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NuVinci Cycling, Gates Carbon Drive and Mobia Bikes have teamed up to create a production-ready commercial-grade bike designed for corporate bicycle fleets, bike share programs and heavy-duty commercial uses.
The bike will be presented at the 2017 Taipei Cycle Show, where attendees will have the opportunity to check out the unit in person.
The project represents an effort by the three partners to establish a strong position within the growing commercial bike fleet market sector and overcome the weaknesses of first-generation commercial duty bikes, which they claim are often plagued with mechanical failures that inconvenience riders and increase fleet maintenance costs.
Central to this project is the custom designed, high-strength alloy frame from Mobia Bikes, which uses the brand new N330fTM groupset from NuVinci Cycling – a division of Fallbrook Technologies – the Gates Carbon Drive premium CDX belt system from Gates Corporation, and never-flat Titec tires. All of the bike’s features and designs incorporate input from bike share and corporate bike fleet directors and mechanics.
“The explosion in the number of bike share and corporate and campus bike fleet programs worldwide shows the growing global desire to use bikes as a transportation alternative to passenger vehicles and reduce congestion in increasingly crowded cities,” commented David Hancock, Fallbrook’s managing director, bike division.
“Unfortunately many of the first-generation bike fleets used off-the-shelf, low-cost components that cause problems for fleet operators and their mechanics.”
The N330f provides high durability due to the specifically designed hardware components. With a ratio range of 330 per cent, a maximum continuous torque of 80Nm and 200 kg maximum permissible vehicle weight, this transmission was designed specifically with the bike share and commercial environments in mind.
“Every detail on this bike aims at providing a turnkey, heavy duty product that withstands the abuse of daily riding and also provides a high-performance ride,” added Todd Sellden, director of Gates Carbon Drive Systems.
“We are seeing big growth for Gates Carbon Drive in the rapidly expanding Chinese bike share market, and we believe new models such as the Mobia Bike will continue to grow our expansion into commercial duty bikes.”
Gates Carbon Drive claims that the CDX belt drive system – consisting of a high-strength polyurethane belt embedded with carbon tensile cords, a stainless steel rear sprocket and heavy duty alloy front sprocket – is currently cutting-edge chain-replacing technology. The Gates drive requires no lubrication, has a service life three times that of chains and featured on urban bike share fleets in China, Europe and North America.
Mobia Bikes executive director Todd Hoffman concluded: “Flat tires, frequent chain maintenance and replacement, and mechanical failures of internally geared hubs are common problems in bike fleets. We interviewed fleet bike managers and bike share operators around the world to learn about their common complaints.
“We then used that data to create a product that dramatically increases the number of days and miles that our bikes can run before servicing. This technology will be a game-changer.”
The industrial grade 6000 series aluminum frame features a rust-free step-through design with a two-legged kickstand for ease of mounting and loading, a convenient aluminum front basket, safety bell, and a fully enclosed belt guard.
The wheelsets use 26×1.5 never-flat inserts with proprietary Titec rubber tires, and 12g spokes. Designed by Mobia Bikes, the frame incorporates theft-proof technology that prevents the removal of the seatpost and front and rear wheels without the use of a specific tool.
Other features include fully enclosed fenders with space for corporate branding and sponsorships and drum brakes designed for strength and longevity.
Representatives from Gates, NuVinci and Mobia will present the bike at the Gates Carbon Drive booth, 4F-M0828, in Taipei.
