2023 Pinkbike Awards: Innovation of the Year Winner

Dec 29, 2023
by Jessie-May Morgan  
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The finalists for the 2023 Innovation of the Year were the Cane Creek Tigon, Classified Powershift, SRAM Transmission, Pinion E-Drive and Shimano Linkglide.

The Innovation of the Year award goes to...




Pinion E-Drive Motor Gearbox Unit

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The Pinion Motor Gearbox Unit (MGU) takes the win largely because, of all of the wonderful innovations nominated for this award, the E-Drive has the greatest potential to change how full suspension eMTBs can be designed for the better.

Centralizing weight around the bottom bracket, the Pinion E-Drive tangibly increases the sprung-to-unsprung mass ratio, something that is widely agreed to be advantageous for vehicle handling in general. And, with only a single sprocket at the rear wheel, suspension designers must consider only one chain position, versus the 11 or 12 chain positions that come with a modern wide range cassette.

In packing all of the necessary hardware to deliver 9 or 12 discreet gears alongside the 85 Nm motor, Pinion also do away with a vulnerable derailleur. And, that single, compact unit is also claimed to offer maintenance-free functionality for 10,000 kilometers - requiring nothing more than a 10-minute oil change thereafter. That's an astounding improvement over the incumbent derailleur-operated drivetrain, and can be considered even more impressive against the backdrop of the reliability of current mid-drive motors that are commonly in use.

On regular bikes, the gearbox does of course offer all of those benefits. However, the additional weight and the additional drag in the system have been two factors limiting uptake. On pairing the technology with a motor, both of those factors are largely banished to oblivion. Oh, and unlike some of Pinion's gearbox-only systems, the E-Drive units benefit from a more ergonomically-pleasing trigger shifter (instead of grip shift, which proved to be woefully lacking in popularity).

While Ralf Hauser's first impression of the Pinion E-Drive was largely very positive, we are yet to put this technology through any long term testing. We have a good understanding of Pinion's capacity to produce reliable gearbox technology, but the reliability of the motor component is yet to determined. We are yet to see any full production bikes rocking the 9- or 12-speed MGU, though the Rotwild RX.1000, Simplon Rapcon PMAX Pinion, and Bulls Vulca Evo look set to change that imminently.

As was mentioned in the nomination article, Pinion also offers their Smart.Shift system without the motor for use on regular bikes - that means an electronic trigger shifter is now available instead of the twist-shifter that Pinion used for years. Faster shifting combined with the reliability of a gearbox could help the system gain more widespread acceptance, but no matter what, there's no denying that it's an innovative advancement.

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The Gamux DH team used the non-e-bike version of the Smart.Shift gearbox this year on the World Cup circuit.
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Author Info:
jessiemaymorgan avatar

Member since Oct 26, 2023
52 articles

125 Comments
  • 135 9
 got a chance to pedal this at outerbike this year. mind you, it was in a commuter bike, but the shifting and power delivery are top notch. This will end up not just being the innovation of the year, but the decade. This is the "Dropper Post" of Ebike evolution.
  • 33 53
flag justanotherusername (Dec 29, 2023 at 11:03) (Below Threshold)
 The only way we get gearboxes in the mainstream is if SRAM or Shimano adopt the idea.

If that doesn’t happen it will continue to be nothing more than a niche for those in the know.
  • 34 2
 @justanotherusername: I disagree. It's not just about name recognition. If someone puts out a genuinely amazing product that consumers all want, it will become popular - it just might take a bit longer.
  • 7 0
 @jayacheess: agree(with your disagreement ) Looks like the tq motor in the Trek Fuel exe has made big inroads for the same reason.
  • 72 1
 The only way we get E-cars in the mainstream is if Ford or GM adopt the idea. Oh look, it's the 23rd Tesla I've seen in Squamish this morning.
  • 9 4
 @jayacheess: Convincing the customer is easy - we buy what is available and what reviewers and pros use / say is good (for better or worse)

First though you have to convince the bike companies to take the product on and that’s much more difficult - we have cost, serviceability, availability etc - could Pinion get close to meeting a huge upswing in demand?

