New Nicolai with Pinion gearbox announced

[shib]

Range report: got 1020 vertical meters at around 0 degrees C from 50% battery (720Wh model) on 36km with a system weight of about 150kg at my personal tweaked eco mode (40% support and 50Nm torque), which is perfectly fine for me.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

How you all gettting on with your bikes?

I'm off for a weekend riding on my Nicolai. Really looking forward to getting back on it.

I was disappointed to see the new 800Wh battery pushed back until April though, I was hoping to pick one up so I could have 2 batteries for the double-battery big days.

Also, since riding the Nicolai down the trails, its remarkable just how: a) just how quiet it is on riding down hill, and now every other bike is noisy in comparison. Just got the new Trek Rail, and although the Bosch is quiet, theres chain slap that is irritating,

And b) just how good the rear suspension performance is. Its absolutely brilliant and no doubt that the removal of mass on the rear hub contributes to this feeling.

 

[slickrock]

...

Also, since riding the Nicolai down the trails, its remarkable just how:
a) just how quiet it is on riding down hill, and now every other bike is noisy in comparison. Just got the new Trek Rail, and although the Bosch is quiet, theres chain slap that is irritating,

And b) just how good the rear suspension performance is. Its absolutely brilliant and no doubt that the removal of mass on the rear hub contributes to this feeling.

Rob, while I don't have this rig, I have ridden IGH/gearbox MTBS for a decade now and I think a number of things are things are contributing to rear suspension performance you are touting, beside the main feature of having a lighter rear axle:

1. You may be experiencing very small-to-absent pedal kickback; a topic I raised recently on the forum and was hoping to get some input from you. There are number of factors that contribute to kickback, and one of the big ones is chain whip. It's not just heavier than a belt, but also much longer length to take up all that slack needed for the large rear cogs, and is exaggerated when your are going downhill on the small cogs. (Technically, being on the a small rear cog reduces axle rotational kickback, but I feel this is overwhelmed by chain whip effects).
2. The belt tensioner is also doing a lot less work to keep tension than a long cage T-Type derailleur to keep dynamic tension across all the rear cogs. This also reduces kickback and contributes to open feeling of the rear suspension.
3. I could be wrong, but the MGU may have some degree of engagement float - something similar like you would get if added an Ochain spider or Sidekick hub to a EMTB. That additional float frees the suspension to be more active without counteracting against the tensioner.
4. Axle path: The greater the rear axle path growth is, the stronger the pedal kickback that can hamper the suspension dynamics . While the bike sports what looks to be traditional 4-bar linkage, every bike is different and I'm not aware of Nicolai publishing any suspension kinematic charts for this bike. I was able to find some charts on the MTB version of this bike, but it's anyone guess what the actual max chain growth is, but 4-bars typically have less compared to other designs.
5. Along with the light rear-end The bike is rather heavy, so the sprung-to-unsprung ratio is even greater, which may be the strongest contributor to suspension performance.

I think all of these factors are starting to gain traction, not just this bike, but with the surge of interest in gearbox/belt drive downhill bikes and folks are starting to see the advantages pile up.

Can't weight to see your full review.