We usually don't post about bikes that we have in for testing until, well, you read the test that we aim to make that happen every Monday. However, I think that my current review pony deserves a different approach.
Zerode's 160mm-travel, Pinion-equipped Taniwha missed being the first gearbox mountain bike by
about a hundred years or so, but what it is, I believe, is the people's gearbox bike. I don't say that because it's affordable - at $5,000 USD for a frame, shock, Pinion 'box, and all the drivetrain parts, it isn't - but rather because it seems like it has given many riders renewed hope that gearboxes may still be in their future. That there really is an essentially zero maintenance drivetrain. That they won't see a branch destroy a $200 derailleur. And if they're a bit cynical, maybe that they don't need to run Shimano or SRAM parts.
Zerode TaniwhaIntended use: all-mountain / enduro
Travel: 160mm
Wheel size: 27.5"
Frame construction: carbon fiber
Drivetrain: Pinion 12-speed C.Line gearbox w/ 600% ratio
Head angle: 65°
Chainstay length: 431mm
Sizes: med, lrg (tested), x-lrg
Weight: 34lb 4oz (as pictured)
Price: $9,500 USD (as pictured)
More info:
www.zerodebikes.com Or the Taniwha might have so many fans because, let's admit it, the thing is pretty damn cool. The carbon frame is a stunner, that Holy Grail of a drivetrain is bolted to the bottom of it, and it has that stance to it that makes it look the business. Zerode is also
one of the small guys doing something different, an approach that always counts for some extra points in my mind.
But is the Taniwha and its 12-speed Pinion gearbox actually
better than any other high-end mid-travel bike with a derailleur and all those other bits? I have a healthy amount of scepticism in me if I'm entirely honest, but that's surely a better approach than believing Christ himself will make his supposed return upon a gearbox bike like some people seem to have concluded.
What's also good is that I get to pit that scepticism against an actual Taniwha, despite them being rarer than a Pinkbike article without a comment from Waki under it. And speaking of comments, this is where you guys come in: I want you to tell me what you want to know about the Taniwha in the upcoming review.
I've got a black, large-sized Taniwha as my test sled for the next month or so before I need to send it home, and I'll do my best to answer your (reasonable) questions about the bike when I write the review. So, while I wait for the snow to melt, you can tell me what is that you want to know about one of most interesting bike we've seen in years... and go.
Does it climb like a [agile animal] and descend like a [fierce/mythical animal]?
Will it make me see my local trails in a whole new light?
Are any noted issues due to it being a pre-production sample?
Yes climbs like a possessed mountain goat, the easiest gear is so low it will have you climbing up trees
zero issues
Really impressive bike as soon as you sit on it and point it at any trail up/down/round the smile is on ya dial
Had mine for 3 months now, love it
• What is the action on the shifter like? Precise, smooth, clunky, clicky?
• Given the choice would you prefer a trigger or even e-shift, or do you get used to the grip shift and prefer it?
I'm thinking if they reduced it to a 10 speed, it would still give a 500% range which is plenty. Wonder how much weight this would shave off. When you team this up with the new lighter, cast P-Line boxes, it could make it very competitive on weight.
C1.9XR...9 speed, 568% range at 2kg. Seems like a no brainer.
Step between gears on C1.9XR is 24,3%, compared to the 17,7% of the C1.12
Climbing/pedaling- Its pretty good, gearbox is a bit draggy, but not terrible. It gets a bit annoying on long transfers between trails, its similar powerloss as riding Nevegals. It's not an XC bike, and the pinion drivetrain will likely never be suited to super pedally disciplines.
Descending- Whomps it. Like holy shit good. The low unsprung weight, and reduced chain effect of the rear triangle is immediately evident. The weight centralized around the BB noticeably adds to stability. This sled schralps.
Helm- Butter, that fork is incredible, feels so #Gucci.
Pinion/shifter- Takes a while to get used to grip shift. The timing of your "shift - chain deload" cycle is backwards of a conventional derailleur, which also takes some getting used to. So your first hour expect rough shifts and pedal strikes. It begins to feel natural soon enough.
Would I buy it? Hell yes, this bike is tight.
