W.A.C.K.E.D.-An Idea With Balls

As this blog has mentioned before, bicycle technology has not changed much in the last 100+ years.  Other than styling, or materials like alloys and carbon fiber, bicycles have proven little need to evolve much further. It is hard to perfect something that is nearly perfect already.  It is however, small advances or completely different approaches to the status quo that have brought us things like hydraulic brakes, electronic transmissions, and now completely gear-less drive trains.  

The bicycle drive train typically comes in two types, external, and internal gear.  The external gearing is the derailleur type.  The internal is a series of gears inside the hub that generally range from 3-7 speed configurations, and are a favorite for lower maintenance on city bikes and cruisers.  All use at least one sprocket on the drive side of the hub to transfer power to the wheel and likely will always have to until we can harness magic to replace the chains, belts or shafts that use our pedal power to make us move.    

NuVinci has released a new approach.   In 2007, NuVinci (Fallbrook Technologies) brought us the first planetary bearing drive.  The hub was well received but considered large and heavy.  Similar to the internal hubs, the new NuVinci N360 would look much the same on the outside as any three or 5 speed out there but unlike its 2007 predecessor, smaller and lighter.  The difference, other than the single chain drive cog, it is completely gear-less.  It is not a 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, or whatever speed, but infinite.  Without gearing, there is no combination of gears to count to determine the shift-able options.  Instead, it has ball bearings that rotate and tilt on a center line and form increased or decreased resistance.   This changes the drive torque needed to move much like shifting gears with a derailleur.  Since their is no transition from one gear to the next, shifting is seamless and smooth without loss of power.  

In a standard configuration, it has a similar power range to most common drive systems.  Changing the front chain ring, or the hub's drive sprocket to different tooth counts can customize the range to virtually all set ups.  For now it is not a major threat to existing competition drive trains, but as it evolves and takes on more specific design flavors, it is becoming a serious alternative for commuters, cruisers, and other recreational applications. 

The shifter is a grip shift with a display that changes incline to reflect shifting changes.

The NuVinci hub on a Jamis Commuter

Personally, I have always been a huge fan of internal geared hubs.  My favorite bikes have been 3 and 5 speed Raleigh, and Schwinns.  I even have a Huffy Sportsman 3-speed that gets more use than some of my other bikes with derailleurs.  The NuVinci N360 may be a descent replacement for the derailleurs and cassettes that I was hesitant to replace before for a more limited shifting range.  For a touring bike this hub eliminates adjustment issues on the road with a derailleur.  Making adjustments on a ride is familiar to many, as well as having to make repairs of bent derailleurs, pulling rocks from a cassette, or even occasional oversight to the degree of wear on the sprockets.  No more having to hope it will make it, or roadside repairs to the most common problem source other than a flat tire.  I myself have experienced accidental bumps and bashes to derailleurs that ended rides half way from someone's bike falling into mine, or from unloading at the start point.  This is a promising technology that eliminates just one more thing that can go wrong, and one of the largest headaches of bike maintenance.