Low maintanance bikepacking rig

[Pawel]

I wonder what do you think about the Olsen bicycle with Pinion gearbox:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221142773/pinion-gearbox-belt-drive-29er-and-275-mtb-all-wea?ref=hero_thanks

It looks very interesting as a low maintanance bikepacking rig. The frame triangle seems to be small. Apart from that it looks awesome.

[the tortoise]

I wonder what do you think about the Olsen bicycle with Pinion gearbox:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221142773/pinion-gearbox-belt-drive-29er-and-275-mtb-all-wea?ref=hero_thanks

It looks very interesting as a low maintanance bikepacking rig. The frame triangle seems to be small. Apart from that it looks awesome.

They aren't making the gearbox, just speccing a frame from China.
Here is a look at the gearbox. http://www.cyclingabout.com/pinion-18s-gearbox-the-future-for-bike-touring/

Adds over 3 pounds vs. a standard drivetrain and over a pound vs. a rohloff hub and the bike has to be designed around the front pinion, plus it has a wider q factor. For an internal gearbox I would go with a Rohloff and find the perfect frame to fit it to for your use.

[the tortoise]

or this?? http://www.cyclingabout.com/kindernay-xiv-hub-14-speed-internally-geared-hub/

[Beltrider]

They aren't making the gearbox, just speccing a frame from China.

Hello - I am Steven Olsen the designer and owner of Olsen Bicycles.  I have spent a lot of time designing this in the UK to get a low-maintenance MTB.  Just a correction to Tortoise.  My frames are NOT specified from China - they are hand build in Sussex in the UK.  I have a block tool for this frame and am Kickstarting the idea to give the first customers a deal and also to get a minimum run so that I can order all of the stainless fixing points.

I am a small business not a multi national and want to manufacture in the UK where I can control the quality of every frame.  I have been in the bike business for over 5 years, working for others to transfer production to Asia.  If you are interested you can look at my development on my website www.olsenbicycles.com

I am have been aware of Pinion for sometime, so developed a 27.5+/29" frame around the gearbox for #greatbritishweather trail conditions :-)
I have had Rohloff Speedhub as well, but for this frame the Pinion gearbox has the most advantages.

[bakerjw]

Kudos to you Steven! I love supporting small bike builders. Esp ones that don't outsource production to China.

To the OP. The Rohloff is proven and I am sure that the pinion gearbox is as well. In the end though, it is all up to what you want to ride.

A friend who has dreamed about riding the TD has often gone on and on about having a bike with a Rohloff. I finally got him to sit down and watch different grand departs from Banff. We watched bike after bike leave and paused when necessary to see what people are riding. We occasionally saw something other than a standard derailleur. Myself, I'll go with my Shimano XTR due to the simplicity of the design, high availability of parts and most importantly weight savings. That is just me though.

This bike design looks good and will certainly hold up well. Getting it here in the states would be my only concern.

[the tortoise]

Hello - I am Steven Olsen the designer and owner of Olsen Bicycles.  I have spent a lot of time designing this in the UK to get a low-maintenance MTB.  Just a correction to Tortoise.  My frames are NOT specified from China - they are hand build in Sussex in the UK.  I have a block tool for this frame and am Kickstarting the idea to give the first customers a deal and also to get a minimum run so that I can order all of the stainless fixing points.

I am a small business not a multi national and want to manufacture in the UK where I can control the quality of every frame.  I have been in the bike business for over 5 years, working for others to transfer production to Asia.  If you are interested you can look at my development on my website www.olsenbicycles.com

I am have been aware of Pinion for sometime, so developed a 27.5+/29" frame around the gearbox for #greatbritishweather trail conditions :-)
I have had Rohloff Speedhub as well, but for this frame the Pinion gearbox has the most advantages.

Sorry! Glad you are doing local production. More of that needs to happen.

I can see with a front tranny that rear wheel changes due to flats might be easier.

[Beltrider]

Thanks Tortoise and Bakerjw... There are too many companies out there where the bosses do not ride and have lost touch.  Too many companies run strategically on marketing campaigns.  I have worked on some cool stuff and some bad.  I have tried to think of all scenarios of how I ride and how others will use this bike.  I hope to be able to grow this and sell a few frames so that I can develop some new stuff.