The assist is either full on or full off, so you go to ease through a few tight trees or a wiggly spot and the bike just "goes" as soon as you apply pedal pressure.
So it's either full on as soon as you push down...or it's idle. It has NO power curve.
It's a neat rig. Interested to hear what this dude has to say.
If you tie it to a rope and let it hang the centre of mass is directly in line with the rope. Make this two times and tie the rope to different positions on the bike. Where the lines, wich you get, when you extend the ropes line, cross is the centre of mass. Would be really interesting to see this
I wanted one of these but too many reviews confirmed it was hard work to pedal on long rides.
Like I said before, I really want a gearbox but I just don't see it being a viable option - except maybe for an ebike where efficiency isn't quite as important.
"Thanks to the gearbox and the constant chain position, the Taniwha achieves 'the ideal' amount of anti-squat throughout the bike's 160mm of travel."
" No gears at the rear means a lower unsprung mass for better suspension response"
Does it feel different pedalling? Gearboxs are supposedly more inefficient - can you tell?
How long does it take to unlearn habits from a derailleur system?
www.pinkbike.com/news/spangles-one-piece-carbon-wheels-first-look.html
On a second thought, not commenting here is becoming a bit too obvious, so he may troll us by commenting. What a suspense!
The name Waki is a baby (*) name. *there must be a mistake here
Meaning
Native American Meaning:
The name Waki is a Native American baby name. In Native American the meaning of the name Waki is: Shelter.
Numerology
SoulUrge Number: 1
People with this name have a deep inner desire to use their abilities in leadership, and to have personal independence. They would rather focus on large, important issues, and delegate the details.
Expression Number: 8
People with this name are competent, practical, and often obtain great power and wealth. They tend to be successful in business and commercial affairs, and are able to achieve great material dreams. Because they often focus so strongly on business and achievement, they may neglect their private lives and relationships.
My questions for Mike:
1.Did your colleagues receive psychological help during DUB press embargo?
2. What is the correct gender pronounce for Zerode Taniwha?
3. Are you humble now?
Saw someone riding one of these in Nelson NZ. He loved it! I’m sure it’s a bike all kiwis are proud of.
@Pa-ul: my Kiwi friend said the same thing although he said water more like a swamp... Creature living around swamps hmmm... effectively it's a kind of a... troll.
I really don’t care, we will never meet. You may as well be sitting around Alpha Centauri or be dead. I may be dead by the time you read it, you won’t know. Maybe my kid will die tonight. A daughter of a piece of shit, what does it make her? A Whore? You won’t miss her. 10 people will. How many will miss you when you’re gone?
So... try to hurt me come on.
It's the grip shift, double cable affair, that really puts me off - gear boxes are meant to bring less clutter, not more.
Also, I still don't really understand how they haven't developed a trigger shifter for gear boxes, don't think I could ever get along with the inconvenience of a twist shift.
Any one else have thoughts?
I bet with practice you could shift in places with this gearbox that you cannot with a derailleur.
1. 99% of the people there testing bikes didn't know how to shift a bike with a regular derailleur. I've never heard more grinding of gears under load than at outerbike.
2. With the pinion, I was definitely able to shift under load. I didn't have to change my technique at all (but I generally ease up for a split second before shifting anyway). Even so, I tried to get it to bind and it never got bound for me. The biggest eye opener was just how instantaneous the shifting was. I wasnt aware of tge time it takes for a chain to jump up to a different cog.
I was so smitten with the instant shifting that I forgot to pay attention to whether it felt like a hub with 18poe or 200poe.
Either way, I'm a huge fan of the pinion.
EDIT: just seeing some comments below of negative experiences, interesting.
Honestly they need to fix the drag and increase the engagement- ratchety tech moves are tough when you're used to high engagement hubs. I'd be all over it, I could live with the shifting and extra weight.
Or is it a case that we were given triggers and thats what we are used to. I dont remember particulalry hating the gripsift back in the day...
As @Sixstringsteve said, if you are grinding gears under load on a traditional setup...the pinion may not shine.
The way idiots mash their shifters under load, it doesn't surprise me that there are mixed reviews of the pinion.
