Upcoming Bicycle CVT Promises to Offer New Land Speed Records

The notion of continuously variable transmissions (CVT) is most commonly used in modest-powered automobiles. But, if we look closer at the transportation industry, we’ll find that CVTs are also used on bicycles. The latest examples that demonstrates this comes from the U.S. Io DuPont company, who is currently building a prototype of an innovative CVT destined for pedal-power.

The transmission, called “Infinity Drive”, has been tested through computerized simulations, with a real model expected to be produced in the following months and aiming to replace the derailleur gear change systems that current bicycles use. The company expects the system to solve multiple derailleur-related issues, such as miss-shifts or slippage, while maintaining a competitive weight. It should also reduce the chain wear, increasing the component’s lifespan.

The first generation of the Infinity Drive offers a gear range of 1:0 through 1:6 (pedal revolutions: tire revolutions), a value that is the highest currently available. The company expects the new transmission’s wide range of gears to eliminate spinout on fast downhills and even lead to new bicycle land speed records.

"Our aim is to reduce limitations to riders on both the low, hill-climbing end and at high speeds," said Tony DuPont, the company’s founder.

Infinity also expects the system’s low friction and direct-drive components to offer it an increased efficiency, as compared to all the previous designs.

"Theoretically, the gearing goes so low that a person who would normally have a hard time walking under their own power could ride a bike up a vertical wall without losing their breath -- if you could get the tires to stick well enough," said DuPont.