Anybody use a bike with a pinion drive gearbox ?

[biggs682]

Stumbled upon these last night and i wandered just how many if any cc'ers use one or have ridden one ?

 

[Globalti]

You mean shaft drive? It will never catch on because of the need for strength around the two ends of the shaft and hence weight and cost. You lose 15% of energy with every change of direction and shaft drive on bicycles offers no advantage over chain drive, which is simple and effective.

On motorbikes and cars the extra weight is of less importance.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

You mean shaft drive? It will never catch on because of the need for strength around the two ends of the shaft and hence weight and cost. You lose 15% of energy with every change of direction and shaft drive on bicycles offers no advantage over chain drive, which is simple and effective.

On motorbikes and cars the extra weight is of less importance.

I thought pinion drives had the gearing in an oversized bottom bracket.

 

[Globalti]

Ah okay, sorry, forget my post.

 

[biggs682]

Ah okay, sorry, forget my post.

Hey no worries

I've only heard/read about them. It's your duty @biggs682 to get one and tell us all about it.

https://pinion.eu/en/

I hadn't even heard of them till last night , looking at the prices of them it will be a few more years before i get one i should think

 

[Globalti]

What advantage do they offer over a geared hub?

 

[biggs682]

What advantage do they offer over a geared hub?

The only one i can see is that all the weight is central on the bike , not quite sure how much of an advantage in real life that is

 

[Globalti]

As always you have to ask yourself: why don't more manufacturers do this?

 

[biggs682]

As always you have to ask yourself: why don't more manufacturers do this?

Costings i would have thought to start with

 

[Randy Butternubs]

As always you have to ask yourself: why don't more manufacturers do this?

In this case, because it is really expensive and therefore really niche. It makes the Rohloff speedhub look cheap. Since the gearing happens before the usual upgearing between bottom bracket and rear wheel it has to cope with higher torque, and is therefore heavier than an internal gear hub.

I'm not saying it's bad mind. MTB'ers go on a lot about weight distribution so it might be worth it. Also I think it has a greater gear range than the Rohloff.

 

[Elswick Cotterpin]

Bicycle touring pro has been using one for a while..

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ZKqy2zKsA

 

[Globalti]

What's the weight difference over derailleur gears? Massive I bet because the conventional cassette and derailling chain is such a good design and can be built very light.

 

[Dave 123]

Have a look at this fellas ramblings...


https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/directory/?o=1mr&user=DaveRoe&v=1

 

[Gravity Aided]

I've watched a lot of that Bicycle Touring Pro's (Darren Alf) videos on the YouTube, and it sounds like the machine makes a great deal of noise that one may have to become accustomed to. A bit too noisy for my taste, a bit too expensive for my wallet/parsimonious character. I could see, if you toured on it almost constantly, as Darren Alf does, it seems, that it would be quite effective for cycle touring.

 

[TheDoctor]

I don't like the way that the entire bike is built around it. I've got a bike with a Nexus 4 speed hub gear, which hasn't been made in ages. If/when the hub gear breaks, I can swap it out for a Sturmey-Archer, or a Nexus 7/8/11, or something else. When that Pinions keels over, as it will, and if the maker has gone bust, which they might, it would be tricky to fit something else.