The Zerode Thread.

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The Zerode Thread.
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flag coney
O+
Posted: Dec 1, 2020 at 19:23 Quote
UpnUp wrote:
When you can't afford a paint job haha. My taniwha just got a stealth makeover Smile

photo

photo

tis a beautiful machine
flag hoovbikes
Posted: Dec 9, 2020 at 16:23 Quote
Howdy Zeroders,

I'm currently entertaining the idea of buying a Taniwha but am still in the prospecting phase. As far as gearbox bikes go, the Taniwha and the Deviate Highlander seem to be the most intriguing to me thusfar, although I'm sure there are others out there as well that I'm not aware of (fwiw I would be looking at the Deviate Guide but sadly they've discontinued it..).

I'm pretty sold on all of the major differences between this kind of bike and your standard external drivetrain set up but my question is regarding the anti squat differences between the Taniwha and the Highlander- obv the Highlander uses a high pivot suspension set up whereas the Taniwha does not. Zerode's website notes that anti squat is already improved on their bikes compared to traditional set ups, but I'm wondering how much of a difference there is between theirs and a full on high pivot bike like the Highlander (or even other non-gearbox high pivot bikes, like the Druid). Anybody have any experience comparing the two set ups?
flag tomhoward379
Posted: Dec 10, 2020 at 10:06 Quote
I’m fully sold on high pivot bikes. I have a Guide and a Highlander and while they are both brilliant, the standard drivetrain is what makes the highlander the better trail bike, whereas the guide is a better winch and plummet bike.

The Guide is like a magic carpet over rock gardens, it descends like nothing short of a full on DH bike, the Highlander still has that, but feels much more taught, more immediate. Think trophy truck vs rally car.
flag coney
O+
Posted: Dec 10, 2020 at 12:18 Quote
tomhoward379 wrote:
I’m fully sold on high pivot bikes. I have a Guide and a Highlander and while they are both brilliant, the standard drivetrain is what makes the highlander the better trail bike, whereas the guide is a better winch and plummet bike.

The Guide is like a magic carpet over rock gardens, it descends like nothing short of a full on DH bike, the Highlander still has that, but feels much more taught, more immediate. Think trophy truck vs rally car.

oh go on...how does the Taniwha compare do you reckon?
flag tomhoward379
Posted: Dec 10, 2020 at 12:41 Quote
Dunno really, only ridden one round a car park, 3 years ago. Remember thinking it seemed pretty balanced though.
flag UpnUp
Posted: Dec 24, 2020 at 1:24 Quote
Finally a real trigger shifter for Pinion !! INSTINCTIV just made one for the M series

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first-look-instinctivs-m-series-gearbox-trail-bikes.html

They don't seem to be selling the trigger shifter on its own... I hope they do !!!
flag petuco
O+
Posted: Dec 24, 2020 at 17:04 Quote
They do, and it’s close to 400$
flag UpnUp
Posted: Dec 25, 2020 at 6:57 Quote
they don't; email reply:

bigquotesThanks for your question. I understand your point, but this trigger shifter is something we want to sell specifically with our bikes. Sorry.

I don't get it; They think everyone will buy their bike because of the trigger shifter... ? They would sell a lot of shifters if they works well...
flag Danzzz88
Posted: Dec 25, 2020 at 7:47 Quote
Yea maybe people prefer trigger but that in itself is not enough for someone to pick that bike over say a Zerode, yes it's Horst link which may offer an advantage but the frame is oddly proportioned and looks a bit ugly imo...question is what is going to happen to the likes of these small gearbox bike manufactures once gearboxes take off mainstream or Yeti's new patent comes to light.. the only thing the likes of Zerode have going for them is they are a small company that produces gearbox bikes that mainstream brands don't. Soon as gearboxes becomes mainstream and with better technology that will spell the end of these small brands. I know for a fact Rob already can't afford to introduce updated frames on a yearly basis or even every few years after having spoken to him, he doesn't have £100k to spare every year developing and updating his bikes. Once the big S gets wind of the gearbox revolution it's game over. Where that leaves warranty and support in the future for these small brand bikes remains to be seen.
flag UpnUp
Posted: Dec 25, 2020 at 9:40 Quote
Danzzz88 wrote:
Yea maybe people prefer trigger but that in itself is not enough for someone to pick that bike over say a Zerode, yes it's Horst link which may offer an advantage but the frame is oddly proportioned and looks a bit ugly imo...question is what is going to happen to the likes of these small gearbox bike manufactures once gearboxes take off mainstream or Yeti's new patent comes to light.. the only thing the likes of Zerode have going for them is they are a small company that produces gearbox bikes that mainstream brands don't. Soon as gearboxes becomes mainstream and with better technology that will spell the end of these small brands. I know for a fact Rob already can't afford to introduce updated frames on a yearly basis or even every few years after having spoken to him, he doesn't have £100k to spare every year developing and updating his bikes. Once the big S gets wind of the gearbox revolution it's game over. Where that leaves warranty and support in the future for these small brand bikes remains to be seen.

