Why Praxis's New Product is The Most Exciting Announcement From Sea Otter

Bicycles are already optimized to a high standard. Modern drivetrains are highly efficient at delivering power from our legs to the wheels, losing only a few percent in the process. There are really only a few complaints about the drivetrains we use, and most of these stem from the components being exposed to the elements and impacts.

Recently, internal gearbox drivetrains have been gaining popularity. They do, in fact, fix the main problems I mentioned by enclosing the mechanical components and protecting them from the environment. However, to achieve this, gearboxes introduce some of their own issues—primarily, they create a lot of drag for the rider. This is my personal reason for not owning a gearbox drivetrain.

Interestingly, the component manufacturer Praxis just announced that they've been working on their own gearbox. But instead of relying on complicated gear clusters that generate a lot of drag, this new gearbox uses more familiar-looking chains and cogs inside the enclosure. What excites me about this product is that it could solve some of the issues that have plagued gearboxes, making them a more tempting alternative to traditional drivetrains.

In the last 20+ years, there really haven’t been any major shifts in bike drivetrain technology. You might point to the shift to “one-by” drivetrains or SRAM’s T-Type direct-mount derailleurs as big technological evolutions. However, I’d argue these are relatively small in scope. They are just refinements or repackaging of existing systems. A sign that these are mere evolutions rather than revolutions is that the same two companies—SRAM and Shimano—continue to dominate the entire market, leaving little room for new competitors. This consolidation makes it effectively impossible for new companies to launch competitive products without the scale and technological base SRAM and Shimano have built over decades.

This dynamic primes the market for disruptive innovation. When someone wants to enter this segment, the most viable path is to develop a completely new system that doesn’t compete directly with the incumbents.

The gearbox segment within the drivetrain market has been evolving quickly in recent years and has become home to many bold ventures looking to disrupt the big players. The most successful gearbox to date is the Pinion. As mentioned earlier, one of its major drawbacks is the significant drag from its gear system, resulting in a roughly 9% loss in power between what the rider puts in and what the wheel receives. For comparison, a 12-speed traditional drivetrain loses around 4%.

Most innovations in this space are focused on making gearboxes smaller and improving shifting performance—but not necessarily improving efficiency. And yet, it’s efficiency that remains the key reason many riders, including myself, haven’t switched away from traditional drivetrains.

That’s why I got excited when I saw Praxis’s new gearbox. Unlike most others that use planetary gears, Praxis has designed theirs around a more traditional chain-and-cog system. This setup has the potential to significantly reduce drag. While Praxis is still in the early development stages, they’re predicting an efficiency loss of just 4–8%—a major improvement that brings it closer to the performance of a conventional drivetrain. Furthermore, I would speculate that in poor conditions, this gap could close or even swing in favor of the Praxis gearbox, since its components are sealed off from the elements.

Of course, it doesn't matter how good the drivetrain is—there are still real hurdles to bringing a product like this to market. The biggest challenge all gearboxes face is that they can't simply be added to existing bikes. Due to their unique form factor, they require a bike that is specifically designed around the gearbox. That means bike brands must have a lot of confidence in the product before they invest in designing and producing a new frame. This creates a chicken-and-egg problem: it's hard for consumers to adopt the product and signal interest to frame manufacturers without available bikes—and vice versa.

However, Praxis is in a better position than other gearbox brands because of its strong existing relationships with bike manufacturers, thanks to its large OEM sales business. Hopefully, Praxis can leverage these relationships to help their gearbox gain traction before other startups catch up.

I’m excited to see how this new era of gearboxes develops and how it impacts the bike industry. SRAM and Shimano have had the drivetrain market locked down for a long time. But I have my fingers crossed that gearboxes might finally disrupt the status quo. If SRAM and Shimano get caught off guard and aren’t ready with a competitive gearbox product when the shift happens, they could find themselves in a much more vulnerable position.