Funny story, actually. I was googling around for NuVinci and found a bike store page that was offering it. It turns out that the owner had ordered it to try himself and had prepped the page for later when he really offered it. The owner was gracious enough to sell it to me before he even got it out of the box.

I think your LBS can order it from Seattle Bike Supply.

It might be a nice addition to that sweet Giant Lite + XtraCycle you have...

Thank you, yeah the Giant is what I was thinking of hanging one on.
Glad to hear you like the hub.

The Lites are great bikes. I've put tons of miles on mine.

This CVT technology has been pushed several times to enter the bike market, I'm sure, however this seems to be a fairly developed version.

I wonder how this CVT will hurt/help automatic shifters such as Shimano's "coasting".

I have a feeling that CVT will allow users to have enough input to at least control candence (unlike coasting), but also have the freedom from shifting and clinks/clanks with a dérailleur.

There is one on eBay.

I really don't see why someone would like such an automatic shifter on a human powered device. In a car you can use an automatic CVT concept to always create the optimal momentum. A motor doesn't get tired.
On a bike you would have to replace one shifter (gear change) by a "fatigue" shifter and a cadence shifter.

There is a synthetic fluid in the hub, similar to the fluid in a traditional hub gear but it is not a hydrostatic transmission so shouldn't see the problems these might encounter in low temps. The fluid is used to lubricate the hub but still provide traction between two mechanical surfaces inside the hub. From your link Valvoline says the fluid works at extreme high and low temperatures, so I guessing winter operation is not a problem.
The transmission is not fluid based but the traction fluid does play an important role in the operation of the hub. I guessing the hub would operate without fluid but you would quickly wear it out.
Craig

The hub works without fluid (search for "Nuvinci" at youtube, there is somewhere a live demonstration available with an open hub), but the key element of the success of this hub is the fluid. Without it it is only a concept. Now it is a working device in working bikes.

Thanks for the info about the temperature, but you did miss the second page wich says:

THINK OF IT AS LIQUID GEARS.

:p

Anyone know if there's a way to get a Batavus in the US? As a cheesehead myself, I have a special affinity for these bikes - and with the addition of this NuVinci hub, I'd go into debt for it! They are expensive though. . .

Nevermind - I found this: http://commutebybike.com/2007/05/24/...in-the-states/

AJ, you may also want to check out http://www.dutchbikes.us/. They have Azor and Monark bikes.

As a cheesehead AJU would know that these are not what the Dutch ride. There are only two main manufacturers in Holland: Gazelle and Batavus. The "Grannybikes" were a hit about 20 years ago and those "Bakfietsen" I have never seen.

So the torque-transfer interface is effectively a compressor section. Is it isolated enough to cool itself?

I was surprised today to notice that REI is selling the Ellsworth "the ride" bikes.

http://www.rei.com/search?vcat=REI_S...sworth&x=0&y=0

http://www.rei.com/product/760064

$3000 and $4000 each. Seems like an odd choice for them.

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictures/Bike/REIHub.jpghttp://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictur...REIShifter.jpg
Pretty. Does seem an odd choice for REI. I guess they are trying to expand into some of that Hammacher Schlemmer type of demographic.

I got my Giant Lite's cracked chain stay repaired the other day and realized I also snapped the cog off of my SA hub as well. I just ordered the Nu Vinci hub to replace the SA hub. It'll be in a few weeks, about the same time as the cast comes off my hand. I'll post pics and give a report as to how this hub performs when it shows.

Hi someopne else on this forum who knows what a Bridgeport is

Bill, you mis-read JOHN E's comment. He was addressing the comment above made by MAKEINU that if they made it automatic he would buy one. John E simply was stating that he wouldn't want it even if they made it automatic and he gave his reasons why. The NuVinci hub is not automatic hence the reason you were able to quote from their web page that you do control the pitch. Of course you do. Its not automatic!

O.K. now that we have that cleared up I want to comment on the automatic concept. I tend to agree with John E however, I began wondering if an automatic transmission could be developed that allowed you to manually set the CADENCE. Lets say you wanted to spin at x number of rotations per minute. You would set the gear shift to x. If you wanted to spin at y you would move the gear shift lever to y or z. Than the transmission would automatically adjust the gearing to maintain the cadence selected. And if this were done with the NuVinci hub you would supposedly not even be able to feel the gear changes. You would be left to spin away at whatever cadence you had selected. Just a thought. :)

Randy

Does the Nu-Vinci come in carbon for OCP'ers and weight-weenies?

