For decades, the bicycle derailleur has ruled the drivetrain world, and for good reason – it’s lightweight, efficient, affordable and compatible with nearly every bike on the market.
But what if conventional derailleurs are holding us back? After all, they hang low and exposed, making them easy targets for rocks, sticks, and crashes. Plus, their tendency to fall out of alignment often results in frustrating gear skipping.
In this article, we’re taking a close look at Supre Drive, a radical new drivetrain concept that reimagines the derailleur system from the ground up. Designed for durability, reliability, and quiet performance, Supre Drive promises to fix many of the issues cyclists have come to accept as inevitable.
We’ll explore how it works, weigh its pros and cons against regular derailleurs and Pinion gearboxes, and ask the big question: Is this the future of the mountain bike drivetrain?
What is Supre Drive?
At first glance, Supre Drive looks weird, complex, and inefficient. But when you drill down into the details, it’s not as crazy as it appears.
Supre essentially splits the two main functions of a derailleur: the shifting and the chain tensioning. A small derailleur shifts the chain across the cassette sprockets at the back just like normal, but the chain tensioning is now conducted near the front sprocket.
Supre requires one extra pulley wheel compared to a regular derailleur drivetrain. This does add to the overall drive resistance, but it’s kept within 1% thanks to the large diameter pulleys that minimise the chain articulation angles.
Surprisingly, Supre Drive uses many standard components. It works primarily with conventional components, including a Shimano XT shifter, chain and cassette. The crankset, bottom bracket (T47), and rear hub spacing (157mm Super Boost) are somewhat normal too.
The rest of the components are engineered and manufactured by a small company called Lal Bikes in Canada.
Supre Drive can be fitted to hardtail bikes and full suspension bikes that are designed around a high pivot.
I’ve tested this drivetrain against a high-end derailleur on two otherwise identical bikes. Here are the key advantages I’ve identified over SRAM Transmission.
Advantages of Supre Drive
The most obvious advantage of Supre Drive is that it lifts your derailleur out of harm’s way, protecting your drive components from rocks, logs and crashes. This minimises the frequency of broken components, keeping your bike out of the workshop and on the trail.
More importantly, Supre Drive delivers reliable shifting because its design makes misalignment virtually impossible. This is a major benefit for 12-speed systems, where even slight misalignment can lead to poor shift performance. It’s also ideal for riders who frequently transport their bikes and don’t want to stress about damaging a derailleur – that’s whether you toss your bike in the car or fly regularly.
A well-protected drivetrain might also change the way you ride. I usually take derailleur-protective lines on technical trails, but with Supre Drive, I never worried about tagging an expensive derailleur on a rock (SRAM XX Eagle Transmission derailleurs are US $715!!).
My favourite feature is the hydraulic chain tensioner, which, along with the very short section of loose chain, makes Supre Drive the most silent derailleur drivetrain I’ve ever tested.
The chain tensioner lives inside the frame and doesn’t require maintenance. It only adds chain tension in accordance with how fast the chain bounces. On rough terrain where the chain rattles a lot, the tensioner provides more force, keeping your bike quiet. And when slowly climbing up a hill, it provides less force, allowing for smoother shifts.
In comparison, a regular derailleur uses a one-way clutch to prevent your chain from rattling. These clutches rely on sliding friction, making them prone to wear. The Supre tensioner is unlikely to wear out due to its sealed, oil-damped design.
The combination of high ground clearance and high chain tension under a large impact also keeps your chain from slapping on the ground. The chain ultimately accumulates less grit – check out these screenshots from a Pinkbike Huck-to-Flat video to see the difference. This high chain clearance is notably beneficial in the snow too.
Another clear advantage is the straighter chain line across the gears. The idler pulley is set further forward than the front sprocket, resulting in a long upper chain span that reduces the chain angle at the extremes. This minimises chain noise, drive resistance and wear.
A full suspension bike can also perform better with Supre, as there is 300 grams less unsprung mass at the rear wheel. This results in your rear shock being able to react quicker to impacts, providing more traction and performance.
Ok, so Supre Drive offers several tangible advantages over a regular derailleur. But there are some notable disadvantages to consider too.
Disadvantages of Supre Drive
Firstly, you need to invest in a new bike if you’d like to use this drivetrain! Supre requires a specially-designed frame with mounts for the derailleur, hydraulic damper, and upper pulley. This is not without precedent; when you buy a bike with a Pinion gearbox, you also need to commit to a dedicated gearbox frame.
That said, when a frame is designed to accommodate both a Supre rear triangle and a standard one, it enables compatibility for both drivetrain types, giving manufacturers and consumers the most options.
Supre Drive places some constraints on pivot placement in full suspension frames, excluding areas like the rear axle, bottom bracket, and lower down tube. This would require many bike brands to rethink their preferred suspension linkage designs to ensure they would all fit around the drive components.
Another drawback is that it doesn’t work with mid-drive eBike motors. As the eBike market continues to grow, especially among riders who are open to new tech, this incompatibility further limits Supre Drive’s potential reach. Without the ability to serve this fast-expanding segment, it becomes harder for this drivetrain to gain widespread adoption.