Zerode will always be here because the bike is great and the price is competitive. I just want a good trigger shifter on my Taniwha lol I don't care who makes it. One thing thow; it CAN be done ! Pinion has 0 excuse.
flag petuco
O+
Posted: Dec 25, 2020 at 10:41 Quote
UpnUp wrote:
they don't; email reply:

bigquotesThanks for your question. I understand your point, but this trigger shifter is something we want to sell specifically with our bikes. Sorry.

I don't get it; They think everyone will buy their bike because of the trigger shifter... ? They would sell a lot of shifters if they works well...
Yes I’m sorry you are right,the brand it’s CINQ,
flag Danzzz88
Posted: Dec 25, 2020 at 10:59 Quote
UpnUp wrote:
Danzzz88 wrote:
Yea maybe people prefer trigger but that in itself is not enough for someone to pick that bike over say a Zerode, yes it's Horst link which may offer an advantage but the frame is oddly proportioned and looks a bit ugly imo...question is what is going to happen to the likes of these small gearbox bike manufactures once gearboxes take off mainstream or Yeti's new patent comes to light.. the only thing the likes of Zerode have going for them is they are a small company that produces gearbox bikes that mainstream brands don't. Soon as gearboxes becomes mainstream and with better technology that will spell the end of these small brands. I know for a fact Rob already can't afford to introduce updated frames on a yearly basis or even every few years after having spoken to him, he doesn't have £100k to spare every year developing and updating his bikes. Once the big S gets wind of the gearbox revolution it's game over. Where that leaves warranty and support in the future for these small brand bikes remains to be seen.

Zerode will always be here because the bike is great and the price is competitive. I just want a good trigger shifter on my Taniwha lol I don't care who makes it. One thing thow; it CAN be done ! Pinion has 0 excuse.

Zerodes are great but the geometry is dated, the Taniwha has been around since the sb6 era and Rob can't afford to invest in a new model any time soon. The gearbox is the selling point, make that mainstream and there is no chance to compete, having experimented with lower sprung mass on my sb165, trying no chain, no cassette, lightweight wheels ect I can say most of the affect on suspension isn't the mass it's the chain tension and momentum of chain movement that can be felt the most, given that Zerodes also run a chain, a tensioner or a belt and tensioner they also encounter the same issues as derailleur bikes. I have tuned my suspension so it also passes the no bounce drop test and it's running a derailleur, all that test shows is that the suspension is soft enough and damped low enough relative to the weight of the frame, as Zerode frames weigh more due to the gears being centrally mounted it just means the shock is more likely to activate due to the increase frame mass resulting in less bounce of the rear tyre... The thing is once you add rider weight this becomes near enough irrelevant. This leaves literally only the gearbox and how it functions itself being the reason to buy one, as gearboxes are currently less efficient the only benefit I can see performance wise is keeping out mud and crap from the drivetrain.
flag tomhoward379
Posted: Dec 25, 2020 at 13:39 Quote
petuco wrote:
UpnUp wrote:
they don't; email reply:

bigquotesThanks for your question. I understand your point, but this trigger shifter is something we want to sell specifically with our bikes. Sorry.

I don't get it; They think everyone will buy their bike because of the trigger shifter... ? They would sell a lot of shifters if they works well...
Yes I’m sorry you are right,the brand it’s CINQ,

All they’ve done is made a single sided set of triggers for the cinq ratchet system (as opposed to one trigger each side) which, although better than gripshift IMO, isn’t perfect.
flag jezsh
Posted: Dec 26, 2020 at 3:35 Quote
@danzzz88 What about the katipo? for the katipo in large - 64 deg ha and 475 reach seems pretty contemporary. Sure it's not a geometron but that's very progressive so an outlier.
flag UpnUp
Posted: Dec 27, 2020 at 6:41 Quote
petuco wrote:
UpnUp wrote:
they don't; email reply:

bigquotesThanks for your question. I understand your point, but this trigger shifter is something we want to sell specifically with our bikes. Sorry.

I don't get it; They think everyone will buy their bike because of the trigger shifter... ? They would sell a lot of shifters if they works well...
Yes I’m sorry you are right,the brand it’s CINQ,

they use the cinq gearbox adaptor but the shifter is not from cinq

 


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