"No friction losses" The only place there are no friction losses is mechanical engineering text books.

I personally would like to a comparison of mechanical efficiency for various gearing systems. Rolhoff seems to be the closest to actually publishing something like that. It is not that easy to determine and the results might not be flattering so I understand why they do not publish such data.

FYI, There was a short article on this hub in Popular Science recently.

Fill a carbon container with oil, fill a metal container with oil... either one is heavy.

I cracked the Sturmey-Archer hub I had on my XtraLite in half recently and have replaced it with a NuVinci. I believe I simply subjected the S-A to too much weight and torque, and poor thing just gave up the ghost.
I picked it up today, tomorrow I'll bring my camera home and post some pics of it.

I've only put about 10 miles on the new hub, but my first impressions are:
1. It's huge (hold your hands as far from one another as you can)
2. It's the smoothest hub I've ever ridden.

It looks like it's about 5-6 inches across. Mine is silver and not black like the one in the pic above.
To "shift" it one just turns the shift knob until it reaches the torque you want, it's glass smooth and silent. On flats you can shift it while pedaling, but up hills you have to back off the pressure on the pedals. There are two cables coming from the shifter leading to the hub; Rohloffs also use a two cable system, one to pull the hub to the bottom end and one to pull the hub to the tall end of its range.
One thing that I'll find irritating is the shifter is backward to the one on my commuter (clockwise to shift up vs. counter clockwise) just something that will take a few days to change habits.

So far I think I'm going to be very happy with it, and being so much larger than my S-A it at least makes me feel like it'll hold up better.

Again, I'll post some images of it tomorrow and will post my impressions again in a week or so when I've racked some miles on it.
I'll also know if it has an effect on the battery range of the XtraLite.

[QUOTE=geo8rge;4745882I personally would like to a comparison of mechanical efficiency for various gearing systems.[/QUOTE]

See the article starting on page three of:

http://www.ihpva.org/pubs/HP52.pdf

HTH,
TCS

If you look at the following link: http://www.ski-epic.com/amsterdam_bicycles/ you will see a selection of pictures of cyclists in Amsterdam over a 1.5 hour period. The bak fietsen appear to be a very new phenomena. At one of the sites I read an article that mentioned that there came to the market back in 2001 and since then have exploded. They are now the "in thing" to have for what would probably be considered "soccer moms" in the USA. The Oma Fiets (Granny Bike) also seems to somehow remain "cool" even though it is a near anchient design. An other thing I've read is that the percentage of people riding their bikes has sincreased significantly in the last 10 years. Back in the 1970's lots of people were buying their 1st car. For that matter I was 7 when my parents bought their first car. As a funny side note, when that car was trashed in a car crash I remember us all going out on our bikes to go car shopping. Admittedly even in a country where cycling is so common the 1st Volvo dealer claimed he had no used cars on the lot... The second Volvo dealer was not far away and they were very welcoming, and my parents bought a car there. During the 1980's many people in Holland were for the 1st time adding a 2nd car to the family, and were using it. Since then grid lock has become increasigly bad and many have realized that the good old bike is still a great for of transporation. All of my family members in Holland have remained 1 car families. Some could afford a 2nd car, but all have realized that the bike is still an easier way to get around. I could see one of my cousins getting one of those new "bak fietsen" She lieves within 3 miles of all the shopping one might need to do and it sure is a convenient way to bring home a large load. Even if you take the car, you have to walk quite a way to get to the parking areas, so it is still a pain to load up the car with groceries. Therefore the bike remains a major for of transportation. I can't justify spending $2000 on a bike. I plan to ride as far into and through the Winter as possible, but we do get a lot of snow here in Buffalo so time will tell how much I'll be able to use my bike year round. If I was living in a milder climate I could see getting rid of one car and using the bike to get groceries as well.

Happy riding,
André

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictur...Vinci/Hub1.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictur...ci/Shifter.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictur...Vinci/Hub2.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictur...Vinci/Hub3.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/awcg/.Pictur...ci/Shifter.gif

Nice animated gif!