GoKawiilis a deputy editor and Verge co-founder with a passion for human-centric cities, e-bikes, and life as a digital nomad. He’s been a tech journalist for 20 years.
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Imagine an e-bike motor that lets you select your preferred pedaling cadence and then automatically adjusts the gears to keep your legs spinning at that exact speed, no matter how steep the hill gets — all without a fragile derailleur or heavy multi-speed cassette to maintain. Prefer manual control? No problem, you can have as many gears as you like in whatever ratio makes you feel most connected to the terrain. That’s the e-bike motor announced last week at the big Eurobike trade show in Frankfurt, by not just one company, but two.
Pictured above is the MG Concept. It’s a Motor Gearbox Unit, or MGU, from Avinox, the DJI spinoff that’s upending electric mountain bikes. Avinox burst onto the scene two years ago with the launch of its impressive M1 drive system that packed unprecedented power inside a mid-drive motor that’s smaller, lighter, and cheaper than anything provided by competitors like Bosch or Specialized — and Avinox just launched the upgraded M2-series two months ago. The MG Concept takes things a step further by combining an electric motor with an automatic gearing system inside a single, compact housing that lets bike makers do away with derailleurs and cassettes.
Avinox wasn’t alone, either. The MG concept debuted alongside the very similar X-series MGUs also announced last week by newcomer Gobao. These next-generation motors could fundamentally alter how standard e-bikes are built, despite both getting their start in cutting-edge electric mountain bikes that can easily cost $10,000 or more.
Newcomer Gobao had two MGUs with eCVTs on display at Eurobike. Image: Gobao
Like Formula 1, eMTBs are a tech proving ground for manufacturers whose customers are willing to pay top dollar for a measurable performance advantage. Advances in eMTBs eventually trickle down to the rest of the bicycle market, as we’ve recently seen with the new Amflow TL “eSUV” built around a traditional Avinox M2 motor, derailleur, and cassette.
Existing MGUs, like those made by Pinion, already integrate the gearbox inside the motor housing, but they still rely on a finite number of fixed, discrete gear ratios. The innovation behind both Avinox’s MG Concept and Gobao’s X-series motors is an integrated eCVT (Electronic Continuously Variable Transmission) that adds a layer of computerized precision to eliminate the stepped nature of mechanical shifting.
Both of these new motor gearbox units with integrated eCVTs feature infinite gear ratios that adjust continuously and seamlessly, meaning there are no fixed steps between gears (unless you want them). You can define as many virtual gears as you like with your preferred gear ratios. The system constantly evaluates your speed, pedal pressure, and the terrain in real time. The motors also feature an auto mode that keeps your legs pedaling at a constant cadence, delivering a ride similar to the “stepless” shifting experience I enjoyed in 2023, when I first reviewed a bike fitted with Enviolo’s mechanical CVT.
E-bikes built around these new motor gearboxes should benefit from a more durable transmission that requires far less maintenance, gears that can quickly shift under heavy load or at a standstill, and improved handling by moving the transmission mass from the rear wheel to the bike’s center.
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