SRAM and shimano are the drivetrain gatekeepers right now - maybe in 10 years things will change, but right now they will dictate the course of travel - you want proof of that look at how SRAM has managed to push the UDH and ask yourself how many other brands could have achieved that?
  • 6 8
 @wake-n-rake: But Ford and GM did adopt the idea to help it take off. In Ford's case they were behind Tesla by exactly 1 year, then Nissan a year after that. A big part of Tesla's early survival was that the industry giants also put money into battery manufacture and development. Although I hope this does force the two S-brands into looking more seriously at gearboxes, a derailleur system being driven by an electric motor is dumb.
  • 3 2
 @wake-n-rake: that comparisons not realistic.

Here you are looking for bike companies to adopt a small brands ebike motor / drivetrain solution in preference over the status quo - that would be like asking Ford to use Tesla drivetrain and batteries.

Maybe pinion will be bought out and get the big push into ebike dominance, who knows.
  • 5 0
 @justanotherusername: I think it will see larger acceptance once there is a budget option. Thats one huge reason derailleurs are so mainstream. You can buy them at the Deore level all the way up to Dura Ace level. Without that range, these e-bike gearbox bikes will only sell on the high end. Once manufacturers can design (and pay for) a frame that can be sold with this system at a more "normal" price range, these will become much more mainstream.
  • 4 11
flag Hayek (Dec 29, 2023 at 14:17) (Below Threshold)
 @Fix-the-Spade: some may even say anything driven by an electric motor is dumb
  • 4 4
 @Spencermon: As I say, if / when SRAM or Shimano decide they are ready non derailleur drivetrain will become more mainstream, until then it’s a pink bike fetish.
  • 3 1
 @justanotherusername: Judging by your comment I'm going to assume that you are not aware that several big brands do indeed use Tesla battery cells (Mercedes, Toyota). Also many other random companies use Tesla battery cells (magicshine seems relevant and comes to mind).
  • 1 0
 Pinion now being owm by BRP, it's a new ball game. Theu put a lot of energy, musye wait for the complet bike
  • 2 1
 @justanotherusername: there is a UK company that has a prototype motor/gearbox that fits into the same space as a Shimano motor. I think this could be a possible way that gearboxes make it into the mainstream. Probably by licensing or a buy out. Remember, though, that SRAM are relatively new to the drivetrain business as well.
  • 3 2
 I think gearbox’s really have a place in e-bikes. There is just too much drag to overcome on a pedal bike but with the help of the motor, gearbox’s will be the go to for the future.
  • 1 6
flag BeerGuzlinFool (Dec 30, 2023 at 7:32) (Below Threshold)
 @Fix-the-Spade: Ford is not just one year behind Tesla.. they are light-years behind. That's why they are slowing production on ev's. They can't get it right.
  • 1 0
 @jayacheess:
@jayacheess: history says that's not always the case.
  • 1 0
 @justanotherusername: I think you’re right. If Shimano buys pinion it would be pretty exciting.
  • 1 0
 @Lemmyschild: Not always, but usually.
  • 5 0
 @BeerGuzlinFool: Yes, Ford has always been decades behind competition but they mostly have been able of consistent production quality. Which is not a case of Tesla car, bitterly known for piles of expensive rubbish. What Ford has lately made wrong is they tried to force their NA dealers to enter some crappy e Service model that is pretty disadvantageous for them. So they stopped buying e-shite from Ford.
Every single brand is producing only for the sake of statistics. There is not enough dentists in the world to buy the e-cars.
  • 1 0
 @BeerGuzlinFool: That's not what I said, Ford and Nissan brought EVs to market within 2 years of Tesla, creating the economies of scale needed for EV batteries to become viable. For those early years Tesla was literaly dozens of cars per month's worth of sales. They weren't persuading anyone to tool up to make batteries without help, which came. It's the same with bike Gearboxes, without SRAM/Shimano on board they'll remain a weird niche thing. Except Sramano don't seem to be interested.
  • 2 0
 @Fix-the-Spade: EVs are ljust a passing trend that won’t last. They are nearly an expensive distraction until a really viable solution is found
  • 1 1
 @chrismac70: just got my first EV, what do you see as the viable alternative then?
  • 1 0
 @Fix-the-Spade: Doesn't have to be SRAM or Shimano. It could be any large bike manufacturer that puts their name recognition and marketing weight behind an ebike designed around this particular gearbox.
  • 1 0
 @justanotherusername: I know not a question for me, but I am hopeful for synthetic fuels that can utilize existing fuel station infrastructure and ICE vehicles. Things like bio butanol and true biodiesel hold promise, though some just shift the pollution burden further up the supply chain (like EVs).

