Zerode have been making bikes since 2010 with the creation and evolution of the gearbox G1 and G2 downhill bikes. The main man of the operation, Rob has been experimenting with and making his own bikes for a lot longer though, with the latest project being the Zerode Taniwha. The Taniwha takes the form of another gearbox driven bike and this time it’s an enduro slayer just about to hit the market. With pre-orders flying in from around the world we thought it was an ideal time to pay Zerode a visit and get the low down on the finer details of the Taniwha.
The Zerode Taniwha Concept
Zerode’s concept was to create a quiet, low maintenance 160 mm enduro bike that is ready to race EWS races or take on epic back country adventures. The suspension platform is designed around a Faux Bar with the swing arm pivot located to maximise pedalling performance. This bike aim is to get you up the hill efficiently before being a heap of fun back down too! Geometry wise Rob at Zerode said “I looked at a lot of other bike brands out there at the moment, then took my bike design slightly longer in the reach and wheelbase. It should suit a majority of riders, I didn’t want a particularly ‘out there’ figure in the geometry to put people off”. Vital stats are a 65 deg head angle coupled with a reach of 420 mm for the medium, 445 mm for the large and 475 for the XL. The chain stays are 430 mm long, with the other important number of the seat angle coming in at 74.5 degrees. The wheelbase measurements of the M, L and XL are 1,170 mm, 1,202 mm and 1,236 mm respectively with the recommended 160 mm fork. The demo bike seen here weighs in at circa 14.1 kg, build kit will be riders choice, though, so there’s room to make things lighter if that’s your game. To us, this looks to be a pretty well-sorted beast that will be stable at speed yet enjoy twisting and turning quickly as much shorter bikes on the market.
Weights and prices of the Zerode Taniwha
- Medium – 2,580 g
- Large – 2,680 g
- Taniwha Frame with Shock NZD 4990
- Pinion GearBox (includes cranks, tensioner, shifter, sprockets) NZD 2025
The Zerode Taniwha Gearbox
The design is centred around the Pinion gearbox which has major implications for the drivetrain, the suspension system and the mass of the bike. This is a story which revolves around getting the weight down as low as possible with the moral of the story being that the weight is sprung mass. This means the weight of the gear box is central and low in the bike and ‘sprung’ rather than ‘unsprung’ mass as a regular cassette and mech are. Unsprung mass is basically everything that moves when your bike hits a bump, removing weight from areas such as wheels means that the suspension will spend more time compensating for bumps on the trail rather than compensating for the mass of the wheels. This is a quick overview but in short this means the Taniwha will respond more readily to bumps, the bike will track the ground better and there will be more grip – sounds good doesn’t it?
The amount of anti-squat should also be discussed here, with the Pinion gearbox and one sprocket at the rear the ‘perfect’ amount can be achieved for the Taniwha and it’s suspension linkage. With regular bikes different gear combinations at the front and rear create different chain lines, different anti-squat properties and therefore ever-changing abilities of the bike to eliminate pedal bob or absorb bumps when pedalling without kickback. The Taniwha has a constant chain line so it doesn’t have these factors to worry about. To you and I, this simply means a better and more economic ride whatever gear we are in.
In addition to the MTB holy grail of more grip, the Pinion gearbox is a fully enclosed unit, meaning no dirt or water can get in and furthermore means no more degreasing that mech or worrying you are going to smash the damn thing off! Rob is currently riding a three-year-old sample, he told us maintenance was a doddle “I’ve hardly had to maintain at all, changed the cable a few times, a change of oil every six months and one rear sprocket but aside from that, nothing. My maintenance bill has been about NZD 100.” There are 12 gears on offer which can be changed without pedalling, which Pinion say it exceeds the range of gears found on a 2 x 10 setup of yesteryear. It’s quiet too, the lack of derailleur and associated paraphernalia make for a silent drivetrain, leaving the rider in peace to listen to the raw sound of his rubber on the ground.
Based in Rotorua, New Zealand, Zerode has certainly got some of the best and most testing proving grounds in the world for the Taniwha. From steep root infested corners, (remember ‘corner carnage’ from the Enduro World Series in 2015?) to technical rock gardens worthy of UCI XC World Champs, Rotorua, and the Whakarerewa forest has it all. Rob’s a passionate man with a vision of the perfect bike that he has worked tirelessly on for longer than he’d like to remember. Rob says “I’ve ridden gear box bikes for 12 years now and there’s no way I’m going back”. We can’t wait to have a ride on a Taniwha when they first set tire in New Zealand!
There are 150 Taniwha’s which are about to hit the dirt, with those having pre-ordered a medium size getting lucky first this September with the large and XL following shortly. For more info check out the Zerode website or if you are in Rotorua drop into Bike Culture for a look at one in the flesh!
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Words & Photos: Rachael Gurney