Supre Drive holds a weight penalty over a regular derailleur drivetrain. Previous bike builds have shown it’s about 400 grams (or one pound) heavier. The shift speed is also marginally slower as there is a bit more chain wrap around the cassette.
In addition, it’s slightly harder to remove the rear wheel. You need to detach the tensioner and hook it to a frame-mounted bracket before you can remove the rear wheel.
Supre Drive is currently cost-prohibitive. Not only do you need a specialist frame, but you need a whole bunch of made-in-Canada components.
Lastly, Supre parts are currently only available through Lal Bikes in Canada. This could make repairs more challenging, and it raises concerns about long-term support if the company were to shut down.
You should now have a good idea whether Supre Drive is for you. So, where can you buy it?
Current Supre Drive Bikes
At the moment, there’s just one bike built to accommodate Supre Drive. It’s called the Lal Katana, and it won’t be hitting the trails until 2026.
This 130mm travel all-mountain frame is designed and manufactured by the creator of Supre Drive, and it features a slightly rearward axle path that helps it carry momentum more effectively over square-edge bumps.
Lal Bikes hopes this proof of concept will convince bike manufacturers that their drivetrain is worthy of investment.
Let’s now shift gears and compare Supre Drive against the venerable Pinion gearbox.
Supre Drive Advantages Over A Pinion Gearbox
Supre Drive offers numerous advantages over a Pinion gearbox, making it especially appealing for riders focused on performance.
For starters, bikes equipped with Supre Drive can be up to a kilogram lighter than their Pinion-equipped counterparts, giving riders an immediate advantage in weight savings.
When it comes to drive efficiency, Supre performs similarly to a regular derailleur drivetrain, even surpassing many high-pivot setups. In contrast, Pinion gearboxes have been measured to lose 5 to 7% of pedal power in a controlled lab test, making Supre Drive the quicker option.
Moreover, Supre Drive allows for gear changes under full pedal load, a feature that sets it apart from gearbox drivetrains, which require a slight reduction in pedal force. Additionally, Supre Drive offers faster drivetrain engagement as it only has one freewheel. In comparison, gearbox bikes feel more sluggish as they must engage one freewheel at the gearbox and another at the rear hub.
Beyond performance, Supre Drive is also mechanically simple and easy to maintain. Gear adjustments are made at the shifter, and replacement parts like chains and cassettes are easily found at most bike shops. There’s also no need to send components away for maintenance, unlike with gearboxes.
And lastly, although Supre Drive comes with a premium price, it remains more affordable than a Pinion gearbox bike, at least in the short term.
Pinion Gearbox Advantages Over Supre Drive
Pinion gearboxes are the easy choice for cyclists seeking a low-maintenance drivetrain that significantly reduces component wear.
Thanks to their sealed gear components, gearbox drivetrains are virtually maintenance-free. In addition, the internal gear indexing eliminates the need for gear adjustments and makes gear skipping a thing of the past.
Another advantage of gearboxes is their compatibility with belt drives, which further reduces maintenance needs. With a belt drivetrain, there’s far less cleaning and lubrication required, and the components last much longer — often 3 to 4 times longer than a chain. Even if you stick with a chain, the perfectly straight chain line of a gearbox bike still leads to longer-lasting components.
On top of that, gearboxes allow for instant gear changes, even without pedalling. This unique feature enables you to shift gears while cornering, while stationary, and even in the air!
Without the bulk of a heavy cassette or derailleur at the rear wheel, gearbox bikes also offer improved suspension performance. The reduced unsprung mass allows the suspension to react faster to impacts, providing better traction.
And lastly, Pinion gearboxes offer a wider gear range, which is ideal for riders who need both lower gears for steep climbs and higher gears for fast descents.
The Future of Supre Drive
For Supre Drive to gain wider appeal, bike manufacturers must go all-in on an extremely niche drivetrain, without knowing whether consumers will actually buy it. This is a massive risk for a bike manufacturer.
The market conditions for taking on this risk are not particularly favourable right now. The bike industry is currently sitting on a lot of stock, and demand for bicycles is low after the recent COVID boom.
In addition, bike manufacturers usually prefer to buy their drivetrain, brakes, and suspension components in bulk from suppliers, as they get a large discount and more payment flexibility.
This sounds a bit bleak, but there’s a silver lining here. Supre Drive would be a unique selling point for a bike brand, and a great way for up-and-coming brands to stand out. I’d imagine smaller companies could get a strong foothold in the market by using an innovative new drivetrain with genuine performance benefits.
A good case study is Priority Bicycles, whose unique selling point is the belt and gearbox (or gear hub) drivetrains found on all of their bikes. As a small company, differentiating itself in a market flooded with products has enabled it to grow quickly and establish itself as a reputable brand. There is no reason why other new bike brands couldn’t do the same with Supre Drive.
Summary
So, is Supre Drive the future of mountain bike drivetrains?
With its smart rethinking of the derailleur, Supre brings real benefits, like enhanced durability, better reliability, and quieter performance, all while keeping things relatively simple and serviceable.
It’s not perfect: Supre requires a dedicated frame design, it doesn’t work with mid-drive e-bike motors, and the bike options are limited for now.
Ultimately, the success of this drivetrain depends on whether the bike industry can recognise its potential to drive bike sales. After testing this drivetrain, I know I’m on board.