Seems really cool to me, if you have the extra $ to spend on a new toy. I personally don't mind the traditional mech setup, but have never tried a pinion...would love to sometime.
So do a comparison - three riders, three bikes. Pit it against other bikes in the same genre that aren't necessarily supposed to be mountain goats, and that are well known and well respected benchmarks. Pass the bikes around. Maybe use a power meter to see how much this thing does or doesn't impact what it takes to get up fire roads, then do the same thing on climb trails. That will address the whole efficiency thing. Then run shuttle laps on something appropriate to a bike like this, and figure out how it's doing there. Is it playful, monster-trucky, or something in between? Is there anything it does noticeably better than the benchmark bikes? Is there anything it does noticeably worse?
Shoot a metric shit-ton of video showing the same rider on all three bikes over the same features. Something like a sweeping corner; something like a nasty rock garden; something like a steep/loose/freeridey descent; something like a rock roll. Digest how it handles differently by having the riders look at the video and explain to us how it shows what they were feeling when riding. No need to run timed laps - this isn't a race bike, and won't be used by enduro racers necessarily but by people who just like a good aggressive trail bike. Oh, and once the three well-matched (for weight/size/style/skill) riders are done drawing their conclusions, give it to someone of equal height who's more of a light-weight finesse rider, and then to someone of equal height who's more of a heavyweight power rider and see what they have to say that would further inform the big picture.
There's probably something along the lines of five or six full-on front page posts in this, because it goes way beyond just a review or test. Go crazy with this - if you do this right, it may become some of the most referenced and read content ever on PB.
I would ride it and only it as much as possible for weeks until it is normal to you. Then go to the derailleur variant of it for the aha moment.
It would be great if the frame could mount a regular crank and derailleur for comparison but I’m guessing it can’t and there’s no variant of it that can?
www.pinkbike.com/news/nicolai-shootout-derailleur-vs-gearbox-2017.html
So whats the honest maintenance on the Pinion?
m.pinkbike.com/photo/15530775
Assuming the gearbox is bombproof, what is the consequence for shifting under load?
It’s possible that a new user will make this mistake. I wanna know what happens when they inevitably do.
Anyway, it’s quite easy to shift gears during climb when you practised enough.
Mike, did you find this to be a problem on the trail?
Do you find yourself looking down on other trail users for their plebian drivetrains? Why or Why not?
Does it come in rootbeer?
If you could fit a power meter somehow it would be a relatively simple procedure...
@mikelevy, check out dcrainmaker's site for how to make neat comparisons of power measurements from different power meters. e.g. www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/11/garmin-vector-3-power-meter-review.html. Like @Konyp said, baseline test on normal drivetrain bike, then swap same pedals over to Zerode and re-test.
*Some older smart trainers were designed by old-school roadies that didn't think outside the box. Consequently some may not have enough clearance for a disc brake, and many aren't through-axle compatible. Kickr and Tacx for example require you to get a funky adapter to run a QR skewer to attach the bike, as the 'hub' doesn't have enough internal space to run a through-bolt. Some of the newer models (e.g. Elite Direto & Drivo, CycleOps Hammer) are through-axle compatible out of the box by swapping the included hub end caps.
What I still don't understand is, why it's "explosif to the bumps" because for explosiveness you need a light bike, and this one is 1,5 kg heavier than a non-Pinion enduro bike.
-how much drag is really present during pedaling and has it lessened over the course of the test period? Simply: tolerable and worth it for the advantages, irritating and something one needs to look past to enjoy the advantages, or deal breaker.
-how much improvement in tracking, handling, and cornering does the lowering and centralizing of mass, by the reassignment of components normally located at the end of the rear swing arm, actually provide?
-similarly, how much does that reassignment of mass from the end of the rear swing arm to the center of the bike affect the suspension in regards to traction in all aspects (sprinting both seated and standing, climbing, descending, cornering, high speed chatter, and big hits) as well as "feel", and how one approaches tuning?
Super stoked that you're getting the chance to bring this review to all of us, enjoy the ride, I hope it's what all of us are hoping it will be! Cheers man- C
How many derailleurs have you killed in the last 2 years? Considering that, is the trade-off for drivetrain drag and begin forced to use grip shift worth it?
