rasheed

introducing the 2013i.

Jim311

:drool:


I've been looking at that on Pinkbike.. pretty sweet ride. I'm not sure what all that **** on it does, but I'll bet it's gonna be awesome

Chi

Looks like it's got 2 drive sides. But who'd make a rear derailleur for the left?

rasheed

no derailleurs needed. it's g-boxx technology (internal gear box).

Jim311

I rode with a guy yesterday who was using a 14 speed internal geared hub. It was crazy. One chainring in the front, and basically a singlespeed type setup in the rear. All the gearing and whatnot was within his hub. He ended up tearing the cable out of his hub in a crash tho

Dannihilator

MMM G-Boxx.

Jim311

Any idea how much it's gonna weigh?

Bokkie

It must surely 'weigh' about $3000?

Jim311

Perhaps if you use them there British Pounds!!

Bokkie

That frame looks, um, too radical for the UK. I love the colour of that puppy. Yellow is my bestest bike colour of all time.

Jim311

I had a yellow F500 that was awesome. Such a great bike... I miss it

knemo77

what a monster...looks like another reason to save some money this year

rasheed

here's another photo of it built up taken from this year's interbike.



the quote found on the evil site says they aren't expecting it to be in full production for another 10 years... by then i'll probably have enough money to afford one heh.

i like the idea of elevated replaceable chainstays... dunno if they're such a good thing though.

Jim311

The tire choice on it is interesting

Spectra

Are they hookworms? Those are good for dirt jumping and urban...so long as it isn't wet.

Jim311

Nah, Michelin Jet S.... kick ass street tires, but I thought I was the only one who used a XC race tire for urban stuff.

Hopper

OK, I've looked at the link that talks about the G-boxx. I get that youchange gear and that is all done internally in the greyish boxbut how does it give the power to the rear wheel? I don't see any chains or drive belts. Is this also internal and running throught the bolt on chainstay?

rasheed

the rear is still powered by a chain that runs from the crank set. the second picture i posted of the imperial 2013i isn't a complete build. if you notice, it's missing the pedals, the brakes and the chain. i think it also may be missing the grips, i can't really tell from the picture.

crashing_sux (one of the posters here) put up a picture of his nicolai nucleon, which uses the same g-boxx technology... here's the picture he posted:


it can be found in this thread:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...&page=37&pp=15

if you want, you can check out this link on the evilbikes.com site for some more info on the new imperial itself:
https://www.evilbikes.com/2013i_gboxx/2013i.htm

Jim311

That G-box junk is complicated. That's my only concern. Automatic transmissions are rediculously complicated and I'm sure this one is no different. I like to be able to fix my stuff on the trail if I ever have to... and right now I can fix practically anything on my bike whichI like.

crashing_sux

Unless you carry spare deraileurs, shifters, and cables in your camelback it's unlikely you can fix anything on your bike related to shifting as you say, most likely what you mean is that you can get it able to make it home (such as by taking a tweaked deraileur and locking into a single gear).

If that's the case, it's very easy to take a bike with a Rohloff that has had it's shifter ripped off and lock it into a single gear. In fact, as long as you have an 8mm wrench with you (my alien mini-tool has one) you can even shift the bike manually, select the gear you want and then pedal home.

With a setup like the G-boxx or any internal frame mounting like I have on my Nucleon ripping the cables out of the gearbox would be nearly impossible as well.

Another thing that I find funny is that you are so worried about fixing things on the trail, my main concern is not having things to fix on the trail. It sounds similar to when hydraulic discs first came out and everyone worried that they couldn't just replace a cable on the trail. In the long run most people realized that you don't have to, ripping hydraulic cables is not a very common problem, and even if it does happen you still have one brake that will get you home.

In over a year of riding with a Rohloff I've had zero shifting problems. Can you say the same? I am waiting for friends who have deraileur issues all the time. Last time I rode with Maelstrom he ripped his deraileur clean off of his bike, and with no deraileur to control chain tension on a full suspension bike he couldn't even lock the chain into one gear well. Deraileurs are so incredibly fragile I can't believe you are saying this looks like a decent technology but your main concern is it breaking.

