Eurobike 2013 - Day One at the Outdoor Expo
Day one at Eurobike is outdoor only, and if it is any hint of what we can expect to see in the mighty halls of the largest bike show on earth, diversity is the word to explain it. Page down and enjoy the first of many reports, as Pinkbike plies the aisles of Eurobike.
Pinion had their 18-speed gearbox on a number of bikes at the expo's demo area. One transmission was opened up so guests could hand-crank it and shift through the range. The twist shifter feels much improved.
Nicolai had a range of demo bikes featuring the Pinion transmission. Nicolai's 27.5-inch-wheel hardtail had a Gates Carbon Drive cog-belt system, which was very promising for those who are in search of a low-maintenance mountain bike.
The left rear dropout must be removable to allow its owner to change out the belt. Note that the belt has a central groove that lines up with a 'fin' in the sprockets to maintain proper alignment. Nicolai's beautiful dropouts require belt tensioners - like a single-speed drivetrain - but the gearbox-equipped bike has seven more gear options that SRAM's XX1 derailleur-based transmission.
The 160-millimeter all-mountain/enduro model is chain driven and includes a short idler near the crankset to control chain growth as the suspension cycles. Weight is around 30 pounds and it features a RockShox Pike fork and Monarch reservoir shock.
Details of the Nicolai show the adjustable 12/142 millimeter dropouts, the ball-bearing chain guide, and its four-bar rear suspension configuration. The gearbox is well integrated into the chassis and the fact that the sprocket diameters never change, means that chain tension will not affect the suspension differently as its rider shifts through the gears.
Schwalbe's First Ride tire program is only available to its sponsored pro racers and hand-picked members of its prototype testing group. All tires in the program have blue stripes or graphics - like this Magic Mary enduro racing tire.
Oh my. You know you are in Europe when three out of four of your friends show up in Spandex - the very same Spandex.
Nukeproof redesigned its 160-millimeter-travel Mega AM range for 27.5 wheels and announced that it will not be offering 26 inch wheels on any of its built-up bikes for 2014 across the board. Diehard 26er users, however, will be able to purchase Mega AM frames in the 26-inch wheel version - and Nukeproof's DH models will remain 26ers, um, for the time being, they tell us. The Mega AM Pro shown here will run $5149 USD and frames will cost $2339 for either the 27.5 or 26-inch-wheel options.
Nukeproof specs the Mega AM with a SRAM X9 drivetrain and matching Avid brakes. No reason comes to mind why they chose a tall 36-tooth chainring for its two-by-ten transmission We'd rather see a 32-tooth sprocket up front. A look at the Mega AM's single-pivot rear suspension suggests that it is capable of taking a beating without suffering in the least. Suspension is led by the wonderful and new RockShox Pike fork and completed by a Monarch reservoir shock.
The Vivax electric helper motor is concealed in the frame's seat tube - where is it at the ready to give you pro cross-country climbing power to crush your racer-boy buddies without subtracting from your finely-tuned bar-hopping and social networking skills. A bevel gear transfers torque from the silent-running gear-driven motor, to a standard SRAM or Shimano bottom bracket axle. The compact battery can be strapped below the saddle, or hidden discretely in a hydration pack for UCI World Cup competition.
Ortema protection looks like nothing we have seen as of late. The neck supports appear to be very compact and the armored vests is designed to fit close to the body so you won't look like a Marvel Comic character in the lift line. We did wonder, however, if the ping pong ball padding on the knees would pop like packing material when we crashed. We will report back later.
KS has perfected its carbon fiber short-stroke dropper post. The Carbon LEV Integre has a 65-millimeter stroke, internal cable routing and a $579 USD retail price tag. For trail riders who most often ride with their long-stroke droppers in the mid position, the LEV Integre offers more reliable and repeatable performance at a lower weight - reportedly, 400 grams.
You know you are in Europe when you - see how hard clothing makers try to keep spandex in the mainstream. Xbionic clothing is designed to make riders sweat early and thus keep cooler. The colors, cuts and compression panels are vintage Star Trek.
Three massively capable tires from Continental: Der Kaiser 2.5-inch and Der Kaiser Projekt 2.4 inch DH tires and the Der Baron mud spike are proven World Cup performers. Continental is showing up everywhere on elite brands next season.
You know you are in Germany when a custom electric bike maker introduces a revolutionary human-powered version without any form of mechanical assistance. Will Europe be ready to adopt this new technology? Seriously, 3-Element builds a range of e-boosted city and trailbikes, as well as pedal-powered models. The E-Spire 29er here appears to be reverse compatible to its electric drive system.
