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CeramicSpeed wants you to invest in their wild Driven drivetrain concept

ceramicspeed driven drivetrain SeedInvest opportunity
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Remember that wild CeramicSpeed Driven drivetrain concept from Eurobike over the past few years? The one with a driveshaft rather than a chain? And a toothed platter rather than a cassette? Now you can invest in it and help it go from research project to reality.

Here’s the short of it: Minimum single investment is $1,000 and anyone can invest through SeedInvest. They’re looking to raise a minimum of $300,000 with a target goal of at least $1 million. Here’s the video pitch:

A couple of things stand out from their offering:

  • The drivetrain claims a 98.9% efficiency, which is marginally better than what you’d get out of the most optimized gears+chain setup.
  • It’s also more aerodynamic than traditional bicycle drivetrains
  • It shifts electronically, with all electronics and moving parts contained within the driveshaft.
  • Target OEM price is claimed at $1,400-$1,600. Assuming a complete Dura-Ace group’s OEM pricing is half that (we’re guessing), it would likely add about $1,500-$2,000 to the price of a bike compared to a comparably equipped top-level bike with Dura-Ace, Red AXS eTap, etc.
  • This is a SEC-regulated investment opportunity where you will purchase equity in the company, and SeedInvest vets all companies before allowing them to post to their site. You do not need to be an accredited investor to participate, but like any investment you should only invest money you can afford to lose.

ceramicspeed driven driveshaft on a canyon mountain bike

CeramicSpeed has spun off Driven Technologies as a separate company, with their CTO Jason Smith taking over as CEO of Driven. So far, they’ve partnered with Canyon and Specialized to develop prototype frames around the driveshaft design.

ceramicspeed driven driveshaft on a triathlon tt road bike

ceramicspeed driven driveshaft on a specialized road bike

They’ve tested it in Specialized’s Win Tunnel to prove its aerodynamic benefits, too.

Related links:

What do you think? Is this the future of bicycle drivetrains? Would you invest in Driven’s alternative to bicycle chains and gears?

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18 Comments
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Brian B
Brian B
2 years ago

Sell it to Specialized it will be on every bike they sell by next Tuesday and we will be told you see god when you ride it.
Otherwise now my lawn this summer and I’ll pay you $1000

Clinton Blacksmith
Clinton Blacksmith
2 years ago

I’d rather buy a $1000 pet rock.

Tony pepperoni
Tony pepperoni
2 years ago

I will not be investing in that. Thank you

JS
JS
2 years ago

It’s just not going to happen. Anyone with even basic mechanical design/engineering experience looks at this and thinks “no way, can’t be done like that. Pong bike ver 20.1

King County
King County
2 years ago

As this is a promotional video for investment purposes, it should have shown close-ups of this mechanism in use, while someone is actually riding a bike with it. Unless pros are using it on grand tours, these wont take over that demographic. Serious commuters may like it as much as they like belt driven bicycles.

Hamjam
Hamjam
2 years ago

Does it shift?

William Thomas Hicks
2 years ago

I am not a mechanical engineer but I’m guessing if you take the power/torque axis and turn it sideways as this does, the rear stay needs to withstand a shit-ton of torque..I dunno.. those tiny little teeth??..prolly work well on a track bike…but grinding on a 12% grade? it does however look pretty sweet.

RyanNC
RyanNC
2 years ago

This still has 95% of the problems that plague our current chain driven drivetrains. I’d rather invest in a sealed gearbox system with a belt drive.

Shafty
Shafty
2 years ago

No thanks, go away CeramicSpeed and Driven. We don’t need this junk. The efficiency of bikes is well above other vehicles, we don’t need to throw away what we have in pursuit of faster wear rates and a terrible concept. There’s limited proof that it even works, let alone has any meaningful durability. Sure, the parts move when you turn the cranks, but that’s only enough for a wall hanger.

Why don’t they sell a limited quantity to get them in real hands and see how it fares outside of controlled conditions? That’s what everyone else has to do. Why should CeramicSpeed market a drivetrain when their primary experience is in lubrication testing and design(trial and error)? I’m not seeing how this fits together without a lot of growing pains and revisions soon after it’s released.

They’re reaching out for investors because no bike company wants to touch this. If there’s any merit to it you’d see adoption, even by an obscure brand, so something isn’t adding up.

I’m getting flashbacks to those Ciamillo cranks that turned into a fiasco. Happy to see those are gone.

blahnblahblah
blahnblahblah
2 years ago

no ad infinitum

GS
GS
2 years ago

These comments crack me up. Likely the same people that think ebikes are a fad.

Armand Sarmiento
2 years ago

I have a 1999 Gary Fischer mtb and having problems with its drivetrain. Can I use this to replace it? If it does I will consider the investment. Heck I’ll try to immediately buy one ceramicspeed drivetrain for that mtb. It’s sentimental you know.

myke2241
myke2241
2 years ago

Id pay good money to have to privilage of watching someone riding through tall grass with that!

BTW, what ever happened to taking the risk if you think it is a good product? These days it seems companies want to flip the table and have consumers take all of the risk!

Research first
Research first
2 years ago

Jason Smith is misleading people with what you “buy”.

They dont offer equity like he is saying in the interview at Cyclingnews. They actually offer a Crowd NOTE. This means you will not actually own part of the company and your ability to profit from this is very limited.
When they “trigger an event” at some point of time the valuation of company will be frozen for your notes despite another extra rounds of investment that could be made. This means when company grows your “notes” will not. They will be valued at that triggered event. So let say at valuation of 5M$ instead of currently at 3M$. And if the company will be valued at 20M$ later in time your notes are still paid at that value of 5M.

Research what Crowd Note is first before investing. This is a way to get “crowds of people” to invest and pay pennies later because they have no clue what they are actually buying.
good luck.

Jack Ryder
Jack Ryder
2 years ago

For those who don’t understand convertible note round valuation caps, they restrict the dilution effect, not the other way around. This isn’t necessarily priced right but the cap protects against a massive valuation in the actual conversation equity round.

Will I invest? No. Because the discount normally provided to convertible note holders is not a standard and customary for these.

Do I like the tech? It’s interesting although think the torque and need for a telescoping extension prevent this from being used on MTB, therefore the market is reduced to high-end road machines, ergo rich white guys…again.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
2 years ago

Selling equity in your business to randos on the street to raise 300k-1mm? Yikes! Guess the, selling ceramic headset bearings to dentists, business isn’t as lucrative as we thought.

Vissile
Vissile
2 years ago

This is such a joke. They don’t believe in their own product, so they create a spin-off company and try to crowd-fund it?
Anyone with any scrap of mechanical aptitude would realize how flawed this design is.
I have actually lost all respect for CeramicSpeed or anyone who works for them as a result of this decision. (Not that I had much respect for them to start).

Robert Crivelli
Robert Crivelli
2 years ago

What is the weight of this CeramicSpeed vs Di2 or AXS? How much of weight savings or additional.

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