Is This the Future of Mountain Biking? 

Gearboxes are clearly the future of MTB outside of XC racing. Pinion made some pretty nice improvements with the smart shift setup, but I get early Di2 vibes from their setup haha. Their MGU offering is brilliant, I think that's the equipment that will make the bike industry take gearboxes seriously. Super clean setup, the green DVO stuff goes great with the polished bars and white frame.

I’ve been riding a gearbox bike four years now ! When the pros ride em the rest of you will have the courage to buy one .

Except for the price and availability, the system is the future for sure.

looks beautiful with the double chrome cockpit, im running the title chrome bars i may need to get the stem to match 😍😍

$7,000 - $11,000. 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾 It sure is quiet without the chain slapping.

I don’t often comment on new bikes, but in your case I will make an exception - that is SUPER nice and the internal gearbox is absolutely intriguing… (does Tommy C ride Zerode with you?) and I look forward to hearing how you get on longer term. Thank you for sharing.

looks like youre skimming across the land! sick bike!!! even sicker rider!!! subscribed

Totally sick bike mate Nice colour ways Chris King 🤴 👏👏👏👍

Such a sick bike dude!!🔥

Def looking forward to a Zerode MGU, have been I’ve been following the Pinion system for a while and surprised they’ve come out with the MGU sooner than expected, looking forward to seeing Zerode with MGU from Pinion

That clip of you racing was sick, you were going super fast

Great job on the review and super clean run💪🚵‍♀️

Awesome. Interested in the ebike stuff too.

Oh hang on, WTB coming out with new compounds? Will be interesting to see what improvements they've made. The "High Grip" compound is already very, very good.

So Zerode went ahead and snatched Vitus riders? Just saw Alexis Righetti also rides for Zerode now.

Thanks for the video! I have ridden Pinion gearbox bikes for several years now, including a custom Ti hardtail and a Zerode Katipo, my current do-everything bike. Back in 2020 when I purchased the Katipo, there was no SmartShift and the bike came equipped with the standard C.12 gearbox. Overall, I favor the gearbox approach, but there are some things that Pinion could improve in its next generation of non-MGU gearboxes. The magnesium case shaves weight compared to the older style CNC'ed aluminum P series gearbox, but it is definitely prone to fracture under impact loading (rocks). Believe me, I know :-). It would be terrific is Pinion could include an integrated skid plate into the newer designs (Zerode actually supply a free 3D model file to print your own - I used a slab of ABS plastic and a heat gun to form it into a skid plate). Recently, I installed the SmartShift on my Katipo. The SmartShift gearbox bolts into existing Pinion gearbox bridges, but it is not the same as a standard C line gearbox, thus requiring a purchase of an entire SmartShift specific C line gearbox with a kit that includes a small battery (to power the SmartShift unit), the shifter, and wiring harnesses. The small battery comes with its own wall-mounted charger, but the cable pigtail on the battery is part of the SmartShift-specific connector system, as opposed to a standard connector like a USB-C. The SmartShift was originally designed for rear-hub motor e-bikes, but the battery in the kit permits use with a non-e-bike. The wiring harness that ties everything together is essentially useless for non-e-bike applications, so I made my own. The connectors are all high-quality waterproof connectors from HIGO - after looking everywhere and contacting HIGO to get individual connectors (they did not respond to me) I found a guy in Germany who sells individual connectors with 1m of cabling: www.e-bike-technologies.de/en/ I used a continuity tester and reverse engineered the pinout diagram for the system and made my own harness with the HIGO connecters. Easy peasy, but the install takes some effort and you should enjoy tinkering and rolling your own if this is something you want to do. Zerode now offer the SmartShift as an upgrade option, and they route their cabling into and out of the frame through holes that do not exist in a standard Katipo frame (at least when I bought mine). There is no way I am going to drill holes in my frame! I concealed my wiring harness inside the frame using the sufficiently large cable ports (thank you Zerode!) that the shifter cables for the standard Pinion gearbox utilized. I attached the battery to the underside of the top tube. I would really like Pinion to make the shifting wireless - the SmartShift unit already is Bluetooth enabled (there is an app for iPhone that connects with the SmartShift to set it up). Make it so! So to recap - stronger gearbox casing (plus an integrated skid plate), more useful kit for wiring a non-e-bike, and wireless shifting. That would be awesome. In an ideal world, titanium internals for the gearbox too. One can dream!