And yes, they are complicated inside, but if the shifting mechanism every broke you would still have one gear to get you home. If the whole hub just locked up inside (say someone poured cement in there for some stupid reason) you'd just have a single speed and would still make it home. The technology inside while complex is well tested, it's planetary gears, the same thing in every automatic car you drive around.

How often do you have shifting problems on your automatic transmission car? How often do you have shifitng problems on your bike?

crashing_sux

It should weigh close to what an imperial with a full 27 speed shimano setup would weigh, maybe less. Adding a Rohloff 14 speed to a regular bike adds about a pound of weight, but many parts are not needed when adding a G-boxx style setup which should shave a pound or more off. It also depends on what gearbox they use, the G-boxx standard is meant to accept internal gearboxes from different manufactuers. As an example the new Shimano 8R internal hub weighs a pound less than the Rohloff so there is a pound off the setup right there.

The bike is named a 2013 just so people won't bug Evil asking when they can get one, he doesn't really think it's ten years out. Dave Weagle (the brains behind evil bikes) said he thinks the technology is really 3-5 years out for him, although Nicolai plans to have their new G-boxx bike (Nucleon TFR) out in around a year. Damn I want that new TFR, might have to sell my Nucleon ST and trade up.

crashing_sux

For anyone who hasn't seen the other G-boxx bike out there, the Nucleon TFR here's a pic.

This is a seriously bullitproof bike, note how the shift cables run tight to the frame and into the gearbox, kept well out of the way. Check out how they've run the chain inside the chainstays as well eliminating the possibility of getting a branch or something in there to derail or break your chain.

Standover height greatly increased as well, the section of the G-boxx that is where a normal chainring would be is smaller than a 24 tooth chainring and designed to take hard hits. If you want to be even safer you can bolt on a small bashring. Having this much clearance kicks ass when going over rocks and logs.

Maintenance is easy and infrequent. You only have to change the oil once a year in the gearbox. I've done it myself and it's very easy (drain hole on the bottom, fill hole on the top) but if you're really lazy just take it to the shop once a year to get serviced.

Not having your chain pulled side to side means chains don't break either, chains break when being pushed or pulled sideways, they don't break from straight tension. While weighing close to what a bike with a regular drive train would am imporant fact to consider is that the weight is centralized and low.

a2psyklnut

Hey C_S, is the Nicolai available? What's the MSRP on it?

(Not that I'm planning to get one, just curious)

I really like the way the chain is routed.

I am however curious as to the chain being on the opposite side of a traditional bike. Any reason why they ended up doing that? Seems like now you have to get a special hub with Left hand drive, and you've got to run the disc brake on the right side.

Pretty sweet frame though!

L8R

crashing_sux

They did the chain on the opposite side to minimize height. On the current generation of Nucleon's they run the chain on the right hand side but it requires them to move everything higher up as they have to stack the drive from the cranks to the gearbox and the gearbox to the rear wheel.

The frame won't be availble for close to a year and the rear hub won't be an issue. It will most likely be included with the frame and lots of people make them. Left side drive hubs are used on tandems sometimes, and what's more they don't actually have to make a left hand drive hub, they can just use a right side setup for fixed gear (no freewheel) and run it backwards. The freewheel is built into the gearbox so there is no need for one on the wheel itself. And realistically, there is no reason you would run a standard hub anyway, you'd run a singlespeed hub, almost all of which can be setup to run fixed gear.

Jim311

Whoa whoa whoa chief.. I wasn't saying it was unreliable, I was saying I'd like to be able to replace/repair it's components without being ASE certified in automatic transmission repair!! I rarely ever have derailler problems, but when I do I service/repair them myself instead of sending it to some German corporation thousands of miles away. I'm sure it's a reliable and great system, but the weight constraints and repair issues are what will keep me from owning one until I know they're fairly simple and reliable. If I can work on it myself (Or if repairs never have to happen) and it weighs close to a derailler setup then I'll buy one. Oh, and it has to be compatible with conventional frames, wheelsets, brakes, etc.