...most hard core bicycle people into high end bikes are super anal about weight and dismiss the nuvinci just for it's weight. us MB'ers don't care about the extra weight.
I don't know about anal, or even drag issues with a fine tooth comb, but sure, it makes sense you will get some extra drag power loss to wheel, it all comes down to the power gain you get where you want it to me and I love gears too.
Hub/derailer gears sure, worth the loss to me with a JS, I ride one every day, but it is this NuViinci that really has me intrigued.
I like being intrigued ;-}
As mentioned already in what.. this 7 page long topic?
Gearing changes everything. Heck, look at big rigs, 5 gears and triple axle settings for each.
Heck, just the 1 ton trucks I drove for dad's company when I was young had 5 speeds with a High-Low axle giving you 10 speeds made a huge difference.
The ability to
literally program for say usable range of 64 gears based on the bike live in use just blows me away.
Cheap? Pfftt, no way. We are talking high end builds
Cool though? Well, I don't know how cooler you could get than with an automatic even 15 speed enclosed hub and JS if you programmed it properly for the bike and motor to always use the 'sweet spot' of motor RPM.
No telling what an X-chamber would add to that either.
Again, intriguing ideas. Anyone done it?
'It' being programing an MB with the NV to be perfect with a boatload of gear changes to keep it there.
The trick as far as production bikes would be just getting the hub without all the fancy gizmos.
Once you have them all you need is the basic hub right?
Program it and good to go almost as easy as any other shifter bike.
Just ideas guys.
Until I have one to play with, that is all they are, I just see the potential is all.
One more note... it is just two files to program the hub, and you could share them ;-}