If yes, should I wait for the "Superboost Plus / 157 trail / my schwartz is bigger than your's" version?
Does the gearbox make it easier to find the pedals after a superman seatgrab?
Does the weight distribution make it harder to do a table?
Will it work with a freecoaster?
- some kind of conservatism/disbelief in our community
- lack of cheaper gearbox bikes generates low interest among bikers
- conspiracy of big brands
- or there are some serious disadvantages of this setup? (though I read only amazing reviews on Taniwha)
Thanks!
When I did have a bit more time, there would be monster tension at the shifter and I'd ease off and then accidentally skip too low by a gear or two.
Let me know if you find that ZEN shift moment with this bike. I could not and it frustrated me to no end. Sure, a regular tranny can fight you a bit, but never at the shifter like this does. And it will eventually shift.
1. Trigger shifter (cmon Pinion!)
2. POE on the box itself
3. Shifting under load
Can't wait for the review!
Can you time some climbs (and decents) and compare against a derailleur equipped enduro bike of similar price and design?
Any word on electronic shifting for Pinion to ditch the grip shift and dual-cable setup?
Given the option - would you rather:
A: Buy the Taniwha and stay riding at home
B: Keep your 'current' bike and spend the money to go and ride in New Zealand for a couple of months ?
NB: Say your current bike was a 2015 SB6c or something higher end for comparison... coughmysituationcough
Also interested in how the drivetrain efficiency feels. I think a slightly different method for shifting is an acceptable thing, but adding significant drag when pedaling is not.
www.pinkbike.com/photo/15515622
As for belt on Zerode: it's in the works.
Now, where I think this bike really excels is descending. It felt amazing and dialed when I pointed it downhill because of the extra weight centered in the gearbox (along with geometry and etc). The bike tracked over rock gardens, root sections, and through corners exceptionally well. Due to what I mentioned above about weight I wouldn't want this bike as my designated trail bike but as a shuttle bike or even park bike it would be sick. I was also real impressed by the Helm fork mounted to the front, it felt way better than my Pike.
The bike I rode was setup with a chain to drive the rear wheel. I did not like the way the chain felt in comparison the the belt drivetrain I pedaled around the parking lot. I actually managed to drop chain once on the bike which was strange to me and the guys from Cycle Monkey. If I bought the bike I would make sure it was belt driven.
How bad is the drag?
Can you get used to stopping pedaling to shift?
Any news on a trigger shifter?
Thanks in advance to Rob and/or Ali!
First: I have ridden one. The problem is, I have ridden it on a short test track, not on my local trails. First impressions: planted when you want it to be and happy to pop in the air when you want it The shit.
Pinion :
Problem I noticed was my shifting habits, so here goes: I noticed that I would have to address the way I shift. No power on pedals for split second to make a shift and than back on it. Instead I went for it on steep climb and had to dismount, since the drive would not shift under load.
Another thing- POOR engagement. I believe that pinion uses internals with 24 points of engagement. That would need an update with SPRAG clutch or similar instant engagement mechanism, which should be used in future.
Also, GRIPSHIFT- it is not the thing I want on my bike. When they manage to put some electric shifting on it, I will be all over it.
Taniwha : Not much to complain other that I would like to do some experimenting with different suspension setup. How is it if you run it firmer? How about with a bit faster/slower rebound. As I said, the thing was planted and easy to throw around, but I really need to spent some more time on it and on known trails.
Bottom line: it is on my long term buying list. When pinion sorts the little things (instant engagement, electric shifting) I am willing to give it a go. Gearbox on bike? YES PLEASE!
(Sorry if someone else has mentioned it already - I didn't go through all the comments).
If you have the time and gear available, can you try as many brakes as you can for the best fit with the grip shift please?
I run moto style and so far the best fit i have found is a very old saint with the longer lever, so the grip shift is not fully under finger and thumb with the rubber cover bit trimmed down to be the same diameter as an ODI Troy Lee grip to be as close as possible to feeling like a normal full grip and works well so far.
I would be super keen to learn if there is a Hope or Magura set up that works similar or better comfortability wise?
PS: you will love the silence, airtime, line holding over roots, cornering and rock garden smashing!