As a matter of fact, our pedals do grow on trees. Crankbrothers gave away Candy and Eggbeater pedals to Demo riders all day. All you needed to do was test ride the pedals and they were yours. Sweet deal.
Blasphemy? By far, the most popular bike at the Scott demo was this one - an electrified Spark XC dual-suspension machine adapted to the new Bosch electric-assist motor called the i-Spark. It has everything its XC racing sibling has, including a handlebar-remote, travel-adjustable Fox-made 'Nude' shock.
The left-side grip sports an electric control for the Bosch motor-drive.The cranks are over-driven with internal gears that power a Shimano XT derailleur transmission. The rear suspension is the same as its human-powered sibling. With the interest we witnessed at the expo, we expect the i-Spark will sell out before it is shipped to dealers throughout Europe.
"Oh my. You know you are in Europe when three out of four of your friends show up in Spandex - the very same Spandex"
Firstly you are confusing Germany with Europe (but well, that's all remote for you so....)
Second, each time I went to North America I have seen the same ridiculous things (and I found it even more frequently!) you're making fun of. Strangely enough you don't seem to see that!
Now it's like when we hear the riders talking about muddy Europe... It's like I'd go to SoCal and claim north america is dry. PNW anyone?
I know I'll get neg propped so much that my message will vanish soon... nevermind.
have you ever been to Lake Garda ?
@WAKI: be cautious with flags, it's not necessarily ournationality. As a French I can tell you you're story about holding rights is far from reality. I know, it was just provocative, just saying.
Anyway, back to bike and Eurobike new stuffs!
Also, a derrailleur is easy to repair/change and "cheap" whereas a gearbox will be shitty and expensive to change (because bike industry is not going to make something that works for bike lifetime...)
Last week I was left 10 miles from home with 1 gear when my rear mech cable snapped. Ride ruined.
The derailleur is a relic from the past and this 11 speed stuff is a total joke. If someone told me that 5 years ago that I would pay more in 2013 to have 11 gears than I would to have 27 gears I would have said that they were crazy. Why would I pay more for less?
If SRAM and Shimano were smart they would either develop their own system or buy up Pinion and use theirs.
Not to mind all the fiddling about gears can take to get right in wet conditions and if you ride where I ride you will spend a lot more than that because of the weather. I go through 2 cassettes a winter.
Your efficiency argument doesn't hold up either, the full suspension bike is still chain driven, the ratio is just decided by the gears. There is no loss in efficiency.
Oh, it's the old case of: somebody should do something while I state demands and don't do sht
@lucdukeTX: I haven't seen many a bike with differential systems, it is not really like they would need one, and the whole transmission system used on cars is different from the bike's system I do believe you know that bit right?
So let's take a look on a bike gearbox:
-2 shafts
-one pair of gears coupled, while the other ones just freely spin
So what do we have?
4 bearings, and one pair of gears.
Total loss sums to:
0,97^(n) x 0,98^(n+1) (0,97 for the coupled gears and 0,98 for the bearing pair)
Being that n = number of coupled gears
So:
0,97 x 0,98² = 0,931%
That means we have a total loss value of ALMOST 7%.
All values were obtained from "Egrenagens, Stipkovic Filho, Marco" 3rd edition, Publisher: Printon
So guess what, losing 10+ percent is totally unacceptable to anyone. Even a 7% loss it is like riding with your brakes dragging. I've ridden gearbox bikes and they're awful to ride because of this, not to mention the 7-12 lbs hanging around the bb. There is a reason you don't see any around (hint - it isn't the high cost that drives us away)
So why should I review my degree? You haven't told me yet.
I have taken every internal aspect of a gearbox in consideration, every other singularity will be an external item, and will be needed for a derailleur system or for a gear box system.
The derailleur system has it's losses also, even more when clogged with dirt and old lube, if any.
And I truly believe you should review some concepts, because chains are not a gearbox substitute and you really should know that, if you are an engineer. Gearboxes are usually connected directly to the power source shaft, and the outer shaft ends on a belt pulley, not a chain. I am not saying chains are not used, of course they are, but they are far from being a better solution. When true engineers need a lighter solution they use an epicyclic gearing system in order to have the best weight/reliability possible.
Just so, how many systems actually use chain INSTEAD of a gearbox, or a simple pair of gears, or a belt?
