Does anyone know of an Sabbaths out there? Always been interested in GBoxx bikes and thought this might get some more coverage but I've not really heard much about them since it was initially featured in the magazines a couple of years ago.
Theres one sat in Race Co in Stourbridge that Paul keeps trying to sell me. Geometry and suspension both feel nice in the carpark and the gear box weight is quite low/central to the bb. Didn't feel like the lightest DH bike but far from the heaviest. Looks quite nice in the metal.
I have a GBoxx sat in my shed, that I really must do something with.
out of interest Brant - what sort of money is the Gboxx to buy separately? Are they only availiable on license so to speak to bike manufactures?
I got mine from Suntour, via Planet X, and I think it cost me about five or six hundred quid, all in with crankarms, sprockets shifter etc.
Theres one sat in Race Co in Stourbridge that Paul keeps trying to sell me. Geometry and suspension both feel nice in the carpark and the gear box weight is quite low/central to the bb. Didn't feel like the lightest DH bike but far from the heaviest. Looks quite nice in the metal.
What's the drag like through the drivetrain? Noticable at all?
I have a GBoxx sat in my shed, that I really must do something with.
You should, yeah.
I'm disappointed by the lack of interest on the GBoxx stuff. I was expecting it to kick off a bit more over here after the Sabbath was uncovered as it looked like a normal bike with a gearbox, as opposed to some uber-german uber-engineering-fetish thing few of us over here can relate to. Unfortunately it seemed to disappear into relative obscurity really quite quickly.
If I was in the market for a DH bike the Sabbath would be at the top of my list as it ticks the right boxes IMO.
And why has nobody given the Honda style "mech-in-a-box" setup a go? Okay, it wasn't as exciting as the ridiculous rumours suggested once the covers were unscrewed, but still, surely having the drivetrain out of harms way, and out of dirt's way, in the middle of the bike was a good idea, no?
Well Brant if you dont get round to doing anything with it and you dont need it sitting around as a door stop any longer let me know.
If got plenty of crazy ideas and a frame builder i can abuse 🙂
OOOOH YOU need to definitely watch this space...
really this is one time i would love to get the soap and box out but im going to let the proof be in the pudding on this one for definite
the nicolai idea is great but it hasnt moved in 10 years and unless your nicolai your pretty knackered for designing anything other than uber fetish german frames round it
I think they have a demo one at the Hub at Glentress.
£3K for a frame??
< http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/114928.html>
Think I would rather have a conventional DH frame.
I've been hoping for further enhancements to the G-Boxx concept for 5 years. The new G-Boxx-2 is only good for DH since it's seven speed and the G-Boxx-1 with the Rohloff Internals has never really caught on (probably due to cost).
I bought my Nicolai Nucleon 5 years ago and have been thrashing it ever since - it's an early version with a centraly mounted Rohloff hub.
The spread of gears is great as is the weight distribution... the problem is the quantity of that weight. Compared with modern 7" travel all mountain bikes my beast is well over the desired weight. Five years ago when the alternative was more XC bike breaking or the conversion of a DH machine for the dumb mountain excursions I do it was around what you could gear up a DH bike for.
Technology moves on and it seems a shame that the G-Boxx concepts seem to have stalled.
G-Boxx bikes are not perfect, but I am willing to put with the downsides of mine for it's bombproof drivetrain, lack of rattle, non skipping gears, and it's general doonhall prowess.
I'd love to replace mine with a Nicolai TFR - but I'm happy with what I've got.
The alternative to a gear-box bike i guess is a Hammersmidt up front and a Roloff at the back. 28 gears that your can shift without pedalling.
22lbs for frame (w cranks and gears) on the sabbath sounds like a lot to me even for a dh bike
The alternative to a gear-box bike i guess is a Hammersmidt up front and a Roloff at the back. 28 gears that your can shift without pedalling.
I like the idea of high-single-pivot-round-mid-mounted gearbox affairs. Lower unsprung weight, constant chain length, central weight distribution. If someone makes that with 6 inch front and back, fully dropable saddle and at a reasonable weight for days out in the peak, I'll order it right now.
Moon on a stick? Me?
OOOOH YOU need to definitely watch this space...really this is one time i would love to get the soap and box out but im going to let the proof be in the pudding on this one for definite
the nicolai idea is great but it hasnt moved in 10 years and unless your nicolai your pretty knackered for designing anything other than uber fetish german frames round it
Well I hope you're right and we're going to see some more developments on the subject. How long are we supposed to keep using bloody derailleurs? Let's move on.
The G-Boxx advantages seem largely theoretical. A mate had one and ended up getting rid of it because he could not live with the massive slop in the gears. There were other Diamondback issues too.
Anyone seen this Spooky proto?
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Posted on retrobike (ironically) and elsewhere...
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68256&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
A Sabbath was just on eBay for £2.5k. It didn't sell.