How does it compare to the Deviate, both not mainstream bikes with a different approach but I consider them as very interesting concepts and in technical aspects as very promising!
The wear of the gripshift sucks. is there a tigger shifter available soon?
Baseline -- Zerode, constant 15mph slight uphill (5% grade) = ___W
Comparison 1 -- Similar geometry bike with 11 or 12 speed setup (same tires, pressure, etc.), same course = ___W
Comparison 2 -- Same as #1 with bike weighted to same as Zerode = ___W
This should give us a good idea of the effect of drivetrain drag and weight.
Thanks!
Your baseline is idealistic in this case...
This test should also take into account some other things like wet weather, mud, dirty gears/chains. You know, things that you encounter in real mountain bike riding. One of the best things about a sealed gearbox over an exposed drive train is that it isn't affected by these things at all and remains constant whereas conventional drive trains turn to crap after you ride through the first mud puddle.
Also the drag changes depending on which gear you are in, so you would need to be realistic about when it really matters. In the low gears there is no noticeable drag, in the high gears there is noticeable drag but who cares since you are already doing 40+km/h and probably going downhill with gravity at this point.
...compared to the[almost] non-existent drag with conventional derailleur.
How easy/difficult it is to get used to the different shifting logic(no power on pedals when shifting) of the gearbox?
Is the bike practically dead silent(except for the freewheel maybe) as there is no chain slap or derailleur rattle?
-When you are bombing down a hill does cranking your wrist every jeopardize your riding position?
-600% on a 11 speed drive train leads me to believe that the jumps between the gears would be quite large. Do the gears feel too spaced out?
-How do the detents feel between gears? Do you get a good feel of your gear box being properly engaged.
-Are you stuck with those cranks (not that i care, just interested in knowing)
-If you need lower gearing, can you modify the gear box to change your gearing? (like changing your front chainring)
-Do you smack your feet on the gear box
For me gear spacing is ok, gear steps 17.7%. In addition, you can shift from 1 to 12 gear with one twist.
Yeas nice and solid gear fill (its depends also how good you adjusted shifter cables)
No and yes, those are cheapest pinion cranks, you can always got yourself cnc machined one, but you can use only pinion cranks due interface
Modifying gearing is impossible, but you can always swap chain rings on your taste. rear one is normal SS cog or replace it with carbongates 104bcd spider and use what ewer sized chain ring you like. Same story with front one get bcd 104 spider
I seem to remember there's a freehub in the gearbox and the rear hub - how does that feel? Does it affect the ride? Can you try it with something like an Onyx hub?
1. is the weight a problem?
2. most pressing I think, do we really need 600% range? I currently run an 11-40 cassette. 360% range....I could see another gear getting used. maybe even 2. but 600% seems unnecessary, and I wonder specifically in the context of gearboxes if it could help get the weight down in a big way if they produced lets say a 450% range offering.
Love the super granny…
The question really here is cost. Will Pinion be able to lower the cost of their gearbox? Highly unlikely unless Shimano and Sram develops their own. The Pinion Gearbox is what is making this bike really expensive. The cost of the frame if you take away the gearbox is at par with most of the mid to high end frames in the market right now.
Love the innovation and the concept of the gearbox, but requires refinement and new skool geometry IMHO.
I’m sure others will love it, especially those who own one, as let’s face it, most forums are filled with people saying the bike they’re riding right now is, “the best bike ever!!” ????
Would you like it more or less (and by how much in $) if it was built by Giant/Specialised/Trek/[insert big brand here]?
Gearbox have different poe on different gear, and it better to use it with hub what haw smallest possible poe
Ride it in some really nasty conditions (weather permitting), which I'm sure you would have anyway, and let us know what the drive train does in those conditions.
Looking forward to your article.
And if you can do the whole power meter test thing versus a traditional bike, make sure the chain on this is dirty as f*ck. I want to know how bad it is at its worst AND how good it can be at its best, before I consider buying one.
From your standpoint - could a chain tensioner with only one pulley make sense as long it is designed in a way that the chain could not fall off of the pulley? The chain tensioner which is used for Gates belts has only one pulley.