About the extra weight I believe you haven't paid enough attention to the recent Pinkbike articles, because there are 14 Kg bikes around, and if I am not mistaken it is an Enduro bike, with it's 160 mm of travel, witch is actually a great weight, since conventional (by conventional I mean a $ 5.000,00 bike with a derailleur system) Enduro bikes are around 12 Kg.
So now you want to connect the gearbox to a drive shaft and lose a bunch more efficiency?! BTW, belts mostly suck in true industrial environments where there are contaminants. Believe me, I've been doing industrial machine design for many years and have never had to be concerned with the weight of the gearbox, drive shafts, or sprockets (unlike a system on a bicycle). As I've mentioned any times, they are inefficient compared to a derailleur system, heavy and costly. Not a winning combination except for someone who simply wants a gearbox bike because he thinks it s cool.
BTW, 14 kgs sucks for a high end bike weight unless it is DH bike (with a derailleur system of course because you won't get there with a gearbox).
It was a Good read - cheers
And I don't know what bike you ride, but 14 Kg is a great weight for an Enduro bike, like samsemtex agreed above. Also I would like to see a DH bike with 14 Kg out of the world champs, it would be quite expensive to get such a set up.
About the gearbox, it has 4 bearings, 2 pairs. And the other gears are not engaged so they will not have a significant drag, and the coupling system also won't interfere, so be so kind and guide me throughout how a gearbox loss must be calculated, please.
And no, I do not want a gearbox just because it looks cool, actually I consider them rather ugly, but extremely functional and reliable, and that's why I do believe they will eventually become popular on mountain bikes.
Also I see nothing I say will be enough to convince you gearboxes are worth the extra loss, so whatever, you have your opinion, I have mine,and it was a good discussion after all.
Caio
I really hope those gearboxes catch on soon, they look so clean and neat, they just need a trigger shifter to be a success... or maybe just make them automatic...
Believe it or not, I did. And it only took about 5 months of riding with a dropper post. Plus if you have a remote, it's even one level up - maybe not for XC, but for trail riding it's one of the best inventions of the last decade.
Recently, on a trip through Germany I came through Kassel, where those guys are running a bikeshop. My Specialized dropper post had just blown to pieces. I found their shop, and they even had a Specialized representative just visiting them.
The Specialized guy saw my problem and was about to convince me that I had to send in the seatpost, having it checked out and so on.
So those guys just took a new post out of another model, gave it to me. They gave the broken post to the Specialized guy, telling him: "look at that young man, he needs to RIDE! deal with that seatpost for yourself".
So - in my opinion they are the only guys allowed to wear those outfits
The definition of a bicycle - a vehicle with two wheels in tandem, propelled by pedals connected to the rear wheel by a chain, and having handlebars for steering and a saddle like seat.
and
bicycle (ˈbaɪsɪk ə l)
— n
1. cycle , Often shortened to: bike a vehicle with a tubular metal frame mounted on two spoked wheels, one behind the other. The rider sits on a saddle, propels the vehicle by means of pedals that drive the rear wheel through a chain, and steers with handlebars on the front wheel.
Electric bikes are NOT BICYCLES!!!
I think it has its place.
A closed minded world where things don't evolve is so much simpler and safer, but it makes me rage at strangers on the Internet when people suggest change and new ideas!
yeah I can see as these things become more popular there will be changes. Will they ruin trails like a real motor bike? scare horses/hikers? lead a bunch of joeys in over their heads (breakdowns, etc..)? Some trails aren't meant to handle a large volume of rider laps, will this bring those numbers over the top? I think they open up a potential for some interesting riding in remote areas. Just motor across the boring roads to get to the alpine singletrack goods! and try not to breakdown!
but I'm not a fan of the whole "letting people who could not normally ride" argument. Usually that is abused by FATTIES, see elevators, handicap parking spots, courteousy scooters, etc..
Trails rarely have any food outside of the berry bush.
is that classed as shuttleing?
It's funny how a sport with "mountain" in it, is so full panty waists.
Hopefully I'm being a bit daft, but does this read as I think it does? You can't buy 26" wheels across the board, though you can on DH and the AM? It might be just because its 6am, though it doesn't make sense...
I can't really afford to make this, but I just really want gearboxes to be the future!
I think NS did something similar on the Soda, but it just doesn't look right for some reason.
ah ah so true
they are the only ones who thinks they look great... and maybe they´re wifes...
Oh, I thought everybody wanted a Low maintenance MTB, right?