In 2010, the first Pinion gearbox was fitted to a bike that was cycled across the Himalayas. By 2012, the world's biggest bike trade show, Eurobike, had a handful of bikes built around the 18-speed Pinion P1.18 gearbox, impressing bike travellers – myself included. Today, over one hundred bike manufacturers build their frames around...
Carbon Belt Drive has been developed over the last 30 years. It's a power transmission technology used to run the blowers on 10,000 horsepower racing engines, the powertrains of 150 horsepower motorbikes, and more recently, the drivetrains of many bicycles.
The belts themselves are a series of nylon teeth that are reinforced using...
I've recently noticed some very inaccurate numbers being thrown about regarding the weight difference between gearbox bikes and derailleur bikes (hint – it's not even close to 3kg). In this article, I'll try to clear things up by calculating the precise weight difference between 11 common drivetrain options found on touring and...
The Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 is an internally geared rear hub that has been servicing the demands of bike travellers for a few decades now. Inside the oversized hub shell are 14 gears which offer almost the same gear range as a regular drivetrain. These gears all sit inside an oil bath that's sealed away from the elements. Gear shifting...
Do you like the idea of a custom Rohloff touring bike build? Well, a Rohloff frame may not be as expensive as you think – you can get yourself a Rohloff-specific frame for under US $500 (399€).
I really like touring with a Rohloff hub as they offer a nice range of gears, minimal maintenance and surprisingly they run really...
Gearbox systems are becoming more and more popular on touring bikes. The most common form of gearbox is the internally geared rear hub, which has actually been available since the late-1800s. The earlier ones were a two-speed design, but these days we have the 14-speed Rohloff hub as our benchmark.
More recently you will find internal...
This is the first touring bike I ever bought! It started life as a Surly Long Haul Trucker, but these days this custom touring bike is barely a semblance of the bike it once was.
Not only has it travelled well over 100,000km, but it's been built with:
- Road handlebars, butterfly handlebars, flat handlebars, riser handlebars and...
Near the Swiss and Italian borders in France you'll find Julien Fritsch building his stunning custom bikes. While there's not a lot of information available about Jolie Rouge Cycles, the details on this fillet-brazed Jolie Rouge touring bike say enough! Here are some words from Julien:
Each of my bikes is an individual experience. Step...
I first heard of Geekhouse bikes when I was teenager and was into launching myself off dirt jumps. Back in those days Marty (Geekhouse founder) was designing Taiwanese-built bikes while he learned the craft of framebuilding. By 2008 he had acquired all of the skills necessary to open his own framebuilding shop in...
Internally geared hubs have been available in bikes for over a century now, offering cyclists a simple and almost maintenance-free gear system due to a reduction in external parts. They are pretty well impervious to water, mud, dust, sand, rocks and branches. Although they appear complex when you look at the sheer quantity of...
