The Winner Of The People's Choice Award!

 If only you had attached some wheat beer in a bottle cage and called it the hoff you may have had a positive first comment. Sure the design would not work as it should in real life but that's what designing is all about, make something cool than figure out how to actually make it work, oh and you need some grippier tires.

 There is no doubt about the flaws in the suspension design especially the stay connections but I think this win illustrates the point that there are plenty of riders out there including me that want gearbox bikes to become the norm.

Rear mechs were an amazing concept and a big step forward back in the day but it's 2012 now. When will manufacturers stop polishing this weak link in bike design and step up and embrace gearboxes? It's time to move on.

I am lucky enough to have ridden a Zerode (wealthy friend) and the gearbox combined with backward rear wheel path is simply amazing, just wish it could be lighter ... and cheaper so I could afford one!

One of the other designs used belt drives; gearbox and belt drive now there’s a concept ... and someone has done it already, the ADL by Milk Bikes, a British company and one to watch I reckon. Progress at last!!!

 The bike is fundamental flawed, there will be chain stretch and a derallier sized tensioner will still be needed to account for that. You can't run a full sus bike single speed bike unless it pivots on the bb. Really cant believe that's not been spotted by the judges?

 most of the designs were flawed. the df350 really did make much more sense than this and looked promising but it was overly complex.

 Shoe2190: you make a good point with the chain stretch and the whole single speed aspect. Its weird that it isnt something that was pointed out as a major problem in the design....!

 I think you guys are missing the point. The focus of this is the gearbox, not the suspension. Perfect the gearbox and you can adapt it to different suspension models. And any bike design will go through many, many different revisions before it gets put into production. This is a very early design concept, so a little respect wouldn't hurt.

 I still dont have a clue what the hell this contest was about...

 The people speak, but Shimano and SRAM never never listen, they just keep giving us flimsy derailleurs with new, stupid refinements like air shifting and clutch's instead of progressing the sport by attempting some type of internal drivetrain.

Hopefully someday a small company will pull it off and make something lightweight and reliable, because the big companies aren't showing any innovation when it comes to mountain bike drivetrains. I think they are concentrating too much on the roadie market where derailleurs are fine and electronic shifting is taking off. Shimano and SRAM are both stuck in the mud but not paying much attention to the riders who ride in the mud. The next improvement for the morally corrupt mountain bike derailleur will be electronic shifting; Mountain bikers should say NO! Give up the derailleur and gives us electronic shifting with an internal drivetrain.

I'm not buying any more of their new 10 speed crap, I'm sticking with their old crap until someone comes up with a good drivetrain!

 Pinion already make the gearbox, and the design is flawed, in many ways, but its still just a concept really, so its allowed to be.. The competition was about giving away your underdeveloped ideas for a shiny bike and a camera. Provided your design wasnt in crayon, then you probably had a chance of winning

 I would not be surprised if SRAM and Shimano have been working on gearboxes for quite some time now. However, an internal gearbox poses a lot of problems, and if I were running any company, I would not release anything unless it worked REALLY well. If you release a product as significant as a gearbox and it fails, that will be what you will be remembered for, for a long, long time. The biggest problem with gearboxes is that they are internal - meaning they sit INSIDE a frame. Neither Shimano nor SRAM produce frames. Introducing a working gearbox is about as close to re-inventing the wheel as it gets - you are shifting the paradigm so much that you have to rethink how many components on the bike work. And this is just for the gearbox to work on its own - we're not even considering how it works with all the different suspension designs out there. Of course road technologies are going to progress faster - that's where all the money is.

 @smike, if the focus is the gearbox, where's the innovation? Gearbox bikes have been imagined and executed before.

 I dunno... you guys (i.e. the voting public) are the ones who chose it

 i broke my x9 derailleur and hanger on my sunday a couple weeks ago... just from going to class. i was so sad

 how old was it? mine just snapped after a 4" bunny on a curb, metal fatigue i guess.

 @chochocho my friend has broken 7-8 derailers in the last year or so all from normal riding activities. just riding along. sram needs to improve the strength of their high end products in my opinion

 mine was the x9 short cage 2009 model i think. metal knuckle bent and the plastic cage snapped in half... and i only ride DH like once every 2 months.. lol

 I personally think in all honesty... The footsie should have won. The design of the plastic was so advanced it was amazing. Who would have ever thought to use plastic as a break! Genius.

 In 2010 or 11 they started making the cage aluminum but they were plastic before. I have one as a spare.

 Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the reason why we don't use gearboxes (generally) on push-bikes is that the power transfer you get from using a derailleur system is virtually 1 to 1. With a gearbox it is much less efficient.

Not to mention the other issues surrounding them: Weight, problems with suspension design, on the fly maintainance etc.

