Pinion's encapsulated gears are a great solution for anyone who finds derailleur gears annoying. The Pinion gearbox with belt drive is really stress-free - chain maintenance is a thing of the past. Only ten mountain bike manufacturers offer bikes with the Pinion gearbox. Hardtails are available from around 2600 euros, fullys are extremely rare.
The widest possible gear range is crucial for mountain bikers. After all, you want to be able to crank up steep ramps with extremely low gears and at the same time be able to pedal at high speeds on the downhill. For this reason, a three-speed crank was long regarded as a "sacred cow" for derailleur gears, as it was used to achieve gear ratio ranges of sometimes more than 600 per cent total gear ratio. The new Pinion P 1.18 achieves an overall gear ratio of 636 per cent.
The jumps between the individual gears are also crucial. With derailleur gears, you usually have irregular jumps as you shift up or down on the sprocket and chainring. With a gear system such as Pinion or Rohloff, you have precisely defined, even steps between the gears.
All bikes with Pinion gearboxes at a glance
You can download the table with the currently available mountain bikes with Pinion gearboxes free of charge below:
