At Sea Otter this week, Praxis showed a prototype gearbox drivetrain they’re calling Hinged Transmission or HiT. Developed by the brand at their Santa Cruz, California office, HiT features a patented, hinged design that can be configured to offer between four and 16 speeds. The video below shows the system in action.
According to the Praxis website, “HiT can be applied to a variety of different types of bicycles such as DH, mountain, pavement and cargo. We have been riding and testing both MTN and Pavement versions of it for the past couple of years.”
The HiT features programmable electronic shifting that can be programmed to auto shift, or to sweep/dump gears with a single tap.
It sounds like most, if not all, of the testing thus far has been on non-electric bikes. However, the brand sees the potential for HiT to be integrated into e-bike motors. Praxis isn’t sharing the weight of the prototype, which will surely undergo many changes before a release. The brand also notes that the final product should be more compact than the prototype shown.
So when will we see this gearbox or the technology on a mountain bike available for purchase? Praxis says, “we are talking to multiple brands about partnership/potential projects using the HiT Gear Box.” At the moment, Pinion makes the most widely adopted gearbox for mountain bikes, and the Praxis HiT could be a potential competitor.
Get more info on the Praxis website.
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3 days ago