So the Zerode Taniwha descends well in part due to having a very light
rear end and one of the lowest centers of gravity around. Also, the
simple suspension design works very well at eating rough terrain and is
one of the easiest to set up. But how does the Taniwha climb or pedal?
Let us get this out of the way now. You can tell it has a gearbox when
pedaling on the flat ground. It makes a bit more noise than a standard
bike with a full chain guide. It isn't as loud as the old school Mr.
Dirt guide but it makes noise just a slight whirring from between your
feet. Pinion claims the gearbox gets smoother as you rack up the miles.
We put about 500 miles on the bike and would have to agree with them. It
did begin to make less noise and seem to offer a bit less resistance.
Honestly, if there is a bit a drag while riding the Zerode Taniwha it is
very mild. In fact, it may entirely be in my head. Getting to the
trails from work is about a 2-mile flat pavement pound. I never made it
there as fast as I have on a few other bikes. Now shifting the Zerode
takes a bit of forethought at the beginning. The Pinion will not shift
into an easier gear under load. When I say load I mean like the weight
of you leg will prevent it from shifting. So essentially you have to
stop pedaling the Taniwha to get it to shift. On the steep technical
climbs make sure to shift when you can and not when you need to since it
may not be possible. Another thing that was noticeable was the lack of
engagement provided by the Pinion. We had i9 wheels with 120 points of
engagement and it still had some play. This was really obvious when you
back pedal and then try to pedal forward. The gearbox would take about
30 degrees of rotation before it engaged. It would be interesting to see
what an Onyx hub would feel like. Using a Pinion adds about 2.5lbs to
The Zerode Taniwha and there is no great way to cut that weight back. As
stated earlier we had an Insurgent with the exact same build in size XL
and this Taniwha is a LG frame and still, the complete bike is about
2.2-2.4 lbs heavier. The new C-Line Pinion will shave about 250 grams
off the bike so you will have a 1.75lbs penalty. Is the added weight and
shifting issue worth it to avoid a derailleur? This is all dependant
upon you, where you live, what you ride and how lazy you are on
equipment.
Read Full Review At Link Below
Zerode Taniwha Test
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