Complete long shot but I spotted someone on a Nicolai with a pinion box in Peaslake the other week. Don’t suppose they are on here or anyone on here knows them? Toying with a pinion box bike and just wanted to have a quick pedal up the road if possible, just to test the ease off whilst pedalling thing out.

http://olsenbicycles.com/

are based near Brighton. If they were on your frame list I’m sure a test ride would be possible.

Was it red, and did he have long hair and a beard like a goblin?

Thanks Wwaswas. Nothing against Olsen but he’s not on the frame list so to speak.

Scud – can’t tell if serious but no, t’was black from memory. But if there is a goblin with a pinion in peaslake that would let me have a very short ride on his bike it would be massively appreciated.

If it was me (on a long/small) you’d be welcome to a go sometime but I don’t know when I will be up that way again as I live near Worthing. What you should have done is asked at the time 🙂

Mine is black. I am not a goblin.

Scud – can’t tell if serious but no, t’was black from memory. But if there is a goblin with a pinion in peaslake that would let me have a very short ride on his bike it would be massively appreciated.

It was serious sorry, a friend down that way used to own a red pinion gearbox’ed Nicolai, must be over 10 years old too, he does also have long hair and a zz-top beard, i seem to remember it being amazing downhill, but extremely heavy

What you should have done is asked at the time

Yes, in hindsight that would have been a good idea! You were just heading up the hill and I was en route for a bollocking from my wife for running late so timing wasn’t ideal 🙂 Sounds like the bike though.

How are you finding the gearbox? Gripshift I’m not worried about as I’ve stuck a sram one on my current bike and I like it truth be told. Is the ease off whilst changing an issue or just something that takes a ride or two to adapt to?

red pinion gearbox’ed Nicolai, must be over 10 years old too

Wasn’t aware they had been running them for that long.

This a new form of ‘I saw you’ (long shot dating) ?….I wish you all the best!

Grant (of South Coast Suspension fame) has a Pinion Zerode, saw him over at Friston a few months back. Not sure if that helps, but his bike looks amazing and would be worth considering? He was full of praise for it…

would be worth considering?

I like the Zerodes but I’m after a hardtail. That said if he was full of praise for it then it sounds like any hesitations I have about going the gearbox route are unfounded.

This a new form of ‘I saw you’ (long shot dating) ?….I wish you all the best!

We had that in the Surrey Hills a few years ago, though it was a chap on an Orange 5 then if memory serves.

I know one of my old customers was out on a hardtail Pinion bike just before Christmas.

I’ve got a Nicolai Helius Pinion for sale at the moment. You’re welcome to drop by and have a spin round the block on it if you want (I’m in Brixton).

I like the gearbox so much that I am buying a gearbox hardtail from Sick. For me grip shift is not an issue, I liked it back in the 90’s. The easing off to upshift is nothing except the change from 5th to 4th which needs a bigger ease off than other gears but I’m very used to it. The fact that your drivetrain is pretty impervious to crap conditions is a big plus and for me being able to change one to twelve gears any time is brilliant. If everyone had been using gearboxes all their lives and someone tried to introduce derailleur gears I think the whining about having to pedal to change gear would be ten times what you hear about the pinion shifter.

But you need to try it to know if you will feel the same. Getting a demo is hard, what are you thinking of buying? Happy to let you try mine and at least you’d get an idea of what the gearbox is like but I’m 5’8″ so you probably aren’t going to be a good fit as I think you had a geometron at the other end of the size range

Thanks. Planning to stick it on a BTR Ranger. Emailed Tam and he seems up for it. Impervious to crap is one of the driving factors given how often I seem to be riding in muddy filth. I’ve also always had a soft spot for aggro hardtail with my eye on BTR for a while. But it does mean a demo is a no go and Stif are too far away to have a quick go on a zerode. I’ve been playing around with easing off on upshifts and it doesn’t seem to bother me and as you suggest the ability to dump gears is a plus.

If you’re ever up this way at the weekend I’d appreciate a short pootle round the car park. You’re right re sizing, I’m on an XL G13 so yours would be way out but as I say car park would be great.

Simons_nicolai- appreciated but Brixton would be a bit of a mini mission for me.