It just doesn't really yield practical implications on a mountain bike.

 maintenence - you won't even touch the thing until it breaks (years), then you'll simply replace it. perhaps an oil change once a year. efficiency is somewhat lower that a pristinely clean and lubed chain, normal chain has about same or worse efficiency. suspension design is a non issue if you use a chain tensioner or a shaft drive. the only thing missing is a frame mount standard. they would be perfect for am/fr/dh bikes, let the xc racers torture themselves with chains, qr axles and other obsolete stuff.

 I'm not rich but I own a zerode and I believe gearbox bikes are the future. I wish zerode went ahead with their all mountain design.

 *** This is true. On the bike itself, what are the specific design/engineering characteristics which make it unique and advantageous in the market? What exactly is the specific design breakthrough? The fact he slapped a gearbox onto an AM frame? There is nothing that can be patented or design patented here. Anyone in this contest could have potentially just rendered an "ideal" bike. One can ideate all they want, but a winning design should at least include a specific unique tangible characteristic (i.e. material, function, etc.) which answers a problem.

 In•no•va•tion
noun -
1. something new or different introduced: numerous innovations in the high-school curriculum.

The thomson to sdg adapter should have won if you're talking innovation.
But the competition started off by the organizers giving an example of "innovation" talking about the giro, which has already been done and worked fine for years.

trickstuff.de/de/products/trixer-dirtcap_KL.php

 Yeah, I wonder what this idea won for?

-Is it a new gearbox mechanism? Then explain whats new about it.. It's been done like this before..

-Is it the suspension design? done before...

-Is it a gearbox on an AM bike? done before...

-Is it the frame design itself? not that great...

making nice renderings of a not that great design shouldn't be enough to win a engineering contest..

 dude, the guy figured out how to make VPP work without chain stretch (apparently, as it's clearly supposed to be run without a derailleur/tensioner/second chain and jockey wheel). That's innovation right there!

 it's getting ready: pinion gearbox with 18 gears, already placed in the nicolai helius AM pinion and the alutech fanes pinion...
www.tri-ride.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/nicolai-pinion-2.jpg
fstatic1.mtb-news.de/img/photos/1/_/medium/IMG_4106.jpg

hopefully that will come in the next years, getting cheaper.... there was also a rumour that there will be a DH version someday with 9 gears...

 not ready for a gearbox .. zerode !!

 Of all the other options, the gearbox wins. I think this shows that the market is ready for a gearbox. Well, not necessarily ready for a gearbox but at least fed up with derailleurs. It's still the weakest link as sometimes (often?), one wrong move and they get ripped off like tear offs on a rainy day...

The new clutch is nice but not all that impressive if you run a taco/bashguard, like a lot of people already do. I feel like they're trying to better a product that will always remain flawed in the end. Sometimes the best option is not fixing something that is broken, but creating something new altogether.

 www.pinkbike.com/photo/8001974
www.pinkbike.com/photo/8001973

GearBox long time ago 2007 but still think derailleurs are better lighter easy to maintain, guess what's going to happen if you are on AM trip someware in the dungeons of noware and gerabox get stack n f*ck up

also not to mention where are the bottom shock eyelets on this ?? just simple calculations will tell you they are on the wrong place

 wind out your arse and mouth

 A gerabox is good for 5000km before needing a 20ml ten minute il change, and Rohlofs for example last 40000kms, why would you go traveling with your bikes life hanging off the back waiting to get destroyed?
Look at two commuter bikes of the same model, one with geared hub, one with mech, see what one needs more servicing and is more expensive to run, and more fragile.

 ok I agree now get one mech and one gear box and scale them, then check the price of them and compare, then think how long you need to DH 5000km or even 40000km I don't think my legs gonna last for so long pedalling on AM/DH/FR bike, ok for XC but not for the above ones def I just don't get it and it's heavy as well I prefere some mech that gonna last and can buy new at any time I like SORA thay break after 1-2 year on my DH bike same like SAINT on DH they never last long, and can have a single speed as well to reduce the weight.

 The Pinion is expensive as it's new and they're obviously trying to recoup costs. The Alfine gearbox in the Zerode is about as much or probably less than a Saint mech, cassette and a chain guide. Any gearbox bikes chain and sprockets will probably last twice as long as those on a bike with a mech as they're running straight, not being rammed into the next gear. Then there's the chance of ripping your mech off, or worse still, putting it into the rear wheel, costing, mech, hanger, and spokes. So even after two years, you'll probably be saving with the Zerode, as for the Pinion set up, you'll have resale value, and will recoup costs in time. None the less, even if it costs a lot more, the benefits of not having a mechanical failure on a ride, being able to shift virtually any time, as opposed to lets say 30% of the time(random figure)remembering with a mech you have to pedal it through. This really needs to be ridden to appreciate, as we're all used to the short falls of Mechs and don't notice how bad they are. But when you jump from a gearbox bike to a bike with a mech, it becomes very very obvious how bad mechs are. You WILL NOT need to buy a new gearbox, period, or pay for someone to tune it if your unskilled at such things.
The weight is centered, the rear is super light, the suspension therefore more active/responsive/tunable, as there's less unsprung weight.
The gearbox isn't under any where near as much load as a mech.

 Or a first year such as myself. The same first year mechanical engineer could also tell you that there is no innovation in this product! It is an amalgamation of existing technologies and designs executed poorly

 It's a brilliant design, that could easily be executed into an amazing low maintenance bike with all the pros of a gearbox.

 Right.

 Why can't it be manufactured? It's a simple straight forward design, add an idler, or a tensioner and it's a done deal.

 did he? though it was just minaar and one other. that was a wild ass bike. funny how minaar took it alll the way too...

 think it was brendan fairclough.

 damn if it was fairclough i remember a couple of those MBAction articles talking about the up and comer with minaar... would have been pretty cool to be a younger ripper and get the opportunity to fuckin' sgred on one of those honda's

 Cam Cole won the Jnr Worlds on a gearboxed Lahar.

 Uh, He's actually a student at one of the top 10 engineering schools in the US. But you're right, congratulatory thoughts are in order.

 You are absolutely right on that, it's amazing to see how everyone is a fr**ing expert in everything. Just by looking at some pictures...

But Gearbox AM bikes already exist..
The idea of this contest is to come up with something completely new!
Thats what is bothering me the most..
Something new should have won..

 Only two companies have made frames with the Pinnion as far as I know. This is an excellent design, with a great suspension package. Weight is low and centered, suspension has lots of stiffness in design thanks to broad triangulation(links far apart). I can't imagine a much better design for the Pinion(or any All MTN bike), I actually have done 50 drawings of a similar concept I toyed with. Half of them were this concept.
Well done, and well deserved IMO.

 It's not new. That's my point. It's not new as a CONCEPT. This is copycat non-originality at its finest. It LOOKS fancy because they know how to manipulate software to make a shiny fantasy image.

As I said: anyone could have drawn this while drunk at a bar. Anyone. Not just these two software jockeys. Anyone.

The award should be for what is innovative. Not what is copying something else.

And your reference to "all mountain" makes me laugh. As if that really matters.

Triumph of "marketing," failure of substance. We see where you stand on artifice vs substance.

 I guess your right. I see gearbox bikes the most necessary evolution, so it's probably clouded my judgment on what should've won.
"All MTN' is a pretty good descriptive term for a practical MTB.

 Only expensive because of small production runs, and need to pay for initial set up. Cheap in the long run for the owner.

 I doubt very much a gearbox is much less inefficient than a slightly bent mech with a dodgy chainguide, add mud to the mix and the tables turn very quickly.. and what about the efficiency of being able to change more often so you're in a more efficient gear?

 Unless they come up with something else, the gearbox still needs a muddy chain that will shave efficiency off. Yeah, it will be less but it will inevitably add up to the losses in the gears. More research is needed in that field.

The ability to shift more often is relative. Valid point, but for some people is relevant, for others don't.
It still isn't any more economic than a normal drivetrain and as things are right now, you're SOL if you want to transfer your gearbox to another frame. Frames should be made to last as long as the gearbox. Nicolai wanted to standarize a design (the G-Boxx) so you could take it from bike to bike, but it seems everybody has a different idea in that regard.

Don't get me wrong... The Zerode looks sweet and affordable. I'd like one. Too bad it's only made for DH. Ideas like these are also applicable to folks like me who do trails.

 In regards to the Zerode, it's one of the most pedaling efficient designs due to power output being near pivot, with a touch of anti squat to help with bobbing.
I think you're underestimating the benefits of shifting anywhere. I'd bet $1000 that on a XC ride, a rider would save tons of energy by being able to shift in the right gear as opposed to what energy they'd loose due to less efficient drivetrain, and lets face it, the amount of inefficiency your talking about is probably the equivalent of less than 1 PSI tyre pressure, or tyre width choice. Your debate is a theoretically debate, that in the real world equates to no perceivable difference in drivetrain efficiency, as opposed to the energy saved by being able to get in the right gear, that is actually quite a large difference. Think about it next time your riding. Click in corner for exit, that blind corner with a hill behind it you didn't know about, climbing a hill when you need to shift. Shifting in a rock garden, the air, etc etc.

 NO! It is possible to do it like in the pics.. The final drive is on a hollow axle that spinns on the Crank axle.. it's NOT connected to the crankarm.. It's been done before by Pinion and others.. Come on dude sort it out.

 They don't presume to tell you what to cushion your ass with, I can respect that.

 I know, what a load of bollocks!

 some of the other products have got way more chance of becoming reality.. like the thomson to sdg adapter.. i needed one when i built up my bike

 Search Pinnion. They change whenever you want. Unlike some mechs, changing whenever they want.

 thats exaclty what im talking about.... much quiter than chains.

 Can be turned into tuned anti squat with an idler.