The gears are the centrepiece of a modern bicycle. This is where the efficiency of the power used and the comfort when pedalling are decided. The first patents and applications for different types of gears were already in existence in the late 19th century, but for the vast majority of people, gears played a role in everyday life, if at all, from the mid-1920s onwards, when Fichtel and Sachs introduced the first Torpedo 3-speed hub gear with backpedal brake. Derailleur gears for racing bikes were invented at the same time as hub gears, but because they were primarily intended for racing bikes, they hardly played a role for the vast majority of everyday cyclists until the 1970s. The fact that derailleur gears are used to any significant extent in everyday bicycles, which today would be described as city and trekking bikes, only really came into fashion at the beginning of the new millennium with the "Rapid-Fire" gear levers, even though the development in this direction was already underway in the 1980s with racing bikes that had mutated into "sports bikes". Bottom bracket gears were only invented in the 1930s and have only played a clearly subordinate role to date, even if more recent developments could change this.

The fact that the majority of bicycles in Europe are equipped with gears has only been standard since the late 1970s at the earliest. But since the end of the 1990s at the latest, almost all simple, inexpensive bicycles have also had a 3-, 5- or 7-speed gear system, at least "perceived" as such. Due to the "fixie" trend since the 2000s, bikes without gears have more of a "hipster" image and are hardly relevant for the majority of cyclists.

In the lower price segment, it is not noticeable these days whether a bike has derailleur or hub gears. However, the higher the prices climb, the greater the price differences between the gears. In the premium segment, it is the hub or bottom bracket gears that score the highest prices. Rohloff (hub) and Pinion (bottom bracket), both made in Germany, are the top performers here at over 1,000 euros. For derailleur gears, on the other hand, the maximum price is 500 euros, unless you treat yourself to electronic gears such as the Shimano XT Di2 or SRAM AXS drivetrain.

Whether recumbent trike or two-wheeler, the gears used are the same well-known brands and models. Differences due to the trike design can only be found on the periphery of the gears, such as the gear levers or the necessary pulleys for the significantly longer chains. In principle, however, the actual gears on trikes do not differ from those on two-wheelers. Here, too, there is a choice between hub, bottom bracket and derailleur gears and the various models and series.

If required, the different gear types can also be combined with each other to create recumbent trikes with very high gear ratios. At trike-x-press we can provide you with, for example combine a Pinion P1.18 (18 gears) with a 12-speed derailleur. This results in a total of 216 gears!

However, for most of our customers, the "gear range", usually expressed as a percentage, is probably more important than the number of gears. The lower the gear range (low percentage), the smaller the difference between the "highest" and "lowest" gear. With a very high gear range (high percentage), you would be able to pedal as fast as in a hamster wheel in the lowest gear, even on a very steep hill, but downhill, on the same hill and in the "highest" gear, you would be able to pedal slowly and with a lot of pressure and thus, with sufficient muscle power, reach terrifying speeds for which pedelec tyres are no longer permitted. Curiously, tyres fitted to bicycles without a motor are not subject to any speed limit...

However, more than 95% of customers are more than satisfied with standard gears, with approx. 7 to 14 real gears. Standard does not mean "cheap" or inferior. The "Rohloff Speed Hub", for example, with its 14 gears and a gear range of 526%, is particularly popular with mountain bikers. The gears are very robust, durable and low-maintenance (oil change once a year). The current verifiable record of a Rohloff Speedhub owner is 254,000 km. However, this gearstick is also recommended for more sedate customers who appreciate high quality "Made in Germany".

"Made in USA" and with a significantly lower price tag, the continuously variable Enviolo/Nu Vinci gearstick comes to us. There are no more gears to engage and you can also change gear while standing, e.g. at a red light, to start off in a low gear in a relaxed manner. It is extremely robust and is considered "maintenance-free" (no oil change) and almost wear-free. 50,000 kilometres without any maintenance are likely, perhaps more. In the best sense (!), you can simply forget about this gear system... It is ideal for pedelecs, as the Enviolo gear system allows the motor to deliver its full torque (more than with any Shimano hub gear), so that the full power of the motor, e.g. a "Bosch Performance Line CX", comes into its own so that you can have fun on the mountain. A "Shimano Alfine" or "Shimano Nexus" gear system would be unsuitable for this motor, unless the torque was throttled, which is what happens on many bikes with Shimano hub gears, in which case the expensively purchased power would not be utilised at all. Unthrottled, however, it would soon be shredded by the Bosch CX motor... Depending on the model, the "unfolding" of the Enviolo gear system is between 330% and 380% and therefore roughly corresponds to the gear ratio range of the Shimano Alfine.

A special feature of pedelecs is the possibility of combining an Enviolo gear system with a Bosch motor to create an automatic system. The system is called NuVinci Harmony H|Sync and is controlled via the display of the Bosch on-board computer. With this automatic system, you always pedal at the same (variably adjustable) optimum and energy-saving cadence. There is no need for a gear lever.

The development of the Pinion bottom bracket derailleur, which was first launched on the market in 2010, has given this type of derailleur a new lease of life and, above all, a bright future. With an incredible 636% gear range and 18 gears in a compact housing on the bottom bracket, it has set new standards and leaves the gear range of any derailleur system far behind. (Here is a comparison of the gear ratios of the different gear types). Like the "Rohloff Speed Hub", the Pinion gear system is also manufactured in Germany.

All gear types that we install are high-quality brand models. They show their strengths depending on the desired application. If approx. 500 - 1000 grams of extra bike weight are too much for you, then derailleur gears tend to be preferable. If, on the other hand, durability and freedom from maintenance are important to you, then a hub gear is the best choice. However, as there are other criteria to consider, the choice is not always easy. At trike-x-press we will be happy to advise you on your purchase until you are really sure which gears are right for you.

You can find a tabular comparison of the hub gears here (at the bottom of the page).

Here (and here) a list of the most popular gear systems:

Gear hubs

• Nuvinci/Enviolo - Stepless transmission (no engaging gears)
• Rohloff (Speed Hub) - 14 gears
• Shimano Alfine - 11 gears
• Shimano Nexus/Alfine - 8 gears
• Shimano Nexus - 5 or 7 gears

Derailleur gears

• SRAM
• Shimano (e.g. Acera, SLX, DEORE, XT, XTR) - models range from 9 to 30 gears
• Campagnolo

Bottom bracket derailleurs

• Pinion - 6 to 18 gears depending on model
• Schlumpf - 2 gears
• Kappstein Doppio