The drivers of automotive carriages benefited a lot from the pedal cyclists; differentials, tarmaced roads… very rarely does technolgy pass in the other direction.
Check it out: A brand new, box fresh NuVinci CVP hub sitting there on the desk and destined for my dear old Kona Africa Bike. To say I am excited would be an understatement. This rather weighty chunk of metal is nothing short of revolutionary, and still a rarity in the UK. I remember very vividly seeing my first NuVinci in the flesh, built into an Ellsworth at the Eurobike show. And I remember very vividly how much I wanted it!
I could barely bring myself to believe it really existed when images first started appearing in the press. Continuously variable transmissions, although not common, have appeared in more than ten million motorised vehicles over the years. The primary benefit of a stepless ‘gear box’ is that an engine can run at it’s optimum speed whatever the road speed of the vehicle. New ideas often create as many new problems as they solve, early CVT equipped vehicles suffered from accelerated tyre wear and poor economy but there was at least one unexpected advantage. From Wikipedea:
‘Because the system does not have separate gears, but one (continuously shifting) gear and a separate ‘reverse mode’ (as opposed to a reverse gear), the gear works in reverse as well, giving it the interesting side effect that one can drive backwards as fast as forwards. As a result, in the former Dutch annual backward driving world championship, the DAFs had to be put in a separate competition because no other car could keep up. ‘
The first CVT to achieve any kind of commercial success was the Variomatic system used in the DAF 55-600 town car. Launched in 1958 the system of cones and metal belts has changed little over the years and modern versions are now widely available in cars ranging from Mercs to Minis. The thing is, we tiny ‘engined’ cyclists need a CVT much more than any car. Our operating range of torque and RPM is miniscule compared to a motor vehicle. It’s the reason that gearbox cars have five gears whilst bikes can have twenty seven gears or more. So the promise of CVT is an exciting prospect for the cycling world. The NuVinci system is designed to be scaled to suit individual applications – from trains and giant earth moving machinery at one end of the scale to bicycles at the other. A rare and welcome instance of automotive technology being adapted for pedal powered application.
This (original type) NuVinci bicycle hub was somewhat overbuilt, not earth mover heavy but … actually … it is earth-mover heavy. It weighs a ton but that’s no problem where this one is headed! The very latest model has lost a lot of weight, making it a much more attractive prospect for everyday cyclists. I can hardly wait to get this one laced up and bolted on, I’ll let you know how I get on.
Many thanks to NuVinci specialists Warland Cycles of Oxford for the supply of the hub.
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