Something far more intriguing than hydrogen to me is green ammonia. Can be produced from intermittent power like wind and solar, can be stored and burned later for baseload storage without the need for batteries and much longer term storage options, and can be used for transport or power generation. And is much denser energy than hydrogen

It has some storage issues to deal with, plus the heavier than air and suffocation thing (like propane) but is less Hindenburg-y than hydrogen! Plus it can be used as fertilizer, and if combined with excess CO2 from industry to make Urea or UAN, could actually serve to sequester carbon in the soil as fertilizer.
  • 85 3
 My vote was for headset cable routing. Surprised that didn't win. The Awards are rigged.
  • 10 9
 Underrated comment of the year
  • 75 16
 What about innovation of the year for bikes?
  • 9 0
 Made me think... huh, if you do have the "no eMTB" filter activated, then as far as you know there is no Innovation of the Year this year.
  • 8 33
flag ThatEbikeGuy (Dec 30, 2023 at 1:36) (Below Threshold)
 Manufacturers aren't wasting their development time and money on legacy pedal bikes as no-one with any sense buys them these days.
  • 13 0
 @ThatEbikeGuy: a username has in fact never checked out so hard.
  • 5 0
 @L0rdTom: That effing guy, indeed.
  • 25 2
 I think there will be some differing O-Pinions on this choice.
  • 12 2
 That's just, like, your o-pinion, man
  • 4 1
 @TimMog: where is the money lebowski?
  • 21 2
 Ι clicked the article and thought "if Transmission gets the award the conspiracy theorists are right". Happy to be proven wrong, and although I'm not into e-bikes I agree that this is a major step forward.
  • 17 1
 The biggest innovation of 2023 has to have been the DH course marking for world cups. After decades of various pole types and tape that's always been plagued with wind issues, supply chain costs, the environmental impact of throwing away bags of plastic every race, the pain for the course tapers, inspectors, the issues with crashing into it, repairing it for marshalls and some riders having the tape in different condition or places than others. Someone made the great call to ditch it and move to little poles, then introduce the pads for further and safe track marking. These poles and pads are reusable and have better sponsor visibility. This was a bold and massive change for DH, must be up there for innovation of the year over putting a gearbox with a motor.
  • 26 8
 Sometimes the mountain bike innovation of the year isn't a mountain bike innovation at all, it's a motor
  • 9 1
 Take that, conspiracy theorists!
Or maybe it’s just trickery, a one-off throwaway result to fool you into thinking otherwise.
  • 13 5
 I thought I was on Pinkbike.com but must have typed in pinkMoped.com instead
  • 10 1
 E-Novation of the Year
  • 5 0
 Looking forward to brands we can get in North America incorporating these. I'm sure this first generation will be a little rough around the edges, but a refined second gen in a handful of years will really change the game.
  • 3 0
 Hahaha so agree. Never, ever buy gen 1 stuff. Almost guaranteed to be expensive, junk and quickly obsolete
  • 3 0
 @IllestT: hopefully, anyone that buys gen 1 knows this and can afford to bin it if it's rubbish. If no-one bought gen 1 there would never be a gen 2.
  • 8 2
 Came to post about how NOT MAD I am about this winning. This is the biggest innovation [albeit a completely logical one] in bicycle tech in decades.
  • 6 3
 All they’ve gotta do now is stick it in a nice well designed metal frame and i’d be tempted.
So far all the proper mountain bikes that I’ve seen with MGU have have ugly carbon frames with shallow seatpost insertion and a huge price tag!
  • 17 11
 I'm no expert on motorbikes, but i believe the sealed motorcycle gearbox has been a thing for quite some time now
