Kindernay 14 spd hub gear

[squeaker]

The K'ay XIV

Any info from our Norwegian correspondent

(Suspect it won't interest many here as it uses hydraulics rather than cables for gear changing )

[Brucey]

Actually, that is interesting....

cheers

[gerrymcm]

bl**dy hell it's only taken me two years to get my Rohloff hub based bike together and now this comes out!!!

[speedsixdave]

Interesting indeed. It has the potential to be a Rohloff minus the few issues that the Rohloff has. Which, for us, is mainly the tricky change from 8-7 on the tandem.

I suspect it will come with its own idiosyncrasies though, and it will be a while before there are reliability statistics to compare with the Rohloff. But it's always good to see potentially useful kit for proper bikes, so well done you Norwegians!

[hercule]

Looks interesting but don't expect much change from £1000 - and that's for the beta version with 33% discount. I'll be sticking with the Nexus 8 for the moment...

[andrewk]

Well hey! More competition for Rohloff and more choice. Along with the Pinion system, this new IGH and others. Good news, will hopefully eventually result in some price competition.

[Brucey]

a previous discussion here;

http://forums.mtbr.com/internal-gear-hubs/new-light-weight-internal-gear-hub-kindernay-1025896.html

but who has actually ridden it?

This is interesting too;

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.terrengsykkel.no%2FTelex%2FNytt-norsk-gir

but no photo of the gears themselves...

cheers

[syklist]

The K'ay XIV

Any info from our Norwegian correspondent

Not seen this before. My first thought is, it seems very complicated. How robust is that cage going to be in long term use? Hydraulic actuation might be useful in a frozen Norwegian winter although if your bike is left at below zero all the time then cable freezing is less unlikely. You can use Shimano cables for your Rohloffs it you get stuck with a gear change failure without any Rohloff spare cables, what can you do if you rip off a hydraulic pipe? Not sure how easy it would be to retrofit to an older frame, what is the standard axle diameter on older bikes? Long term durability? Rohloffs can fail in various ways but are pretty bomb proof. I wonder what the lowest available gear is?

I also wonder how much the whole package weighs, they quote 1400g for the hub without specifying if that is just the bare hub or the cage and shifters. Even so, that relatively small difference would not be enough reason for many users to swap from a Rohloff.

It also makes a Rohloff look cheap. At current exchange rates the prelaunch price is around 1000 ukp thereafter just shy of 1500 ukp.

[Samuel D]

Nonetheless, there’s a photographed product, a suggested price, and an ordering scheme – not that I’d be rushing to place an order! It’s a pretty ambitious project.

No mention of helical gears, alas.

[pwa]

That detachable flange looks good at first sight, but then I wonder about its strength. If i were in the market for that sort of thing I would still choose Rohloff because I know what I'd be getting and I'd know the company is likely to be around if and when something goes wrong.

My own Rohloff has been resting unused in the garage for maybe two years. I must give it a spin to get the lube distributed. These things are a niche within a niche and I would not expect that product to make a lot of money.

[Tiberius]

I'm a Rohloff user so I guess you know where I'm coming from.

I think this thing is interesting and clever. I like the idea of that flange and I'm just fine with the hydraulic shifting.....just about every vehicle that I have ever owned has had hydraulics somewhere.

I look forward to seeing it tested and hearing some real world opinions.

[pwa]

I'm a Rohloff user so I guess you know where I'm coming from.

I think this thing is interesting and clever. I like the idea of that flange and I'm just fine with the hydraulic shifting.....just about every vehicle that I have ever owned has had hydraulics somewhere.

I look forward to seeing it tested and hearing some real world opinions.

Not many vehicles have hydraulics as exposed to potential hazards as on a bicycle, and most vehicles with hydraulics are not user-maintained in the way that most bicycles are. So having hydraulics on a bicycle is a bit of an issue for me. If I had an issue with a cable on a bike I could go out to the garage right now and have it fixed, with very little thought or effort, in twenty minutes or so. For me at least, anything with hydraulics would be a lot less familiar and more time consuming. I'd prefer to keep it simple.

[Tiberius]

Not many vehicles have hydraulics as exposed to potential hazards as on a bicycle, and most vehicles with hydraulics are not user-maintained in the way that most bicycles are. So having hydraulics on a bicycle is a bit of an issue for me. If I had an issue with a cable on a bike I could go out to the garage right now and have it fixed, with very little thought or effort, in twenty minutes or so. For me at least, anything with hydraulics would be a lot less familiar and more time consuming. I'd prefer to keep it simple.

My wife says that I'm not much of a worrier.....each to his own eh ???......

[syklist]

I'm a Rohloff user so I guess you know where I'm coming from.

I look forward to seeing it tested and hearing some real world opinions.

Choice is good for the market and I think Rohloff will enjoy a bit of competition. The Alfine 11 hasn't turned out to be the Rohloff killer some predicted it would be.

Though if I were in the market for something to replace my Rohloffs I think I'd be more interested in something like a Pinion. with its closer gear spacing, than someone else's take on the Rohloff concept. The Kindernay does not seem to have any killer feature for my cycling usage to make it worth the money plus the inevitable investment in new spares and other maintenance items.

Anyone know who actually makes it? They say on the website that it is "Made in Europe" but not the actual country.
Edit : I've just asked them through their website form.

According to the FAQs the total weight is 1866g plus "some peripheral components depending on frame setup".

Lowest gear seems to be equivalent to a 22-32 which translates into 17.8 gear inches on a 26 x 2.125 wheel/tyre. That's a bit high for me

[bobc]

Looks very interesting. My questions are
1) a wide range IGH - surely there MUST be an axle torque reaction arm - don't see it
2) that hydraulic shifter (wincing already...) I guess it must be click once per gear. I rather like being able to grab a handful of gears in one twist
3) separate wheel lacing cage - might suggest it's to make it easier to swap a faulty hub....... OK also makes it easier to swap a bent wheel
4) The fat axle hole right through thing - isn't that just to allow for QRs? - still concerned about axle torque....
They've clearly done a lot of expensive development & must think they can take some of rohloff's market (It is aimed very squarely at the rohloff) so it's good to see some competition at last.
Very minor nod to the biggest IGH gripe that the bike feels back-heavy when you lift/wheel it - that must be where the pinion scores