A Pinion gearbox puts the gear change inside a sealed unit: no exposed cassette, no derailleur to bend or break, no cable tension to chase. Across gravel, bikepacking and hardtail builds, it's the choice for riders who want a drivetrain they never have to think about.
Every option is a trade-off, and the build finds your point on it. Pick a topic.
New to Pinion? It's a gearbox: the gears live sealed inside a box at the crank, protected from mud, water and grit, with nothing hanging off the rear wheel to bend or wear. The tabs below cover how an Auren is built around one.
Tailored to your fit and application. Will designs the geometry with the gearbox, not despite it.
A Pinion commuter, a round-the-world tourer and a Pinion gravel bike are different geometries. The fit is yours; the character is the trip's. Numbers come from a bike fit, your current bike, or measurements.
Anywhere from 700×35C to 27.5/29×2.8", the widest envelope of any Auren.
From a 35mm slick to 2.8 inches of flotation — the same gearbox drives all of it.
No derailleur, no clearance games. With nothing hanging off the rear wheel, the frame takes genuinely big rubber. Paired with a belt and sealed gears, tyre choice is part of an all-weather system.
Fully external for ease of build and servicing and a traditional look, or internal through the headset for a minimal look.
External. The expedition default — every line reachable with a multitool, anywhere on earth.
There's less to route. No derailleur cables at all — one gearbox line, brake lines, done.
Fully mechanical twist shifter for no power reliance, or the all-new C1.12i SmartShift electronic shifting for ergonomics and ease of use.
Both shift at a standstill. Try doing that with a derailleur.
Choosing electronic isn't choosing fragile. SmartShift fails graceful, and the gearbox itself is sealed either way — the reliability floor is the same.
Carbon options for light/fast applications, suspension for versatility and titanium forks for the best of both.
Balance with the gearbox. The gearbox adds weight at the crank; the fork tunes the front to match, so a loaded Pinion stays planted rather than nose-light. For the world tourer, fork-leg cages are luggage architecture first.
Unlimited options for bidons and bottle cages, anything cages, frame bags, racks and more.
With no derailleur hanging in harm's way and the gearbox sealed below, racks and heavy loads coexist with the drivetrain instead of threatening it. And because the geometry is yours, a custom frame bag fills the entire main triangle.
Every other part and frame spec can be tailored to your ride and your budget.
You don't need to know any of this before calling. Will walks you through every decision with a recommendation and a reason.
Real riders, real builds. Here's where one Auren gearbox bike has ended up.
We learn about you and your dream ride. You get a pre-quote and an initial spec.
A jig-based bike fit that sets reach, stack and angles around your body and the way you ride.
The titanium frame is built to spec while your chosen parts are sourced and delivered.
Will assembles, runs final checks, and delivers. Four months on, you're riding it.
No obligation, just a convo about what you'd want in a custom bike.
A gearbox build is one of several titanium options. If you're weighing up where you ride most, start here.
From spec choices to the fine print, everything you need to understand what you're getting.
A Pinion is an internal gearbox mounted at the bottom bracket of the frame, where the cranks attach. Instead of derailleurs moving a chain between sprockets, all the gear shifting happens inside a sealed unit at the centre of the bike. The rear wheel runs a single fixed cog, no cassette, no rear derailleur, no exposed shifting mechanism. Everything that changes gear is enclosed, sealed, and protected from the outside world.
Adventure riding means extended time away from bike shops, exposure to mud, rain, dust, and submersion, and conditions that destroy exposed drivetrains quickly. A Pinion removes most of those failure points. There's no rear derailleur to bend or rip off on a rock, no cables to corrode, no cassette to wear out in a week of wet riding. For multi-week trips or remote terrain, the reliability argument is strong. You carry fewer spares and spend less time on your knees fixing things.
It's heavier overall. A Pinion gearbox weighs around 2kg depending on the model, compared to a complete derailleur system at perhaps 600 to 900g. That's a real difference. The trade-off is that the weight sits centrally at the bottom bracket rather than at the rear wheel. A bike with a central gearbox handles more predictably under load than one with weight concentrated at the back. For a fully loaded adventure bike, that handling characteristic is noticeable and, for many riders, worth the weight penalty.
Very little. Pinion recommends an oil change every 10,000km or every two years, whichever comes first. And if you are using the mechanical shift version, gear cables to periodically replace. That's it. No derailleur hanger to carry, no cassette or chainrings wearing on a monthly schedule. The sealed unit is designed to run in any conditions without adjustment. Many adventure cyclists go entire expeditions without touching the drivetrain at all.
Yes to both. You can shift through the full gear range while completely stopped, useful at traffic lights, before steep climbs, or when you've stalled on a technical section. You can also shift under load, though easing off pedalling force slightly gives the cleanest shifts. On technical or stop-start terrain, this is one of the most practical day-to-day advantages over a derailleur system.
Both are Pinion gearboxes. The C-Line is the more accessible option, available in 6, 9, and 12-speed configurations, slightly heavier but reliable and well-proven. The P-Line is the premium offering, lighter, smoother, more precise, and available up to 18 speeds with a 636% gear range. The P-Line costs roughly twice the C-Line. For most adventure riders, the C-Line is the practical choice. The P-Line suits riders where weight is a priority, or who want the widest possible range for loaded mountainous terrain.
Yes. Pinion requires its own bottom bracket shell standard, which needs to be built into the frame. You can't retrofit one to a standard frame. The gearbox also affects chainstay length and the rear triangle geometry, which a builder needs to account for from the start. A frame designed for Pinion from scratch handles the integration cleanly. It's not a complication, but it does mean the gearbox decision needs to be made before the frame is drawn up, not after.
Yes, and the combination is common on adventure bikes for good reason. A Gates Carbon Belt Drive paired with a Pinion gearbox gives you a fully sealed drivetrain with no exposed lubrication points. No chain oil, no degreasing, no chain stretch, no cassette wear. The belt wipes clean and runs quietly. The maintenance schedule for a belt-Pinion drivetrain is essentially: oil the gearbox every two years, wipe the belt when it's muddy, replace the belt somewhere around 15,000 to 30,000km depending on conditions. For long-distance riding, that's a significant simplification.
That's the point of the design. The gearbox is fully sealed and pressure-tested. It can be submerged, caked in mud, or ridden through dust without the internals being affected. Standard derailleurs are exposed: cables swell, pivots corrode, and shifting degrades quickly in sustained wet or dirty conditions. A Pinion doesn't care. Riders who've done long trips through wet seasons or sandy trails consistently report the drivetrain performing identically on day fifty as it did on day one.
Depends on what you're doing. For day trips and weekend rides where a derailleur can be cleaned and maintained regularly, the weight penalty and cost premium are harder to justify. For multi-week expeditions, remote touring, or conditions that punish conventional drivetrains, the calculation shifts. Fewer spares to carry, fewer mechanical stops, more consistent performance over a long trip. The upfront cost is higher. The ongoing cost, in time, parts, and energy spent maintaining an exposed drivetrain in the field, can be considerably lower.