kevinmccune
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meanwhile the electronic"cassette" gets ever closer,anybody seen the new polymer batteries?
Pinion Motor.Gearbox.Unit (MGU)
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Dewey
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- Arlington, Virginia
More on the Riese & Muller bikes https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/n...025-bikes-with-pinion-s-mgu-drive-system-5459
Mr. Coffee
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I think some of the interesting questions about how you build belt drive bicycles need some answers and good answers will make for better bikes:
- How do you maintain proper belt tension? If you remove and replace the rear wheel, do you have to readjust to get proper belt tension?
- How do you release tension on the belt before removing or installing the rear wheel? Note that if you do any of that with the belt under tension you will probably need a new belt in the very near future.
- Where and how do you separate the chainstay to install the belt? Note that this is the most likely place the frame will fail, especially on aluminum or carbon frames.
Mr. Coffee
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The bottom bracket configuration on those bikes looks just plain weird.
Bill G
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- Near Lake George, NY
I have an R&M Nevo 3. I have not found a need to retension the belt after replacing the rear wheel. That said, I do periodically check belt tension and adjust if needed. R&M has posted a video on the rear wheel removal:
mschwett
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weird is one way to put it, horrendously ugly is another!! wtf
I missed in all the DJI excitement & news coverage from Eurobike that renowned French e bike manufacturer Moustache unveiled a new Pinion MGU equipped EMTB called Project BOX 46 - a prototype due for release next year.
This will be the first non-Bosch motor Moustache have ever used apparently - They're always been big on Bosch and only Bosch.
So both Moustache and R&M trying out the MGU. Be great if Moustache equip one of their lovely urban and/or trekking bikes with the Pinion as well. Christ I'm going to need to rob a bank though with all these expensive boutique European brands!
This will be the first non-Bosch motor Moustache have ever used apparently - They're always been big on Bosch and only Bosch.
So both Moustache and R&M trying out the MGU. Be great if Moustache equip one of their lovely urban and/or trekking bikes with the Pinion as well. Christ I'm going to need to rob a bank though with all these expensive boutique European brands!
Just saw this top down shot which explains it I think - the rear shock housing sits on top of the motor! It's mostly enclosed so from the side looks like the motor is massive and weirdly triangular. I must admit I've never got R&M in hiouse bulky designs/styling. They seem to want to deliberately make their bikes look heavy!
On both the Nicolai and Moustache mtb's with the mgu, the thing that concerns me is the "badonk-a-donk" in the frame just forward of the chainring. I can see those protuberances getting absolutely smashed on logs/rocks. I feel like there needs to be way better bash protection for that area.
Dewey
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The ebiketips article mentions R&M have designed this to make replacing the motor possible. Of interest it is reported that "other systems could potentially be retrofitted to the bike". Assuming the reporter got this tidbit from R&M I wonder hypothetically what might be involved in swapping out the Pinion MGU for a Bosch Smart System for example? I'm not au fait with the Pinion rear sprocket mount, does the rear frame have horizontal drop outs for fitting an IGH or a mount for a derailleur hanger? A well meaning attempt to future proof the expensive frame?
dblhelix
Well-Known Member
I have a hard time imagining the retrofit is with the end user in mind, at least not as a feature option.
My guess: Pinion is practically giving these away. Just like the gearbox for the Lectric One.
If all goes well, Pinion acquires quick market share. If not, R&M bails.
Yeah hard to get your head around that idea. So many changes needed including even the mounting bolt positions from MGU to Bosch system - those aren't likely to be in same place? I mean I can see the economy's of scale of having one frame design to fit multiple systems but... Dunno. We'll wait and see I suppose.
dynamic
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- USA
I finally got to experience a pinion smartshift (not MGU). My advice is to run screaming from smartshift bikes like c1.12i. Honestly, I am just about completely converted to chain ( @Stefan Mikes are pigs flying?). This stuff isn’t ready for prime time. It’s not clear to me if/how the MGU version can address the issues of the smartshift version. I don’t post here much anymore because my best bike is the sirrus X 4.0. Non-electric regular chain bike. It is the only bike I am currently riding.
As excited as I am about these concepts, and how they may push the industry forward, I wouldn’t want the current implementation experience for myself. Hopefully MGU is better than c1.12i, but based on what I know, I am not optimistic. I certainly wouldn’t buy a pinion MGU without plenty of pre-purchase ride time. This stuff isn’t beta, it’s alpha. At best.
SRAM Transmission is next. Not sure if it will be electric or not. Anyway, back to my cave.
As excited as I am about these concepts, and how they may push the industry forward, I wouldn’t want the current implementation experience for myself. Hopefully MGU is better than c1.12i, but based on what I know, I am not optimistic. I certainly wouldn’t buy a pinion MGU without plenty of pre-purchase ride time. This stuff isn’t beta, it’s alpha. At best.
SRAM Transmission is next. Not sure if it will be electric or not. Anyway, back to my cave.
scrambler
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May be you should qualify your experience so it would help understanding it.
dynamic
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No thanks. For a few reasons. 1) I don’t think this is the thread for it. It’s about the MGU. 2) It’s not an electric powered bike at all, so maybe not on this forum? 3) This forum is pretty toxic. 4) Those things make it not worth the effort to me.
If someone wants to start a thread about that gearbox and moderate it to keep the toxic people out, I would happily provide my experiences if mentioned in that thread. The bike industry is fairly broken. And bike snobs don’t like when you call that out by exposing the flaws of their beloved brands and products. Talking about negative experiences here makes you a target for those people. And I simply don’t have time or patience for that anymore.
scrambler
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Then may be the best would have been not to bring it up
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