- Ditto for whether you'd notice that by the middle or end of a muddy ride e.g. when your chain/derailleur on a normal bike would be pretty muddy and not at it's most efficient.
- How noticeable is the difference in the rear wheel & bike weight, and in what ways does it make a difference to how it rides?
- Had any mechanical failures, or noticed any obvious weakpoints in the system?
- is the zerode's suspension design and geometry similar enough to another bike, so that you could make a reasonable comparison of gearbox vs derailleur?
Cheers!
- Did you felt like nothing could go wrong on the trail or still had in mind that your bike shop don't have the spares on stock?
- obvious one: suspension performance?
- what do you think of the weight penalty in the climbs?
- where do you see a gearbox: AM, Enduro, freeride, DH? (how do you qualify the Taniwha)
- is there any noise/drag during pedaling? is it anoying?
- price and geo aside, would you pick a pinion or a one by transmition for your next bike? why?
OK.. I stop here. Have fun!!
I don't notice it all the time but in those tricky slow situations where you just need a bit of a crank in to get you over something there can be a feeling of no drive. I know my box is old, just wondered if the P12 felt OK.
On a spin round the carpark on a Taniwha the box felt better than mine but it was brand new.
Looks like the old gearbox debate has fired everyone up again!!!
I find the worry around MtB weight differences to be really exaggerated. A 2kg (4.4lbs) difference in weight, for example, is just over a 2% difference in the weight of a 75Kg rider and 15Kg bike combo.
A climb would have to be over 20%, before 2Kg, made more than a 5-8 Watt difference in power demand. Most riders would struggle to notice such a small variation.
I have a few questions.
Do you like it how zerode has stepped out of the box with different component choices? E.g cane creek helm+DBIL and magura brakes.
Is it fast?
I’ve heard that when you shift gear, you have to pause with your pedal stroke for a bit to let the gearbox get into gear. Is this true?
This bike or the Rocky Mountain slayer will be my next bike.(still deciding). My local trails are steepish, fast, technical, rutted out, and hard to climb. I also Race enduro and Downhill. If you have ridden or tested the Slayer, How do you think it compares?
Thanks in advence.
-cheers, Hugh.
I'd also like to know of any other similar bike projects out there, in particular ones that will cost less.
Are any of the big manufacturers likely to manufacture a bike with a gearbox within the next 5years or so?
2-Is there a plan for more wheel size options?
3-How many real world miles/kilometers did you put on the bike before you started having gearbox issues?
My next mountain bike will have a gearbox, unless your article has a very good reason not to give it a try.
My last two bikes were both around 26 pounds, had 150mm of travel and SRAM 1x drivetrains. Those bikes are half the cost and eight pounds lighter. They shifted incredibly well and gave me almost no problems that couldn't be solved by a new derailleur cable. I destroy an expensive rear derailleur about every three years, on average. My bike washing and drivetrain maintenance habits are ingrained and simple. I don't however, live and ride in muddy conditions.
Do you think this bike could ever win somebody like me over?
Would be easier to manufacture different size/type paddles and grips for shifting...
So the question stands, is it possible?
What happens to it when a +200lb person has to stand up and power mash through a techinical climb (thing Squamish rocks)?
@mikelevy
(relatively cheaper i mean)
I'd also be interested to know what you mean by almost never requiring maintenance. Does it only need maintenance if it completely shits the bed?
also where is a trigger shifter for these? i think that would entirely deter me from buying one of these.
How does it compare to a bike with Effi (Cavalerie, Nicolai or that other model with the Fox40 stanchion featured recently)?
How does it compare to a bike with Rohloff (only thing I can think of would be 11ants currently).
Recently I chose not to go for a (hardtail) frame with Rohloff or Pinion because I thought the investment was a bit too high considering I don't pedal consistently but more kind of put in a few hard strokes every now and then and then coast and pump. And from reviews I read these gearboxes (hub or frame mounted) don't react direct enough to keep this as fun, so I stuck to my conventional (1x9sp) gearbox. So yeah, how does it react?
When you go back to a bike witg a regular derailleur, is there anything you miss about the zerode?
Can you feel the difference with all that weight being in the bb area?
