The engineers at Ceramic Speed have been testing refined versions of their wireless, electronic, shaft-driven shifting system, and they are ready to share the story with the world. Though the Driven transmission is not yet available to consumers, the brand wants to get the word out about the invention they hope will revolutionize the cycling industry.
The Driven transmission consists of a 1×13-speed gear selection, with sets of bearings at the front and rear of the carbon fiber shaft that roll along with the uniquely-shaped cassette and chainring teeth. The rear set of bearings shifts back and forth to select gears, and is said to function flawlessly, no matter how much pressure the rider adds to the system.
There are loads of intriguing details to the Driven system that are best explained in the video below.
Weights, pricing, and release dates are not yet available.
Those outward-facing teeth look like the business end of a medieval weapon. Calves beware!
In the top photo it looks like the frame would prevent the rear pinion from reaching the smallest gears. I guess frames would need to be designed around the drivetrain, making Driven incompatible with current bikes.
Dirt would be a challenge as well with all the intricate moving parts, particularly within the rear shaft and split pinion.
Cool to see designers thinking outside the box tho. Maybe some of these challenges can be overcome…
Not sure about this one, interesting though it may be. It seems overly complicated and maybe solving a problem that doesn’t exist. It may actually may have the same issues as standard systems just rotated by 90 degrees.
The manufacture of the rear cassette will take some precision machining and I don’t see it lasting longer than a standard cassette. The drive shaft mechanism will also need to be “sprung” towards the cassette to maintain intimate contact as the teeth on the cassette wear over time.
Not sure what the advantages are meant to be.
Any ideas how this works on a full-suspension mtb? This system seems fixed, i.e. no opportunity for chain growth. Interesting concept, though.
Wow – never thought of that. That’s a killer.
Super interesting and intriguing but not sure it would hold up to the riggers of MTBing. Suspension, dirt, impact seem to things that would affect this quickly and cause issues. It looks complicated and not even possible to work on much if issue comes up in middle of ride. I do see where this could totally work in the road bike world and could be revolutionary there. Especially for professionals.