  • 5 9
flag ThatEbikeGuy (Dec 30, 2023 at 3:40) (Below Threshold)
 Sounds like you are no expert on emtbs either.
  • 18 3
 @ThatEbikeGuy: that's what I said.
  • 3 0
 Definitely a logical step forward I’d been thinking of for a while. But did they fix the shifting issue? Last I heard the other downside to gearboxes is the inability to shift under power (but can shift without pedaling). If they did some electronic wizardry (think motorcycle quick shifters) to fix that then it’s really a game changer.
  • 15 9
 nice but where are they gonna put the clutch lever?
  • 7 5
 And where’s the shift indicator and blipper? I always thought one of the Pinion guys once did his three-week school internship at Porsche, or something like that, it was their claim to fame back in the day, did he only see PDCs when he was there?
  • 5 3
 The clutch will be integrated with the front brake, obviously (or rear brake for the Brits). Grab a fistful of front brake whenever you need to change gears. Right pedal is rear brake (or front brake for the Brits?) so people riding those won't go unnoticed.
  • 5 3
 @vinay: Left lever clutch and a thumb brake like my CR250.
  • 7 6
 downvotes proof of eebers having no sense of humor
  • 7 4
 @ryanandrewrogers: iF YoU TRieD ONe THeN yOu WoULd liKE TheM!!!1!!
  • 7 1
 Only way I would ever buy an e-bike is with a mgu!
  • 8 2
 E-bikes are getting so good soon you won’t have to pedal at all
  • 2 1
 It does not take much to be "so good". They are called motored-cycles, they have been around quite a while.
  • 11 9
 Having ebike products "compete" with mountain bike products makes as much sense as having ebikers in the same race as mountain bikers............It makes no sense. Have a different category, maybe even another website. Whatever. Just get figure it out.
  • 2 0
 But then innovation of the year would’ve been Transmission and everyone would’ve freaked out again.
  • 1 0
 @MillerReid: Ha! true that.
  • 3 0
 We agree, we feel the MGU has the potential to be a game changer for riders and the industry - how quickly will we see competitors in this space?
\m/
  • 4 0
 stoked on this tech!
  • 2 0
 “Some men just want to watch the world burn”
- Alfred describing PB editorial staff
  • 1 0
 Will it fit in a normal Gearbox bike? Then you can carry one of those top bottle cage extender batteries and boom, you have an ebike
  • 17 15
 Mopeds are forever going to be changed
  • 5 3
 Just put some pegs and a throttle on it ..why even pedal at this point
  • 4 2
 This has nothing to do with bicycles though.
  • 2 1
 Its a pretty niche choice but I guess it does solve a problem no one had. So there's that I guess.
  • 15 13
 Motorcycle!
  • 5 3
 Totally agree with this.
  • 3 3
 Pretty sure the drivetrain on the Crestline was better but for some reason Pinion paid more. Or something
  • 2 4
 And I guess that they got this out there first sure, but it is t innovation. It's simply doing the most obvious thing. That it hasn't been done before is more anti-innovation than anything.
  • 1 0
 I’m super interested in this. Any bikes available the US currently?
  • 3 2
 The way of the future….. THE WAY OF THE FUTURE
  • 2 1
 You’re not a man until your father says you’re a man.
  • 2 1
 That's the true holy e-grail!
  • 3 5
 The industry is in full swing to make mountain biking a side show, and Pinkbike basically follows where the industry goes, but still it is quite amazing to see an engine as product of the year on these pages.
  • 1 0
 it will be... not the Shimano auto shifting
  • 21 21
 So the innovation of the year is a better moped? Common pinkbike.
  • 4 3
 YES ! THIS !
  • 1 1
 First “award of the year’ we can agree with. Hete here!
  • 1 2
 @MTbdialed Sorry for the Downvote, meant to upvote.
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