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the gearbox thread

jeremy_2640

Monkey
Oct 4, 2007
114
42
Melbourne
Apologies if this has been posted already- I've been away from RM for a few months, but how's this for interesting?-
The first (?) Pinion geared DH bike?

(At least I think it is!)

From the guys that brought you this;


Comes a new 4th gen DH gearbox bike;


Whilst this image doesn't show much, a CAD screen shot from their website clearly shows a Pinion gearbox;


I can't wait to hear more info!
I am one those guys! As far as we are aware it's the first pinion DH bike, we are waiting on our first boxes and still have a fair amount of moulding work to do but it's slowly happening! Thanks for the interest in it - we can't wait to see it in the flesh. Lot's of work put into this one...
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Is this where we're talking about the new full carbon v10 now? I'm confused.
Yes, I believe this is the official V10C tech/tuning thread.

I'll start - damn that's a light frame!
 

jeremy_2640

Monkey
Oct 4, 2007
114
42
Melbourne
Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted here, thought it'd be nice to get the gearbox thread back up the list!

We've been working flat out on getting our bike together - if you want to see some pictures and info on the build jump on our facebook and like it (links in my signature). Help spread the word, we're super excited about this new bike!?!

Jeremy

Jezken-Mk4-FB-Teaser.jpg
 

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
wow, this thread is almost 9 years old now. curious the current state of gearbox development (or lack thereof); i had thought we'd have come further, or perhaps one of the big players would have come out with a light(er) weight high performance gear hub. that said, derailleur systems have come a long way; clutches and tucked away designs in conjunction with drop-resistant chainrings and huge spread cassettes have certainly reinforced their viability. my newfangled derailleurs work pretty great.

that said, my lahar is now into it's 7th year; soldering on flawlessly as always...
 

Kntr

Turbo Monkey
Jan 25, 2003
7,526
21
Montana
Ive had my Zerode 2 years with only 1 missed shift because I didn't have the cable adjusted correctly. I absolutely love this thing. I haven't done a single thing to the bike. Love it!
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
i had thought we'd have come further, or perhaps one of the big players would have come out with a light(er) weight high performance gear hub. that said, derailleur systems have come a long way; clutches and tucked away designs in conjunction with drop-resistant chainrings and huge spread cassettes have certainly reinforced their viability.
The best bet would be a Honda esque system that basically allows unlimited gear range so the AM crowd can have a any range via a trigger shifter. Although the 600%+ that the Pinion provides is good. I suspect the UCI would get its panties in a bunch if a Downhill bike showed up with an unlimited gear range. But if you could find a way to limit the gears used to say 10. Then be able to move it around for a certain track that would be pretty cool. BTW I use 3 gears on the Zerode 4 if I am feeling frisky.
 

no skid marks

Monkey
Jan 15, 2006
2,511
29
ACT Australia
wow, this thread is almost 9 years old now. curious the current state of gearbox development (or lack thereof); i had thought we'd have come further, or perhaps one of the big players would have come out with a light(er) weight high performance gear hub. that said, derailleur systems have come a long way; clutches and tucked away designs in conjunction with drop-resistant chainrings and huge spread cassettes have certainly reinforced their viability. my newfangled derailleurs work pretty great.
that said, my lahar is now into it's 7th year; soldering on flawlessly as always...
True, I thought the big boys have jumped in by now. Clutched mech and weight weeny fad has given them new lease on Mech salability. I still think the centralized weight, shifting any time, toughness, reliability, and better ground clearance are huge reasons for gearbox over mechs.
Wish I'd had kept my Lahar, I'd have loved to have got a cromo shorter swingarm made for it to lower the BB and shorten the rear.
The best bet would be a Honda esque system that basically allows unlimited gear range so the AM crowd can have a any range via a trigger shifter. Although the 600%+ that the Pinion provides is good. I suspect the UCI would get its panties in a bunch if a Downhill bike showed up with an unlimited gear range. But if you could find a way to limit the gears used to say 10. Then be able to move it around for a certain track that would be pretty cool. BTW I use 3 gears on the Zerode 4 if I am feeling frisky.
Pretty sure the UCI banned the CTV Honda, and made a 9 speed ruling. Not sure what's happened to that now 10 speeds here.

Are there any internally geared hubs besides an alfine? Anybody know?
Rohloff, Sram also make some, Sturmey Archer, Nuvinci.
 

xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
Wish I'd had kept my Lahar, I'd have loved to have got a cromo shorter swingarm made for it to lower the BB and shorten the rear.
i'd like to do exactly this at some point. perhaps lose the floater at the same time. alas, i'm in allmountainy enduro mode these days, so the sled doesn't get used enough to make that a priority. that said, the geometry is still surprisingly current as is. what i thought was ridiculously slack back then is standard fare right now. bb is a bit higher, yes (close to v10 height, so not too far off), and stays certainly longer, but i'm used to them now. running the thing short shocked (~8" travel) drops things a little, and works quite nicely.

pretty sure this thing will still be viable at 10 yrs. pretty rad.