Not scientific but I rode a Pivot Mach 6, Nomad and Trek Fuel 9.8 27.5+ (all 1 x 11 and really well set-up by the bike shops I hired from) on a recent trip to Nevada and Utah. 30 years of riding MTBs with trigger shifters still means it's 2nd nature, but the grip shift is fine after getting used to it. And who changes under load!??
I'm a bit old and quite like the Pinion's super granny. I did miss that.
Mach 6 was an absolute beast, but the Taniwha shades it still.
How come they didn’t do that on this frame?
How come they used a faux bar, instead of four bar? And does it really matter?
Faux vs Four, not sure but I bet the patent wasn't expired while he was getting the molds made.
Has the gearbox gotten smoother over time?
Are the cranks stiff? They are certainly heavy.
Bottom bracket longevity? Hopefully its better since replacing the bearings would involve more work than otherwise.
How does it manual? Better? Endo's should certainly be easier.
Hey, maybe even deck through a berm with a laser timer and compare it to a Slash and a Sentinel. Or do a comparative braking test from a set speed with set tires in the rough, measure the advantage of that reduced unsprung weight. Go nuts with it and tell us if you tell the difference between a ride with zero ghost shifting and any other- that's one thing I could do without.
Questions regarding the Zerode-
- Is the grip shift chunky in the hand, and does it make hard to reach the brake lever? (Looks like long TRP levers might help )
- Can you test it with a 29ner front wheel and fork? Rumours indicate, it performs very well with this mod.
- Will there be a 29ner version in the future?
Once it goes 29inch/ rapid thumb shifter / 6-8 speed wide ratio box i might start saving again. Till then.. .. Braap, braap!
- Why there ist no belt? (Gates carbonbelt like on the Nicolai ion gpi)
- Is there a difference in suspension action caused by the lighter unsprung weight?
- Is it faster in the downhills like a comperable "standard-bike" ?
- Is there a possibility for a trigger shifter?
Also can you notice the decrease in unsprung weight on the rear end in regards to shock performance and bike manoeuvrability?
Shifting sucked, I never liked the fact that you have you take power off the pedals to make it shift.
Engagement sucked big time, the crank has a freewheel machanism in it with way too little engagement points.
Those two points asnnoyed me on a bike that was ridden on road 99% of the time, I imagine them to be even more annoying off road.
The problem is I, like everyone else, am crazy. When some new piece of special comes out I want a bike that can use it. I currently want a bike 27.5 wheeled that can do 2.8 tires, even though I suspect I would only use wide tires twice a year and would otherwise just use the 2.35 highrollers I have come to trust.
I want to be able to buy new hubs without some sort of adapter. I want to know my headset will work with the next fork.
Can this bike resolve those issues? Maybe removable dropouts and a piece to move in the linkage would be a good start.
Does it make you work harder to get up to the same trail head as a derailleur drive train?
Does the added weight in the center of the frame help you smash berms aggrwsively like a pimp with unhealthy amounts of testosterone?
Does it send?
Can you get used to the GRIP SHIFT?
Can you feel the weight reduction from the rear wheel compared to standard bikes?
Can you downshift while climbing (torque on the pedals)?
If not, how long does the grip shift take to get used too and did you have an accidental shifts while bunny hoping or manualing on the trail?
Cheers
Or how much Pinion Gearbox would cost, if they sold as much as Sram sells XO drivetrain setups?
The gripshift really doesn’t convince me!!
It would be good to get Mike Levy's take on it.
1. why don't pinion do something good for once and make a trigger shift version?
2. does it shift when you don't want it to/ I it annoying that you have to more your hand to shift up and down?
Can the gear box work with a trigger style shifter?
Is the added drag noticeable?
I'm 6'1 and I plan to order this bike but L or XL?
PS gear box's are dumb
But how does the gear range compare to Sram Eagle's range of gears? Easier/ heavier?
When will a trigger shifter be available for the pinion gearbox?
Does it eat square edges for breakfast like its big sister?
Does it pedal, unlike its big sister?
?
Sweet looking test bike!
I love ribs.
Hmmm....
Can you put some decent kit on it and try it again with forks and brakes that actually work!