For at least two decades now, gearboxes have been the promised future of bike drivetrains. The technology that will finally unseat the cumbersome and fragile derailleur. While gearboxes development has come a long way, they’re still only incrementally closer to replacing derailleurs. So Avinox is skipping right past them.
Forbidden Bikes, the high-pivot enthusiasts based on Vancouver Island, and Avinox are teaming up again for a new prototype motor, the MG Concept. The bike and motor are both showing at Eurobike this week, as is one other similar concept motor.
Like a gearbox would, this new motor unit moves gear shifting duties from the a derailleur hanging off of the rear axle and relocates that function to the BB area. Great so far. Unlike a gearbox, there are not discreet gears inside. Wait, what?
The MG Concept is a eCVT, or Electronically-Controlled Continuously Variable Transmission. In a car, that would automatically adjust the gearing as your speed, and with a bike, presumably cadence, changes.
Which would be a kind of wild progression for e-bikes and, if the concept works off-road, eMTB.
Don’t get too excited just yet. Forbidden says the concept bike is “purely a prototype” that is being used to test the viability of the system off road.
So, what do we do with this?
“Please take from this that Forbidden is committed to staying in touch with new and emerging technology. Even more committed to learning and understanding any new tech and what advantages it may bring to mountain bikers on the trails.”
Didn’t Avinox just release a new motor?
Yes, two of them. The M2S and M2. Those bikes are just arriving at market, and they are wildly powerful. There’s no stats or numbers attached to this concept motor yet, but Avinox has proved capable of producing mega Watts, so I’d expect more of the same.
So why a new motor? If you’re not already on the gearbox hype train, here’s a taster:
“Improved reliability, less maintenance, a lower chance of damage, better weight distribution, improved unsprung/sprung mass ratios,” Forbidden explains, are all “Precieved advantages to tucking everything neatly into your BB area.”
Will it work? Who knows. Avinox has proved quite successful at disrupting the eMTB market so far. If anyone can break the derailleur’s hold on cycling, not just break derailleurs, it would be the upstart motor brand (powered by global giant DJI).