konastab - the bike still intact? replaced with another dh rig? curious where the rest of them ended up. where are you?
 

no skid marks

Monkey
Jan 15, 2006
2,511
29
ACT Australia
i'd like to do exactly this at some point. perhaps lose the floater at the same time. alas, i'm in allmountainy enduro mode these days, so the sled doesn't get used enough to make that a priority. that said, the geometry is still surprisingly current as is. what i thought was ridiculously slack back then is standard fare right now. bb is a bit higher, yes (close to v10 height, so not too far off), and stays certainly longer, but i'm used to them now. running the thing short shocked (~8" travel) drops things a little, and works quite nicely.

pretty sure this thing will still be viable at 10 yrs. pretty rad.

konastab - the bike still intact? replaced with another dh rig? curious where the rest of them ended up. where are you?
I can recall people on here saying they were way too slack. Bagging Carbon, press fit BBs and headsets.
Short shocking it would make the stays even longer though. I guess at ride height they'd be much the shame. New linkage to make it 8"s would be easier. Didn't you get some custom linkage plates before it all went pear shaped? No floater has it's pros for sure. Getting a Horst Link style steel swingarm wouldn't cost you very much. You could short shock it with new front mounting plates and main link and swingarm as a 6" bike. Would be light enough with an air shock. Sick.
 
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xy9ine

Turbo Monkey
Mar 22, 2004
2,940
353
vancouver eastside
Didn't you get some custom linkage plates before it all went pear shaped?
interesting aside - i actually cracked my first frame (small crack near the headtube caused by a big, dumb nose case). aaron built me a new extra carbon fortified stupid-proof front end, and, knowing the weight weenie i was, spun custom plastic bb spacers to go with a lighter set of press in bb bearings than the standard stuff. with the new front end he sent newly whittled lighter shock plates as well (i think they were standard on the later frames). and he did all this for no extra charge, with a 3 week turnaround. alas, later customers' experiences were not so rosy.

other interesting aside - my old frame was patched up and ended up racing jr worlds at ft bill that year (don't recall who the jr rider was):

ft bill dave.jpg
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,182
media blackout
Pretty sure the UCI banned the CTV Honda, and made a 9 speed ruling. Not sure what's happened to that now 10 speeds here.
the last iteration of the honda was basically a DIAB. so i kinda doubt that the UCI banned it.

doubt there's a 9 spd ruling. most guys run the latest which is 10spd, plus wasn't it ft bill this year that gwin and a few others were rocking custom 7spd cassettes?
 

no skid marks

Monkey
Jan 15, 2006
2,511
29
ACT Australia
the last iteration of the honda was basically a DIAB. so i kinda doubt that the UCI banned it.

doubt there's a 9 spd ruling. most guys run the latest which is 10spd, plus wasn't it ft bill this year that gwin and a few others were rocking custom 7spd cassettes?
Ahh yeah. The last interaction of the Honda was, because the UCI Banned the CVT is the whole point. Not sure if it's true.
9 speed max was the rule I heard, not minimum. Surely 10speeds been raced by now. Or does everyone know it's crap for DH?
 

konastab01

Turbo Monkey
Dec 7, 2004
1,203
215
One things for sure if he ever resurfaces he owes me a another one, As he was meant to making the M10's and ****ed me on that one!

He mad some different linkage plates for the later ones.

I'd also like to give me a bash at being a enduro bike too, but it all money and considering I've been riding pretty road for the last year Its been really hard to get out and riding anything else! Espically when you gotta drive everywhere.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,182
media blackout
Ahh yeah. The last interaction of the Honda was, because the UCI Banned the CVT is the whole point. Not sure if it's true.
story i heard was that Honda scrapped it because it was too complex for too little improvement.

9 speed max was the rule I heard, not minimum. Surely 10speeds been raced by now. Or does everyone know it's crap for DH?
don't know where you're hearing this stuff, but it ain't true. why would the UCI ban stock components for dh when in road biking they are mandatory?
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
story i heard was that Honda scrapped it because it was too complex for too little improvement.
I have all the MTBR magazines about the Honda. The first box was insane. It basically had infinite gears in it. It looks pretty damn complicated with all the cams and stuff. But damn its bad-ass looking.....

I can shoot pictures of the pages and load them on here.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,559
24,182
media blackout
I have all the MTBR magazines about the Honda. The first box was insane. It basically had infinite gears in it. It looks pretty damn complicated with all the cams and stuff. But damn its bad-ass looking.....

I can shoot pictures of the pages and load them on here.
yea, i'm pretty sure those are the ones i remember.
 

ianjenn

Turbo Monkey
Sep 12, 2006
2,998
702
SLO
They started with Kayaba then went to Showa not sure when. I have the magazines it will be about 8-10 pages in total will try to load them at about 2000 by 1600 or so!
 

LMC

Monkey
Dec 10, 2006
683
1
I'm thinking they got the idea from a variable stroke engine. Funny how after all these years the gearbox still gets talked about.