For all those who have been dreaming of a fancy gearbox bike, Nicolai is now not your only decent option.

Vital Link (cant work out how to share the slideshow, or pic from there to here)

nice looking bike

Looking good. I wonder why Zerode did not continue with the high pivot suspension setup.

I wonder why Zerode did not continue with the high pivot suspension setup

He covers that in the video interview.

That looks awesome.

double like.

My boner is weakened slightly by the grip shift, but still would bang

Nothing wrong with grip shift, especially when you have 12 gears to play with that don’t need pedal revolutions to change gear.

Any talk of prices yet??

Not as fancy as the original prototypes but still nice.

STATO – Member

Nothing wrong with grip shift, especially when you have 12 gears to play with that don’t need pedal revolutions to change gear.

how many degrees will I be rotating my hand through to achieve that? Having to adjust my hand position to change gears is still a big nope for me.

While SRAM and Shimano are trying to out dinner plate each other with rear sprockets at least someone is trying to do some genuine innovation

Looking at it a bit further, the gripshit is a downside IMO. But would accept it is the box worked well.

Disappointed at the loss of the high pivot type suspension layout, but as Rob notes in the vid, there are + and – for that.

He keeps talking about target weight / how light it is but doesn’t actually give it for that build. It’ll be interesting to see how it comes out.

I’d love to try one.

I’d love to try one too. To see if the constant chainline and low rear wheel weight can really be felt.
From a non-buyer pov I would have liked to see the high pivot remain – just to see someone trying something different.

Would have looked amazing if the chain tensioner could have been removed. I’ve never ridden a concentric bb pivot though to compare.

how many degrees will I be rotating my hand through to achieve that? Having to adjust my hand position to change gears is still a big nope for me.

As many degrees as you want? To change 1-2 gears you don’t need to drop your wrist, just roll thumb and forefinger knuckle. To move 3 you might need to dip the wrist a little but its the same as you have to stretch your thumb to change 3 gears on a trigger-shifter. To move more well you can either move your wrist a whole chunk to get 7 or 8 or even the whole 12 if your not on tech terrain, like at the end of a run and dropping all the gears to cruise a fire-road, or having just stopped in the wrong gear and starting again. But mid-tech you just repeat the 3 gear move you would with a normal shifter, its dead easy and you can even do it while braking, just like how your thumb is not holding the bar when your changing gear with a trigger.

Aesthetically that looks great, possibly the best gearbox bike I’ve seen.

Frame is too short though, large reach = 445mm. That’s a medium nowadays!

Also can’t decide if naming it something 90% of the population wont be able to pronounce is a good idea.

I’m fairly sure I saw someone bodge a trigger shifter to one of these, they keep saying they’ll develop a proper one but I’m yet to see it.

Pic for those without flash:

Also can’t decide if naming it something 90% of the population wont be able to pronounce is a good idea.

Hasn’t done Sram any harm.

😉

I think gearboxes are the future and we are seeing them getting smaller and lighter, the question being will SRAM or Shimano take up the baton and put their considerable resources behind the development of lighter, reliable and affordable components, I fear that in the short term it will be no?

How do SRAM pronounce it? S-Ram?

It does like nice, but there’s also Cavalerie if you want to spend a lot of money! http://www.cavalerie-bikes.com/

chakaping – Member
Aesthetically that looks great, possibly the best gearbox bike I’ve seen.

Frame is too short though, large reach = 445mm. That’s a medium nowadays!

reach, not top tube length. id say its bob on with the majority of current bikes?

reach, not top tube length. id say its bob on with the majority of current bikes?

Reach is the most important reference in frame length now. Gives length from BB centre to steerer-tube centre, I think.

Once you know what length reach suits you, it’s remarkably accurate at predicting how well a bike will fit. Compared to going off ETT, like I used to anyway.

the question being will SRAM or Shimano take up the baton and put their considerable resources behind the development of lighter, reliable and affordable components, I fear that in the short term it will be no?

I think you’ll find the long term answer is no as well. I’ve had a Rohloff for 9 years and in that time its’s had an annual oil change and is currently on it’s 3rd sprocket and chain and second chainring. It’s ridden all year round in all weathers and never properly cleaned. High initial cost but pence per mile it’s been a good investment. I hardly think Sram and Shimano want to sell you something that doesn’t really wear out. It’s a real shame as I’m sure if they did put their resources behind it we might see the end of the derailleur on off road bikes.
I know there is the Alfine but it seems from everything I’ve read that when they expanded from 8 to 11 speed they lost a lot of the reliability.

So this bike’s direct competitor, at least in Europe, is the new Nicolai ION GPI. It appears that both use the same gearbox (Pinion P1.12) and a very similar suspension setup.

BIG LIKE!

There are loads of bikes that use the Pinion, just mainly all small brand stuff… see here
http://pinion.eu/en/bicycle-manufacturers/

A friend of mine has one and I was surprised how cheap they are, seems most brands are sticking significant ££ onto their prices just because its new tech.

@AlexSimon
S-RAM=Static – Random Access Memory
SRAM=Scott Ray and SAM (the founders names)

It’s pronounced as Sram, really gets my goat when I hear S-ram! Dunno why 😆

Should have been called SCRAM really.

They all get two letters each and a much better name.

Dunno why but it makes me think of this…
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcguLZaMelE[/video]

I really like the look of that bike, and it’s not often I’ll say that.

I’ve got the G2 and it’s an awesome riding bike if not a little short and a little heavy (the latter doesn’t matter once riding though).. Ive also got a capra thats the other end of the scale, light and long! they both ride awesome and are super fun bikes.. the G2 is less playful but it will eat anything with confidence and stability and hard to shake off a line!

I’m still genuinely shocked not enough people got behind the G downhill bikes as we’d have seen a carbon one come out before now if they did and probably with the pinion box which would be an awesome awesome experience.

It looks like Rob’s made a super competitive bike with this trail bike and I hope he starts selling them in their thousands as the man deserves all the credit he can get.

It is a shame the high pivot has gone as that was one of the defining features of the zerode.. taking a wild stab I’d say it was probably 1 step too far for consumers to get their head around as everyone wants to see a suspension design they instantly recognise now a days and in that sense I bet he sells a lot more of these than the dh bike!

Can’t wait to see them on the market as the capra frame will be getting flogged instantly!

I must be missing something with this pinion gearbox. I cannot work out how the actual gearbox has any effect on the output from pedalling.
I understand how the gearbox internals work but unable to understand how turning the pedals is affected by the gearbox.
Normally the pedals are turned and the output from the pedalling becomes the input to the gearbox then the output from the gearbox drives the chain/belt – this does not.
Can someone explain please? – it must work but i cannot see it.
To me it looks like the bike is effectively a “single-speed”

i think in the simplest terms, the equivalent of your cassette is hidden in there.

The input and output shafts are concentric. I.E the chainring rotates separate to the crank.

yeah the chainring and the crank spin at different speeds.

ah ha – well thanks for responding. The penny has dropped now with that simple explanation. I don’t think i would have got that – i could not see it in photos or strip-downs!!
So your pedals are spinning at whatever revs you’re pedalling at but the chainring is spinning at the geared output – either faster or slower or even the same speed.
clever stuff.

I have nothing to add other than I think that looks like a lovely bike! I have never ridden a gearbox but like the idea of progress for less maintenance, if it improves the suspension performance then great, less time fiddling with the bike and more time riding is what interests me.

Also, looks like a Session Bronson.