Pinion gearbox issue / repair

[usovalx]

Hi,

Out of misplaced curiosity I bought used bicycle with pinion gearbox.
The bike looked to be in very good shape overall, very little wear and tear, so I didn't go through testing it thoroughly enough.

Later I noticed that gearbox is behaving a little odd - there are occasional clicks and dings when pedalling, sometimes strong enough to feel the feedback through the pedals.

Any suggestions if there are workshops in London which deal with pinion boxes?

[Jdsk]

Welcome.

Do you know the make? And, if not, please could you add some photos.

Thanks

Jonathan

[colin54]

If it's the Pinion make of gearbox you are talking about, I would try emailing Pinion technical support to see what they advise, from looking at the attached map in the second link below, it does not show any UK dealers.
https://pinion.eu/en/service/
https://pinion.eu/en/dealer-overview/

[freeflow]

Like any mechanical system, if it is misused or badly adjusted it will complain.

For Pinion gearboxes this boils down to

1. Too much pressure on pedals when changing gear, especially when the gear change goes across a spur and especially especially when going from a harder to easier gear.

2. Worn gear cables or indexing that has got out of adjustment.

In my experience Pinion are a very helpful company and have sent me small bits free of charge when I have enquired where to buy.

There is a faq of the Pinion website (Pinion.eu) which acknowledges that you will get occasional 'clacking' after changing a gear and that it causes no harm to the gearbox.

If you acquired your gearbox second hand I would contact Pinion with a view to registering it. It would be helpful if you could let us know which version of the gearbox you have, and which version of the shifter.

The videos on the Pinion website are pretty good but occasionally miss out critical details so getting your hand on the Gearbox manual is a must.

I've owned a P1.18 for just over 18 months and have put about 10,000km on it. Its a fantastic system. I too get occasional clacking.

[usovalx]

Thanks for advise re registering it with Pinion, I'll give it a try.

Some of those dings are quite violent, and seem to be happening when pedaling on the flat, so I'm worried about any existing damage.
It seems that dealer-overwiew shows a couple official dealers/providers in London, so I'll try to take it there for advise.

[usovalx]

Welcome.

Do you know the make? And, if not, please could you add some photos.

Thanks

Jonathan

The bike is made by Intec.

[colin54]

....It seems that dealer-overview shows a couple official dealers/providers in London, so I'll try to take it there for advise.

Apologies, so it does, I missed that when I looked.
Good luck.

[Carlton green]

I’m guessing that the OP has one of these: http://intec.soniccycles.co.uk/?cat=40&id=106

As best I can understand it the gearbox does come out of the frame and the gearbox is a sealed unit. Perhaps it’s worth a call to Intec (I wonder how they can be contacted) to understand more of the bike’s history and what warranty the bike and gearbox might have. As it’s a sealed unit Pinion might be helpful too, and once out of the frame the gearbox isn’t too big to post off for repair. Maybe there are serial numbers somewhere on the gearbox and on the frame, they could be helpful.

[Jdsk]

I’m guessing that the OP has one of these: http://intec.soniccycles.co.uk/?cat=40&id=106

As best I can understand it the gearbox does come out of the frame and the gearbox is a sealed unit. Perhaps it’s worth a call to Intec (I wonder how they can be contacted) to understand more of the bike’s history and what warranty the bike and gearbox might have. As it’s a sealed unit Pinion might be helpful too, and once out of the frame the gearbox isn’t too big to post off for repair. Maybe there are serial numbers somewhere on the gearbox and on the frame.

My emboldening.

https://intec.ra-co.de/?lang=en

Jonathan

[usovalx]

Thanks for hints.

I dropped it off with local dealer and will see soon how much trouble I got myself into.

[simonineaston]

Hope it works out.
I recall a fleeting moment some years ago, when I contemplated how one could be incorporated into an APB-type Moulton frame...

[freeflow]

Have you had feedback on what was wrong with the gearbox yet?

[usovalx]

Sorry for slow reply - did't see there was outstanding message.

It's in progress - I have contacted pinion support with details, and they offered to do warranty repair as goodwill gesture.
It arrived back last week, judging by the papers they have replaced switching mechanism.

Now the worst part - this didn't relally fix the issue itself, it's still happening. So I'm trying to get back in touch with them.

[freeflow]

I'd definitely suggest reviewing if the cables are worn or if cable stretch means your indexing is not adjusted correctly.

I got my pinion as part of a custom build so had to install the shifter myself. The first ride I did all was OK butt the distance was only around 10 km. The second ride I started to experience clacking when I changed gear and shortly after that I lost drive completely. I worked out that the small amount of bedding in at the cable ends had allowed the indexing to go out of whack. Once readjusted everything worked fine.

Here is the page from the manual that gives instruction for adjusting cable tension and synchronisation

[usovalx]

When I got the box from pinion after repair, I copmletely re-wired shifter (e.g. cut out old cables and installed brand new ones).
So afraid it wasn't it :/