Mountain bike gearboxes have had a small but vocal set of proponents for over a decade but have yet to see widespread adoption. That might be changing, at least in World Cup DH, and Atherton Racing is one of several teams debuting, or at least testing, a gearbox bike for this season.

So we sat down with Rob Gow, the Head of Design at Atherton Bikes, to talk about the new A.200.G and what spurred its development in the first place; what it took to adapt the A.200.M to accept a gearbox; what Atherton’s design process looks like in general; the pros and cons of gearboxes — both for DH racing and more broadly — and a whole lot more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Introducing Rob (3:00)

The A.200.G concept & why go gearbox? (6:17)

The development timeline & process (13:58)

Comparing the A.200.M and A.200.G (28:45)

Gearing & setting up a gearbox vs. a conventional drivetrain (36:51)

The future of gearboxes (42:47)

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