Inside the Honda Gearbox

by MTBcut
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Inside the Honda Gearbox

We shot this at the Worlds in Fort William, luckily just before they melted all the bikes down!!!

61 Comments

  • + 53
 all that and its a regular shifter.... i taught there would be little gremlins inside or something
  • + 8
 Yeah so did I, something magic inside there. He opens it up and there's a chainring and derailer in there. I laughed.
  • + 14
 thats awesome - i don't know what i thought was going to be in there but i didnt think it would be so simple. gearbox bikes will be the norm in like 5 years time for sure
  • + 2
 Thats cause this is the second one they made, the first generation were far more elaborate and had infinite adjustment, this is just a derailer in a box.
  • + 1
 i'd have it over normal gears any day, they felt so good to ride too
  • + 1
 O god yeah this is far superior to derailers. I really want to know what the first generations were like too.
  • + 11
 Hi is five years in the future and gearbox bikes aren't the norm Wink .
  • + 5
 It's 2016 and gearboxes still aren't the norm. We just got Super Boost rear spacing instead.
  • + 4
 2017 Still waiting for it to happen.
  • + 1
 @colincolin: 2018 now and theres a better chance of 3.0 tires becoming a standard than gearbox taking off.
  • + 1
 End of 2019 gear boxes haven't taken off and plus tires are already failing
  • + 1
 They aint exactly gearboxes, but I am noticing an increase in bulbous bb areas on frames...
  • + 4
 12 years later I admit I was wrong. Still find it hard to believe rear mechs haven't been bettered yet
  • + 1
 @jonesym3: yup
  • + 13
 wow all that secrecy and all it is is a normal derailiur... that is why they were keeping it a secrete
  • + 12
 no what they are keeping secrete is how it can change gears without pedaling and while pedaling backwards
  • + 14
 Probably just a fixed gear on the back wheel... Trials bike with front freewheel do this already, as long as the bike is moving you can shift gears.
  • + 2
 yea because there is a freewheel in the front and it is a direct drive
  • + 7
 that is cool, i already seen it on mtbcut though, but hint hint to bike companys
  • + 4
 stupid fucks you should sell that frame i want one, and i bet some more out there want it too.
  • + 3
 yeah i would like one
  • + 2
 that is actually amazing idea in my opinion the only thing i would worry about is the weight
  • + 2
 that looks so prime, i've always wondered why they always had the derail in a spot where it can be smacked around and so bare to the world now with this thing hopefully we'll have to adjust them less
  • + 2
 my gear system works better i bet..... its single speed xD, nice vid
  • + 3
 I bet that wasn't the real gearbox, they probably just made that one to shut people up. But if thats hat its really like, disappointing. May as well just use a normal bike that uses normal parts that cost a normal price. Razz
  • + 2
 its like drum roll please...*lift case*....."eh? your having us on arnt you?????????"

oh wot i disappointment, i wanted it to be some thing magical, like a rabbit would jump out or summert, but no

i had been trying to work it out for a few years, now im very disappointed, still and shame they melted them all, did they melt all of them?
  • + 1
 from what ive heard its a cover up. this may not be true but i believe it is, honda? who make cars and motorbikes could surely come up with alot better/lighter/more efficent technology. i beleive this is a cover up but thats only my opion.
  • + 1
 yh, this gearbox was made by a different company from germany i think....
  • + 1
 classic example of how the bike industry gets in the way of itself.. this is an easy solution for big name manufacturers to pursue and develop (honda did not take long to figure this out) and yet they refuse, and pump out marginal improvements (12,13 speed derailluers, we dont need more gears just more range) but they dont. They want to keep the large piece of metal floating about on the side of your bike to smash and have to be bought again and again...
  • + 1
 Beautifully machined carbon/alu cover; interesting to see a shimano chain and cassette; I suppose the mech was bespoke to make the total width narrower (mech is the same depth as the cassette)
  • + 3
 its amazing that nobody thought about it sooner! very clever but so simple.
  • + 5
 it has been done before, many times, bcd has an early all carbon prototype built quite a few years ago. and like bcd there has been a number of home builders that has done so as well
  • + 2
 the freewheel is on the "front" chainring. it can't shift at a complete stop though.
  • + 2
 Don't like it.. i think its to much.. remember its not the bike witch makes you fast.. it you.
  • + 2
 yea they probally did make them patented, they looked like awesome bike....seems such a waste that they melted them...
  • + 3
 I'm gonna make me one of those...
*heads off to machine shop
  • + 1
 WHAT AHPPENED TO THIS BIKE? Has it been kept in Smithsonian Museum? That's sad! I wish they would make it to publics to purchase and let its legacy to live on..
  • + 2
 thats it NOX did that years ago..www.noxcycles.com
  • + 1
 Nox bikes are wicked!
  • + 1
 god i was waiting for like millions of tiny parts to come flying out when he opened it. it is so simple..fuck
  • + 1
 ye konakid7 you are looking at like a fue grand for the bike and theres only 3 in the world Big Grin
  • + 2
 Im not a good fan of it, but its a good concept
  • + 1
 Thats awesome, amazing, wouldn't the chainline be messed when it shift's though?
  • + 1
 i want one Frown

i wish they did still makeFrown
  • + 1
 its just looks like a complicated mec and casette in a box?
  • + 1
 can you build one, is it easy?
  • - 1
 sure why not
  • + 1
 Wow nice! Now I want to build one.
  • + 1
 I didnt know honda made bikes....

why did they melt the bikes down?? Frown
  • + 0
 =O How did you not know honda made bikes? *GASPS*
they melted them down because they stopped running their dh racing team as apparantly there wasnt any money to be made in it...so they therefore had no need for them so melted them...

plus i doubt that their idea can be coppied as it was more than likely patented to them ?=/
  • + 0
 All you need to do to get around a patent is change one small detail.
IIRC theres 1 bike out there somewhere being ridden and showcased... but it got stolen or something a while back?I just caught a glimpse of the story in a mag
  • + 8
 they didnt melt them you spastic
  • + 1
 mate, they melted them. pretty common knowledge there. read up before dishing that out...
  • - 3
 lets face it it was one of there bigest achievements they didnt melt them down
  • + 1
 hardly. Hondas MTB team doesnt even come close to their top ten achievments! I think they have more pressing priorities than MTBing. A statement they issued even said that they melted them, what possible use would they serve to primarily a car, bike and powerboat manufacturer?
  • - 1
 VOD....amazing.....now get it into production honda and earn yourselves even more money
  • + 1
 Thats not gonna happen. Honda DH was only an "experiment".
  • + 1
 whery amazing!
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