jaame

I don't know how it would feel. I ride to work every day either on my motorbike or my wife's CVT scooter. It never changes gear, just the ratio smoothly adjusts itself according to road speed and engine speed. It is always in the right ratio to put the power down in the most efficient way. I'd love to try it on a pushbike.

Changing gear in a car or on a motorbike is part and parcel of the driving experience and necessary to get the best performance and most fun from it. I hate my crappy Mazda 3 automatic gearbox but my wife can't drive a manual so I'm stuck with it. Having said that, I think CVT on a pushbike would be awesome. You'd never have to worry about being in the right gear because you always would be. I don't enjoy changing gear on a mountain bike half as much as I do on my motorbike. In fact, on a downhill run on my local course I only use three or four gears and pretty much never change gear unless I'm in a race. It would free up brain I/O time to concentrate on other important parts of the ride. I don't think it would drastically increase your times like it would in a car or on a motorbike. In fact, I think it would have the opposite effect. Plus there would be the added benefits of getting rid of another cable and give you more bar space and a cleaner look at both ends of the bike, which I'm all for. Basically all the benefits of singlespeed and gears!

CVT. That is the future. Up the efficiency and you're always in the right gear. What's not to like?

The point of the article is to appear short sighted enough to stimulate debate and have us all visit this page multiple times. I haven't tried a Zerode but I'd love to. I bet if they got a big money backer and one or two of Gwin, Greg, Gee, Steve Smith, Danny Hart or Peaty on the team they'd shift 1000 bikes in a year and the public would be converted... even if the design is still a little crude, too wide between the knees and too heavy. I reckon the G5 or G6 is going to be the shiznit

As for the point about mechs working really well... not when they're covered in mud they don't. Do a ten run shuttle day in the pissing rain and tell me they work perfectly. A gearbox would still work exactly the same, rain, shine, snow mud, whatever. And it would continue to do so after ten years.

Gearbox won't take off until Shimano or SRAM get behind it and release one that works, is light, and works with their shifters. They have a vested interest in selling fragile, expensive parts. Are they ever going to go hard out trying to produce something that doesn't break, wear out or need any form of maintenance for several years? Of course not. For me, the current system is the same as the 4 stroke engine. It's not better than the alternatives, but the industry is so heavily invested in it that it will take a miracle for them to change tack. Legislation might eventually force it in the automotive industry, but it never will in the bicycle industry. I'm all for gearbox, but I fear it will never happen. Not for the reasons stated in the article though.

Hello DVO

Exactly. I think the whole flat pedal/clipless debate is fuelled by his previous dominance on flats. It was him that was killing it and the tracks were facilitating his demolition of the field. Now some other (fittter, stronger) riders have caught up to him on skill and are killing him in physical terms. It was never the pedals that were doing it, it was him. He'd be quicker on clipless pedals too if he learnt how to use them. I still don't see him winning another WC race, but I would be very happy if he would prove me wrong.

Total fucking cool dude