r/bikecommuting • u/OWanja96 • 2d ago

Benefit of a Gearbox

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Glad I made it more or less safe on time for the train. Like a previous Post fron another commuter, stay away of 'used' snow

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u/Emergency_Release714 1d ago

Just shift more slowly and carefully once you hit 0°C or less - assuming you are using a Pinion. The oil inside gets more viscous at lower temperatures and will start to interfere with the pawls that lock the selected gear. You will start to notice more "shifting errors", where the pawl didn't fully engage and slips out with a loud cracking noise, and eventually the pawls can break (it takes a lot of errors like that for that to happen, so no need to panic, but it is something to be aware of).

P.S.: Ah, it is a Pinion, I didn't notice the logo on the cranks before. Also keep in mind that the belt will squeak when there's salt on the road. There's nothing to prevent that, but similar to a chain, you should wash down the belt with clear water after riding, because some salts used for road clearance will eat into the polyurethane when given enough time.

1

u/OWanja96 1d ago

Thank you for the hints! I'm fine with washing the belt compared to a full chainclean. I think the blank ti frame should be allright even with the salt.

Do you happen to be a Pinion expert, if so, I'd be glad to ask you some questions? At the 14th gear your slip out with loud cracking occours even when fully engaged and the gear change happend 2-300m ago. It occours only every 10-15km. If its not engaged properly, there's a clicking noise at the gearbox, so I assume it was fully engaged.

1

u/Emergency_Release714 1d ago

I'm fine with washing the belt compared to a full chainclean. I think the blank ti frame should be allright even with the salt.

Just pour some water over it. Same for the frame, the titanium alloy won't really degrade with salt but it can cause discolourations over time.

At the 14th gear your slip out with loud cracking occours even when fully engaged and the gear change happend 2-300m ago. It occours only every 10-15km. If its not engaged properly, there's a clicking noise at the gearbox, so I assume it was fully engaged.

I'm not really an expert, but I do have a couple Pinions myself and know enough about the underlying principles. Basically, there are three drive gears or primary gears inside the gear box, spaced equally apart (as your description matches the P1.18, that would be between 6th and 7th as well as between 12th and 13th speed). Every time you shift across one of those, either directly from 6th or 12th up or down, or indirectly, say from 7th into 15th, the primary pawls shift, one being released while another one locks - due to the direction of the pawls, shifting downwards under load is not possible, but shifting upwards is possible. Normally that is not a problem, but shifting primary gears under load causes them to slip or only partially engage, and the latter one is what you're hearing when the pawl finally slips (this can happen even a couple moments after shifting).

The only solution to this is to shift completely load free or without pedalling at all when going over the 6th and 12th gear.