Blind date with an old friend

The Nucleon 16 is a high-pivot 29er enduro bike with a mullet option in the 160 to 180 mm travel category that uses a new type of shifting technology: the Supre Drivetrain from Cedric Eveleigh‘s Canada-based development company LAL BIKES. Earlier Nucleon models from NICOLAI, such as the Nucleon DH or the Nucleon Evo, also utilized alternative shifting concepts and combined them with a high-pivot suspension design. These bikes used a modified 14-speed ROHLOFF gearbox with the axle positioned at the level of the swingarm pivot point well above the bottom bracket. A primary drive to the gearbox and a secondary drive from the gearbox to the rear wheel were required. Suspension and shifting performance, robustness and durability of the early Nucleon bikes were excellent. However, the gearbox, including the housing and design-related additional components, caused a weight disadvantage. And even the precise, high-quality ROHLOFF transmissions never quite matched the efficiency of a derailleur system when shifted under load.

With the Supre Drive, NICOLAI can now for the first time optimally use the performance advantages of a high-pivot suspension in a long-travel enduro bike, with 1×12 setup and 510% total gear ratio. To better understand what is so ingenious about this, it is first necessary to take a look at the two key technologies in detail as well as their specific details and features.

For more information see attachment.