NuVinci Demo Ride
Friday morning found Frosty & myself sitting outside of Starbucks at 8am waiting to meet up with the local NuVinci rep, Dave Rosen; technically he works for Fallbrook Technologies. Of course the day I take off to go ride turns out to be a bust as it’s literally in the 40′s out and just raining. We cancel our ride plans & instead, focus on experiencing the NuVinci hub.
If you haven’t read anything about the hub, it works on something a lot like planets traveling along their orbits. Adjusting the orbits is the key to the inner-workings of Nu-Vinci.
no metal-on-metal contact
Because it doesn’t rely on gears with specific teeth counts and chains having to be coaxed up & down the cassette, you essentially get infinite adjustment. In fact, you can shift while standing still. A clever visual indicator using what’s so lovingly called the inchworm gives you a graphic representation of how you’re currently utilizing the system’s capabilities.
from steep to flat
The lowest gear is really low…like mtn bike granny gear. The highest gear could probably be higher but not crit/track/circuit racing higher…that would be ridiculous.
All you need to set one up is preferably a single-speed frame with a 2:1 gear ratio.
Strengths:
- completely sealed from the elements
- infinite gear choices
- ridiculously quiet
- little to no chain/chainring wear
- “clean” look
- shift while stopped (you can dump massive gears!)
- no cable stretch
- 1/2 the price of a Rohloff
29er with disc tabs
Weaknesses:
- you’ll need to route 2 cables to the hub
- the tested hub was heavy…like 7-8lbs
- must rotate the shifter 1.5 rotations to go from small to big, vice versa
- shifter grip was slippery
- shifting is slightly harder under load
- hard to get at rear wheel, flywheel mechanism sits outside of drops
Surly Crosscheck w/ NuVinci
Final thoughts:
If I had this hub right now on a dedicated commuter, I could ride anywhere. It was the most fascinating thing I’d ever experienced. It wasn’t simply learning about a new way to shift but more like riding a bike with endless possibilities. Dave Rosen told us they’re product testing the new hub on mtn bikes which is exciting news since Frosty & I (as well as the rest of the Oregon Crossniacs) are avid off-road riders!
Frosty really wants to see it get smaller as he’s definitely more competition-focused than your average 20 yr-old. Rightly so as a bike with no derailleur to get damaged, no noise to give away your sprinting intentions & just one shifter will revolutionize biking.
The current incarnation of the NuVinci is definitely at home on commuters, hybrinds, tandems & maybe even recumbents. But the new hub (and future hubs) could be the next big thing in All-Mountain, Down Hill, and dare I say Cyclocross? Move over Hammerschmidt, here comes the All Mtn NuVinci! Or say goodbye to the Shadow series of Shimano derailleurs! The possibilities are endless.
Wanna learn more?
David Rosen,
NuVinci Evangelist
drosen@fallbrooktech.com
-will aka buddhabelly
12 Responses to “NuVinci Demo Ride”
Yeah, I really enjoyed testing this hub. The foundation is solid, and there the technology is there to back it up. Right now, it’s really only practical for leisure riding. Even the new model is still around 5 pounds, which is more than many frame/ fork combos. I would like to see a version with only maybe 100% spread opposed to the current 350%. I think this could potentially lighten the hub enough to make it race worthy.
Neat! Why a flywheel?
The flywheel (controlled by 2 derailleur cables) are responsible for adjusting the “orbit” of the spheres.
Did I mention that there is no metal-on-metal contact? It’s killer because apparently the system uses a Valvoline-produced liquid that under pressure acts more like a solid. The pits on the surface of each steel ball (kinda resembles golf balls) fill up with the liquid and that is where the friction necessary for motion comes from.
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golf balls that are made in China does not seem to last longer:~;
i was hit with a golf ball on the head and it was quite painfull*”*
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