Is this a high pivot? Maybe in the future the gearbox manufacturer could design a gearbox where the driven shaft isn't on the same axle path as the bottom bracket. It would make sense to have a gearbox that has a driven shaft that is positioned higher than the BB, and allow the frame builder to eliminate idler pulleys. It might also simplify the gearbox.

Love that bike 🤘

what a beast!!

Pedal engagement gets some getting used to from most who switch over.

It's interesting that gearboxes are considered the future, when a guy in his shed was making a full suspension downhill bike in his shed nearly 20 years ago.

Nice video but are you filming in superview?

How does it climb? Is it similar to a 30t in front and 52t in the rear for maximum climbing? Thank you

Awesome 🔥🙂

Cool bike

I WANT one!!

Nice rig Alex, does the battery charge from pedalling or does it have to be charged via USB and what happened if the battery dies mid ride? Hope you had fun in CA! 🤘❤️🌈🕊️🌍

The correct pronunciation is car-tea-paw = Ka-ti-po kind regards

How‘s the rear shock compared to JadeX?!

Nice bike

Love Zerodes. Need an E box version!

This should've been the standard many years ago for gnarly riders

Its my dream is a gearbox bike with belt drive, sadly i dont ride enough lately to spend that kind of money.

Not my cup of tea, but I am stoked that you are sorted for a very challenging year in the bike industry.

So downhill race, you took out spokes to save weight(minimal weight), but you keep the dropper post(alot of weight compared) I'm confused thought the milliseconds counted 😅

So sad, no more Vitus Sommet bike?

There is a ton of "bike check" for all the gear box bikes, with "ride review coming up soon" then the ride review NEVER gets there. I've been drooling over gearboxes for years, but the consistent lack of ride review of bikes with it makes me think there is some hidden issue there

Honestly the gearbox sticking out, the battery added like an afterthought and the cable connection is worse than a Chinese lamp connector. Seriously this is a test bike or a finish product that can only wish to sell in Europe or US

So silent in the end footage 😱

that track is weird - not many corners! Just flat out! Cool looking bike though.

gear boxes are so insane I can see shimano and sram destroying them

When going DH it makes no difference lol in my opinion , that fork no no . The gear box kinda cool but cost and being electric many dislike just like sram , belt is cool but 😇 number plate , air brakes lol 😁

Awesome bike! Outrageous prices... 7k for a frame... 10k for the cheapest build...

Looks nice, definitely different. I've thought gearboxes are the way to go for the last few years. Needs a mainstream brand to grow a pair and start fitting them in big numbers. Maybe Big Drivetrain doesn't want us to be riding gearboxes because they hardly need maintenance! No chain to wear out or lube. No flimsy derailleur, no constantly replacing chainrings or cassettes. It's the future!

same as tommy c hype

second

No it’s not the future. It’s a technology that’s been around for ages that no one has managed to actually perfect enough for mass roll out on bicycles. Gearboxes remain a niche product that simply doesn’t work for the vast majority of people.

Zerode made the next bike for 10 years now. "Last" is taken where they fit? 🙄🙄🙄

As a kiwi, i am sorry to say but you are pronouncing the name wrong. I don't know how to type pronunciation but the "i" is pronounced as more if an "ih" then an "ee". I would suggest looking it up as i dont really know how to explain any better😂

Katipo is pronounced cat-tip-poh

first

DVOh no.

How it can be future of mtb, if its running on green suntour suspension dude? :D :D are you nuts? :D :D c'mon...

10 grand 👎

Trash

Can you please learn how to say the name correctly? It's not that hard.

Sorry to tell you its still a failiure. What makes people ride bikes is their simplicity making them into motorbikes won't get people to buy them