Zerode is known for their trail and enduro-focused Taniwha series, built with the Pinion internal gear box. For 2020, they’ll be bringing out an option to buy these bikes with the silent and maintenance-free Gates Carbon Drive system. We take a look at a pre-production bike seen at Sea Otter 2019.
Zerode Taniwha Trail & Enduro MTB with Gates Belt Drive
Zerode is a New Zealand-based company with a performance focus and no fear of using non-standard drivetrain components. Their existing Taniwha and Taniwha Trail use the Pinion internal gearbox system to reduce maintenance and redistribute weight to the center of the bike, compared to a traditional external drivetrain.
For 2020, they’re taking this one step further, adding an option for the Gates Carbon Drive system. This unique setup allows for big-hit performance with a greatly reduced maintenance schedule.
The system they showed us still had a pre-production pulley system, and we imagine that they’ll standardize the colors to all-black for retail bikes.
Zerode used a 12-speed Pinion internal gear box for the build, giving a full gear range no exposure to the elements.
No availability dates or official price list are available at this time. However, we expect the system to be a slight up-charge over the normal builds, at $5,000 for the frameset (and gearbox), or complete builds starting from about $6,500.