I was riding 7-8000 miles offroad per year on my offroad mtb commute (very very lucky location).  Obviously I had some serious component failures.
This lead me to ditch the derailleur and chain. 
I developed a belt tensioning system that had a wide band of ratios to select Gates 39T : 20-24T giving me 2:1 to 1:1.6 ratios.
At the same time I knew the Singlespeed market was limited and was looking at developing a frame around hub gears and gearboxes.  I will be blogging about weight in the next few weeks, but this is a snap shot of my usual rant.... 
We think nothing of carrying 2-3Kg of water and carry most of that around for more than a few hours.
A 700ml water bottle weighs 0.7Kg
We are selecting wider and wider tyres for comfort and grip.
We load our bikes with stoves food and fuel.
Still we complain about bike build weight.
At the end of the day static weight is not as noticeable as rotational weight.
Derailleurs always have the potential to fail and do not survive Winters (esp British ).
I have developed my frame around the Pinion Gearbox because I have tested it in anger and think there is room in the MTB market for alternatives to the derailleur.  I know it won't appeal to every body, but the Pinion Gearbox is here and some designers have to take up the challenge.

[bakerjw]

I wonder what the mechanical efficiency is for a Rohloff, a pinion and a regular derailleur. i.e. Power In x Efficiency = Power Out. I'd be interested to see a comparison. That's the only other gotcha with gearbox systems.
Not that they're not good mechanisms or have a place because I believe that they fill a niche quite well.

I love the look of your pinion frames. Drop the rear wheel to change a belt. Slick.

[Beltrider]

Rohloff and Pinion publish that kind of data... But that is in laboratory clean conditions... Mike Burrows has written about it as well...
Mtbing however has mud sand and leaves... So the derilleur only beats a hub gear or gearbox in dry summer conditions.
Hub gears are not the best around trails the weight needs to be central
The other 9 months are where the gearbox is King

[Pawel]

I think that the central and low position of gearbox is a key element. I had been riding a bicycle equipped with Rohloff speedhub for some time and pinch flats were problematic.

Looking at the principle of operation, Rohloff speedhub has more engaged moving parts at the same time (planetary solution), except direct gear, in comparison to Pinion solution which has lower number of part engaged at the same time. Hence, I assume that Pionion can be slightly more efficient. However, to be honest to me the drag in Rohloff speedhub is not perceptible.

[the tortoise]

Here is cool bike with the pinion setup: http://www.cyclingabout.com/page-street-cycles-pinion-touring-bike/

[the tortoise]

This will give you bike lust for sure! http://www.cyclingabout.com/nicest-touring-bikes-in-the-world/

[the tortoise]

This one is the bomb! http://www.pinkbike.com/news/domahidy-designs-titanium-hardtail-plus-wheels-pinion-12-speed-gearbox-and-gates-belt-drive.html

http://viral.bike/bikes/skeptic/

[Demian]

This one is the bomb! http://www.pinkbike.com/news/domahidy-designs-titanium-hardtail-plus-wheels-pinion-12-speed-gearbox-and-gates-belt-drive.html

http://viral.bike/bikes/skeptic/

*Drool - Love that Domahidy.

Didn't Greg Minaar win a crap-ton of downhill races using a Honda DH bike with a similar gearbox? I've been under a rock for a while but seem to recall that technology working pretty well. DH might not be the best example, but centralizing that weight seems pretty smart. Think of the beauty of not having a derailleur flopping about like a spare appendage.

[bikeny]

*Drool - Love that Domahidy.

Didn't Greg Minaar win a crap-ton of downhill races using a Honda DH bike with a similar gearbox? I've been under a rock for a while but seem to recall that technology working pretty well. DH might not be the best example, but centralizing that weight seems pretty smart. Think of the beauty of not having a derailleur flopping about like a spare appendage.

That Honda gearbox was really just a cassette and derailleur in a housing, complete with a short chain etc.

[geekonabike]

I wonder what do you think about the Olsen bicycle with Pinion gearbox:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1221142773/pinion-gearbox-belt-drive-29er-and-275-mtb-all-wea?ref=hero_thanks

It looks very interesting as a low maintanance bikepacking rig. The frame triangle seems to be small. Apart from that it looks awesome.

Enough room in the triangle bag for a 3 maybe 4 liter hydro & not much else. I guess you can make up for that w/ a under down tube bag, a much better spot for weight than seat, bar or backpack bags.