Benefits of the Effigear Motor Mounted Gearbox

The advantages of the Effigear manual and automatic motor-integrated gearboxes.

•  shift from a standstill or freewheel, even from first to ninth gear
•  shift even under full muscle power, without any jerking
•  the only maintenance required is an oil change every 5000 km, with 10 € of oil
•  very robust, with a five-year warranty even with multiple owners
•  very quiet, smooth and pleasant to use
•  it does not get dirty, unlike derailleur systems
•  it allows the use of a belt instead of a chain, more durable and maintenance-free

Our interview with Vincent Lecornu,  co-founder of Effigear with David Rouméas

Effigear’s factory and offices are located in the peaceful countryside a few hundred metres from Maclas, a charming village in the Loire, France.

Ebike24 – Can you tell us about the beginning of Effigear?

VL – I took over Effigear two and a half years ago, in partnership with the engineer David Rouméas who had helped its founder and inventor Guy Cavalerie render more reliable and industrialize his gearbox, invented in 2011. David was also a shareholder in Effigear, but there was not a sufficient commercial perspective. David’s vision for the company matched mine, so we decided to continue together and rename it New Effigear.

Effigear was a brand of ebike with a gearbox built into the motor. We turned it into an equipment manufacturer, making gearboxes to be integrated into the motor, while keeping the production of Cavalerie bikes. So at the beginning Cavalerie was our only customer, whereas today we have a hundred or so customers who integrate our gearbox into their motor.

Ebike24 – What’s more, your gearbox is compatible with any bike fitted with the Pinion gearbox.

VL – We had two objectives, both achieved: first, to adapt the gearbox to the Pinion format, that is to say, every bike that can mount a Pinion gearbox can also mount an Effigear gearbox. Secondly, embedding the gearbox into a fully integrated motor block.

Ebike24 – What’s more, you have licensed your technology to Valéo, who are already talking about producing at least 100,000 of them.

VL – Even more, given that Valéo expects the same sales volumes as Bosch, which produces at least 1 million motors per year…

Ebike24 – Bosch is an excellent company…

VL – Yes, and not only you should offer excellent products like theirs, but, like Bosch, you shold also provide a very excellent after-sales service, at European level. Valéo can do it, since we have customers everywhere, but not the capacity to provide them with after-sales service.

Ebike24 – In fact, what sparked our interest in Effigear was the gearbox rather than the Cavalerie ebike, because a giant like Valéo wanted to adopt your technology, despite all its research and development capabilities. For you, Cavalerie is an excellent bike but above all a test bench, a means of presenting the operation of your gearbox to prospective customers?

VL – Absolutely, developing bicycle sales is secondary for us. Already at the end of May 2021 Valéo tried out one of our bikes with our gearbox, they immediately said: “This is what we want to achieve, but we have not found any gearbox manufacturer partner with a technology capable of suiting our customers’ specifications”. We presented Valéo with a prototype bike with an automatic gearbox integrated into the motor. Valéo said: “Bingo, I’ll sign”.

Ebike24 – The fact that Valéo has agreed to write Effigear on its motors gives you good visibility.

VL – Absolutely, they accepted immediately. They always mention us even on social networks, or during presentations of their motors.

Ebike24 – It seems to us that your technology is very advanced.

VL – In fact, perhaps its strongest point is that, unlike our competitors, such as Pinion, our gearbox allows you to change gear even when you are stopped or freewheeling.

Ebike24 – You say that the gearbox integrated into the motor has not yet made inroads with electric bike manufacturers. What are the obstacles that slow down its adoption?

VL – It is a question of evangelization, the system with derailleurs is made of consumables, whereas our gearbox is made to last, it is guaranteed even if the owners of the bike change, after 50,000 km it is still there, we have to change a cog, never the whole gearbox. Users must be persuaded to make an investment that pays off in the medium and long term.

Ebike24 – At €1169 each, your gearbox seems to us to be competitively priced compared to derailleurs, especially considering that it requires very little maintenance, just an oil change every 5000km. Nevertheless, do you think that, if the growing demand allowed for economies of scale, its price could be considerably reduced?

VL – We must consider that the cost of maintaining our gearboxes is derisory, 10 € of oil for an oil change every 5,000 km as you have already noticed. Indeed, oil for the sprockets of a cassette costs 160 € per litre, and a cassette-derailleur system requires a lot of maintenance. If you consider that a top-of-the-range system costs about 600 €, you can reckon to amortize in three years the price difference with our system, or better after about 5,000 km. With a derailleur drivetrain you have to replace the chain, sprocket, cassette and often the chainring almost every year. Shimano (leader of this system) recently declared that they make more than half of their turnover by selling spare parts, even though they equip millions of bikes at the manufacturers’.

The factory tour

In a 300 square metre shed, a dozen or so production machines hum to produce virtually every Effigear gearbox part. They have machining equipment that allows them to manufacture 80% of it. Vincent even shows us the central shaft of the Valéo motor gearbox, the heart of Effigear technology. It is produced here because Valéo does not have the tools to produce it and had to turn to Effigear to make its product.

Vincent stresses the importance of controlling the production chain, which must be in France or at least in Europe.

Ebike24 – The electric bike manufacturers who have adopted Effigear are often very innovative and technologically advanced, but small, whereas Valéo intends to sell hundreds of thousands of automated gearboxes by themselves. Do you see your future as being to manufacture and sell your products to electric bike manufacturers, or rather to enter into partnerships that allow the giant electric bike OEMs, such as Bosch, Yamaha, etc. to integrate your technology into their motors? I imagine that for you it is more interesting to manufacture and sell boxes instead of licensing your technology to industrial giants like Valéo…

VL – Yes, we prefer to manufacture our boxes, but if a large manufacturer wants to buy the licence to manufacture gear boxes with our technology (protected by two patents), we can sell it to them, if their proposal suits us. In any case, our production capacity is limited, not exceeding 3,500 boxes per year.

