NoMoreGears

Need power?

When we said that NuVinci would allow new bicycle designs and possibilities we weren’t kidding. But I have to admit that I did not see this one coming. Staton Inc of the USA sells a kit consisting out of a Honda GX35 1.6HP engine and the NuVinci hub. Only 1.6HP I thought? The NuVinci technology gives the motor some serious pulling punch though and is not to be stopped.

Pictures and pricing are on his site together with a write up of his experiences. As I mentioned, the NuVinci drive train really does help with its Under Drive: “Even then it would pull any hill that a car could ever climb and then some”. The tried to hold it down, but could not stop it. Not bad for no more gears.

Popular Science on NuVinci

Nice Article on page 20 in the July edition of Popular Science Magazine on the gear-less hub called NuVinci. Nice diagrams and explanation on how it works. Better yet, ride it and experience it yourself.

Automatic vs allways in the right gear

Nice -but short- story in the New Your Times about Trek’s beautiful Lime bike. It is great to see some serious design in the bike business. These are great bikes. One interesting feature is that it has an automatic electronic shift system. That must have been done because people think shifting is too difficult. I agree. Hence my love affair as a rider with the NuVinci continuous variable transmission. The downside of an automatic shifter is that you loose control when the shift occurs. But what really got me was that the system only has three gears. Mind the gap as they might say in London. What are the changes that you pedal at your most efficient cadence? It is a bit like having a broken watch: it is still accurate twice a day.