranksets in the works. Prices as they stand (with an ISCG mounted front ‘mech’ collar) are €395 for the lot, in a variety of colours.
We’re hopefully going to be getting a crankset in to review – we’re all massively intrigued. So watch this space!
For more information, check out their website here.
Comments (12)
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An over-engineered solution to not much of a problem?
It’s definitely clever, but is it wise? There seems to be a lot of moving/pivoting bits that could clog up with mud and grit.
Browning transmission all over again? (ok, not exactly the same and there is a lot more cash sloshing around on the market now for this sort of stuff)
It does look cool It really does BUT my first thought was cake it mud and grind the hell out of it for three hours then see how well its shifts
Not ambitious enough. I have one of these – it’s got 16 speeds on one chainwheel. (Also got most of a Browning system too)
Try again
https://flic.kr/p/8bbL3H
The engineer in me says cool, the mountain biker in me says mud…
The engineer in me says – how on earth did they get funding for that?
I bet those chainrings are expensive. And imagine the wear on the pickup point when shifting from small to big “under full load” with all the torque on one tooth! Mud! indeed.
Reminds me vaguely of something similar in tomorrow’s world back in the late 70s. No thanks.
Like to see how it copes with thick gritty mud.
Ignoring all the potential mud issues for a moment, how heavy is it? Looks to me light it’ll weigh a significant amount more than a standard 2 ring & mech set-up.
And is the torsional loads on a chain/chainring really that much of an issue?