Ebike24 – It seems to us that your gearbox is better adapted than the derailleurs to very powerful electric motors, like those sold on the US market or those of S-pedelecs in Europe. In fact, derailleurs, cassettes and chains do not handle very high power nor torque, unlike gearboxes.

VL – Integrating the primary transmission into the motor simplifies the secondary transmission, makes it more durable because it’s two chainrings and a chain or two chainrings and a belt that are in line, it wears less, it supports the tension better. In fact, with a chain, there is only one side of the chain that runs and rubs against the sprockets: when you are in a low gear it is the inside, when you are in a high gear it is the outside, because the chain is oblique. What’s more, bike shops tell us that their customers have cassettes repaired where only one or two gears show signs of use, because they find it difficult to change gears.

Ebike24 – Is there some kind of Kodak syndrome among the big e-bike producers? I suspect that they are reluctant to abandon a technology in which they have invested huge production capacities, the derailleur, in order to adopt more efficient innovations, just like Kodak, which did not understand that digital photography had replaced film.

VL – We don’t have the ambition to replace derailleurs, in the medium term we believe that gearboxes integrated into engines, all brands included, will conquer a percentage of the market in the low single digits.

VL – Effigear produces two gearboxes: the original, which is already present in 2019, and the Mimic, which we have subsequently developed.

Ebike24 – What are the advantages of each one?

VL – The original allows the use of the gearbox output with a sprocket for the rear triangle kinematics, facilitating the work of the damper and reducing the distance between the gearbox sprocket and the rear hub, which always remains fixed, resulting in a shorter chain or belt that does not need a tensioner. On the other hand, it has to be welded onto the frame, which makes it impossible to send it to us for possible repairs and compels to change the frame in case of gearbox malfunction. This is unfeasible for big ebike manufacturers.

The Mimic is bolted to the frame, so we also sell it to individuals (for the moment with the Valéo motor) and it can easily be sent to us for repairs. It needs a tensioning system, whether you use a chain or a belt. It is our main product, but we will transfer all its technology to the original gearbox.

The advantages of integrated gearboxes

Ebike24 – Much less maintenance, there are only two sprockets, and it never needs adjusting.

VL – Yes, plus it doesn’t have loose sleeves or cables to tighten. A gearbox replaces fragile components such as derailleurs, cassettes…

Ebike24 – … A gearbox replaces fragile components such as derailleurs, cassettes, etc. that can be damaged not only on the road but also when the electric bike is loaded onto a car or train. Also, it has a much smaller chainring, less likely to get your trousers dirty and easier to protect with the chain guard.

VL – In fact.

Ebike24 – It allows a belt drive, which normally lasts three times longer than the chain, is quieter, lighter and requires little maintenance (oil change every 5000 km). A chain should be cleaned and lubricated every few hundred kilometers, even if you only drive in town, as car exhaust fumes quickly foul its oil.

VL – A gearbox is designed to last, and wears the chain or belt much less than a derailleur or hub gear. The chain line is always perfectly straight, in line with the hub sprocket, and lasts longer.

Our feelings and remarks during the test of the two Effigear gearboxes

1. It is installed on the two Cavalerie bikes we tested at Effigear, on the flat and on a climb. The automatic gearbox is very similar to the continuously variable transmission of an electric car: very smooth, it adapts the gears beautifully to the terrain, speed, acceleration, cadence. Gear changes are almost imperceptible, the gearbox harmonizes the pedaling with the power of the motor and the demands of the route. Precise, fast and yet smooth and quiet.

2. The 9-speed manual gearbox allows for smooth changes, without the slightest jolt or noise, the traction engages without the slightest interval when shifting to higher gears, while it takes a fraction of a second of almost imperceptible pause when shifting to slower gears, in any case much less than with a derailleur. Not only can you shift from first to ninth gear when standing still or freewheeling, but even with maximum pedal pressure the shifts are just as smooth.

3. You can change gears without pedaling, when you stop at a traffic light, and also when you shift into higher gears with maximum effort, even from first to ninth gear. No need to waste time and concentration to change gears on difficult trails and in city traffic.

4. The EAB is better balanced, since the gearbox does not weigh on the rear wheel, but low in the centre of the electric bike. The lower and more central the centre of gravity, the better for handling and stability in corners. Even the damper works better, being more responsive when the rear wheel weighs less.

5. The rear wheel axle can be wider, as there is no need to fit a cassette. This makes the wheel and spokes stronger.

6. The motor communicates directly with the gear lever, which makes shifting smoother and easier.

7. A gearbox integrated with the motor can be equipped with an anti-theft locking system, blocking the motor in case of theft.

8. The gearbox built into the engine is not exposed to mud, dirt, dust and pollution particles (which adhere to your chain oil and require frequent cleaning and lubrication) and dirty chain oil. It stays much cleaner and is also easier to lubricate. It requires an oil change every five thousand kilometres.

9. A specific advantage of Effigear’s Mimic gearbox is that it mimics a cassette, where the difference between the fast gears is smaller than that between the slow gears. This is because there is not a big difference in speed between the lower gears. Other gearboxes, such as Pinion’s, still have the same difference between their gears. Effigear’s Mimic therefore provides smoother gear changes at higher speeds.

10. Another advantage of the Mimic is that it can use shifters, whereas its competitors use twist shifters, which are less popular with cyclists.