What's the deal with gearboxes? Why don't more mountain bikes have them?

They really make the most sense on e-bikes. That motor/gearbox combo Pinion released with electronic shifting is the ideal situation for this.

The thing with MTB is all unique parts have advantage and disadvantage, so basically you can waste your money in different ways 😩😭

Another advantage on full-suspension bikes that I think was missed was that you are removing a lot of unsprung weight off the back wheel. Getting rid of the cassette and derailleur can make a huge difference in suspension performance by minimizing unsprung weight. I think gearboxes would make a lot of sense for downhill bikes where suspension performance supersedes all and weight doesn't matter as much. Also, this would be a great application for electronic shifting, get rid of the grip shift and just use a button shifter and solenoid or motor-based actuation.

Really surprised the topic of noise while descending was not mentioned. It's basically silent going downhill, all you hear is the trail chatter on your tyres. So so refreshing. Not to mention a massive reduction in weight off the rear hub with no cassette / derailleurs etc = rear suspension performance through the roof.

Worth mentioning, from a touring bike perspective, the Pinion's even spacing between gears makes it easy to keep an even pedaling cadence over rolling terrain. Also with no derailleur protruding, and no oil covered chain, it's easier to load bike into cars, buses, hotel rooms etc.

I'm one of these people with a pinion gearbox on my bike (priority 600) and I ride it because it works in all conditions, and deals with off-road and road riding equally well. I love the maintenance being minimal, and the lack of any real issues with having to deal with a chain.

You briefly mentioned it but yep, these are best suited for ultra endurance cyclists that do thousands of miles on crazy terrain. Ryan Van Duzer is a big belt drive fan.

I recently bought a Zerode Taniwha a few months back and i absolutely love it. Effectively zero maintenance and super reliable. Efficiency is hardly noticeable. Best thing i’ve ever bought and i could never go back to a conventional drive chain, especially since conditions here in the UK are regularly wet and gritty, wearing out chains and derailleurs super quickly. It is just so much better 😂😂

For about a month I have been riding a Rohloff speedhub in my commuter- and travel-bike and I must say, I love it! Sure some of the lower gears are a little bit noisy but you get used to it very quickly. For me the instantaneous shifts, low maintanance and durability are way more important than a silent drivetrain.

Thank you for this video, I was waiting for it from you for years 🙂 Being one of those gearbox enthusiasts, I have one thing to add: efficiency is not that bad as it may sound from your vid, difference betweens factory fresh piece and meshed in one is significant. Also that efficiency stays there no matter what, so if you have well maintained, clean deraileur, you can beat gearbox. Once you start clogging it with mud or whatever, conventional system starts taking a nosedive, while gearbox is still as "ineficient" as it was in the begining. So yeah, enduro, MTBO, commuters, long distance travellers... You should really try it in a long term, because that is where it shines the best...

Also one of my favorite features of the pinion gearbox is the ability at the bottom of a hill to switch it to its first gear and instantly get up the hell without having to move around first and change gears on the go. Especially useful in traffic when you stop at a red light at the beginning of or in the middle of an uphill climb!

Belt drive with an Onyx hub on a nice fall morning would be epic!! Just the tires rolling and your heart beating through your chest on the climbs. Amazing.

Literally two days ago got Pinion hardtail. So far it’s the best bike investment I’ve made.

Great to see Pinion mentioned on this channel! :) I don't maintain my bikes. I suck at doing that, that is the main reason I ride Pinion since 2012. Currently on my 4th Pinion bike (all Nicolai's) this one with a C 1.12 box. (612% range out of my head.) 1.18 is available, same range, smoother ratio. It is indeed 0 maintenance also in bad bad winter weather. (Rain, snow, mud, salty roads, etc, I don't have a car, so I always commute on this as well.) Just inject fresh oil once a year, or roughly once a year. I once did no oil change for 2 years, because it is "maintenance", but no problems. :) The grip shift they use is now quite outdated, later this year they will release the electronic shifter for the general public. For my riding style it has very little drawbacks. If I have to mention 2: You indeed loose a percentage of the power that is put into it, especially on the higher gears. (I would say 5% average compared to a perfectly new and fresh chain+cassette setup.) I never was able to feel that loss on a full suspension bike, but now that I ride a hardtail, I start to notice it a tiny bit when I put over 330 watts in it, but that is seldom. (But we are nowhere near early Nexus hub levels of loss, or the spongy feeling that gives.) A second issue: in a 12 speed box there is 1 point where you can't shift under load, I think somewhere between 8 and 9 in gears. I have that habit of "clutching" during my shift because of this. I never know when that gear is going to come along. That manual clutching I do now, (0,5 sec off the power) will be done by the electronic shifter in the newer, upcoming box. (probably in a matter of milliseconds, and you can stay on the power.) I don't care about the weight, but the system is in total about 700 grams heavier than XX1. It is heavy, but the weight is in the right place, with very little unsprung mass, a plus for a fully. All in all, very reliable. I ride about 6000km a year without issues, and without maintenance. Yes pricey, but worth it, and I don't own a car, so that money has to be wasted somewhere. :D Oh one last thing: the silence of this drive, especially with belt is something else, it is swooshy, but never grindy so to speak. :)

Hey Seth, i‘m doing an internship as an engineer at Pinion. It is truly a fascinating company with a lot of innovations yet to come. Especially with ebikes or smart shifting solutions there will be some huge impacts on the bike industry in the future!

I got a Priority 600 with pinion c1.12, hydro disks, belt drive, and dyno hub. Some of the components are pretty cheap but it's been completely reliable, which is what I was going for on a commuter bike. It lives outside through all seasons. I do definitely feel the friction a bit but it's worth it for casually getting around. The gear range is insane

Ryan Van Duzer rides all around the world with the gates pinion drive. Seems impressively reliable.

Gear boxes are great for bike packing in remote places with rough terrain. One less thing to worry about.

I have one for commuting, all day, every day, every weather (try salted snow slush with your deraileur, and a couple of freez/thaw cycles). To keep the efficiency advantage of a derraileur you need to do a lot of maintencance.

One thing to note of efficiencies, the timing belt actually has nearly the same efficiency as a roller chain, its the gearbox which is the primary cause for the difference in overall efficiency of the system