MTB and the 'gearbox' future
Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2026 7:36 am
https://www.pinkbike.com/news/first-loo ... -ecvt.html
I'm no scientist and the purist MTBer in me doesn't like ANY of this.... but you can't argue it's pretty interesting !!!Avinox has enjoyed their time comfortably atop the eMTB game. Shimano, Bosch, SRAM, Pinion, Mahle, Maxon, TQ, and Fazua all have yet to produce a motor that's as compact and powerful as Avinox's M1, M2 or M2S systems. That changes today with the launch of the Gobao X1 and X1P.
The latter matches the Avinox M2S on key performance numbers: 1,500 W peak power, and a maximum torque of 150 Nm. It's also over 1,200 grams heavier, but there's a very good reason for that extra weight - this is not just a motor, it is a continuously variable transmission, too. It doesn't need a derailleur, cassette, or even a shifter.
Gobao eCVT Details
To add insult to injury, on the subject of battery charging times, the Gobao system wipes the proverbial floor with its competitors. Its 750 Wh battery is claimed to charge from 0% to 80% in just 20 minutes. If your jaw isn't already on the floor, that's four times faster than the charging speed of competitors' systems.
It is a 30 A charger that makes this possible. The brand will also make a slower 6 A charger available to OEMs.
While the Gobao X1P and X1 systems can be likened to a gearbox, it wouldn't be right to call them that. While they are similar on packaging, and both do away with a derailleur and cassette, their internals are very different.
Where a traditional gearbox, like the Pinion MGU for example, has a finite number of discrete gear ratios available over a specified range, an eCVT has an infinite number of gear ratios over a specified range, and it can move through that range continuously, or without any steps perceivable by the rider.
While the aforementioned gearbox uses planetary gear sets, the Gobao eCVTs use a sun gear to change gear ratio. There are two electric motors inside: the main one that delivers assistance in driving the chainring, and another smaller one that alters the speed of the sun gear, thereby altering the gear ratio.
The rider simply specifies their preferred cadence, and the eCVT automatically adjusts its ratio to ensure that the rider's pedaling cadence remains within that specified range - no matter the gradient.
A brand representative tells me they expect that riders across a broad range of use cases - eMTB, commuter, trekking, etc., will prefer the ride feel of the continuous transmission over discrete gearing like that offered by derailleur-based systems, or the Pinion MGU.
I am also told that the systems are able to offer 'virtual' gears. They can be tuned to have pre-set discrete gears that one can shift through from a remote on the bar, as normal. But, again, they don't think people will want that after they've experienced the continuous setting. I am pretty skeptical, but curious.
