2018 Zerode Taniwha Signature Cane Creek Edition

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Zerode's 160mm travel Taniwha enduro/all-mountain bike represents one of the best mountain bike frame production efforts built around a gearbox drivetrain system. Is it all it's cracked up to be? Where does it excel and where does it struggle? Does it live up the Māori monster inspired New Zealand name? After more than three months of use in dozens of locations, it's time to fill you in on the all the juicy details.

Highlights

• Carbon frame
• 27.5-inch (650b) wheels
• 160mm (6.3-inches) of front and rear wheel travel
• Single-pivot suspension with 216x63mm shock
• Collet-style pivot hardwear
• Pinion C1.12 gearbox with grip-shift style remote
• Internal cable routing for dropper post
• Tapered headtube
• 160mm IS brake mount
• 12x142mm single-speed rear hub
• Measured weight (size large, no pedals, burly dual coil build): 35.3-pounds (16.0kg)
• Builds in the 30-32 pound (13.6-14.5kg) range possible
• MSRP $10,000 USD as tested
• Three-year warranty

Inside the Pinion C.Line Gearbox

At the heart of the Taniwha is a Pinion C1.12 gearbox with a magnesium alloy body – a newer, lighter version introduced not long ago. It provides a whopping 600% gear range distributed at even 17.7% steps across the 12-speeds. This Pinion video demonstrates how it works internally:

Maintenance wise, the gearbox is touted as being ready for 6,000 miles (10,000km) of use without needing service. When the time does come, changing the gearbox oil is a relatively simple process and requires an affordable oil change kit.

You can customize the direction of the shift by switching the cables on the Pinion's grip-shift style shifter. Given our time a dirt bike, where you twist the throttle to go faster, we opted for the rotate backwards to shift into a harder gear orientation.

Geometry

On The Trail

The many varied trails of Hood River, Black Rock, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Phoenix, and Sedona played host to our rides.

One of the the big drivers behind Zerode's decision to use a gearbox is that it removes a lot of unsprung weight from the bike, which has the potential to improve suspension performance. Zerode's layout replaces a derailleur, longer chain, and cassette with a single chainring and much shorter chain. Plus, because there is just one cog in the back, a rear hub with wider flanges is used to create a stronger rear wheel with symmetric spoke angles.

Set to 30% sag, these suspension performance gains proved to be real and were immediately apparent during our first few descents. The rear wheel has that glued-to-the-ground feel over bumpy terrain because there is less weight getting tossed up and down for the shock to keep in check. This creates more traction, and, in turn, more control. Indeed, this performance trait is where the Taniwha truly shines. Traction is so good that you can get away with a faster-rolling, less knobby tire out back without issue. We were amazed time and time again at the lines we were able to hold through off-camber and wet sections of trail.

Ride after ride our legs felt spent, and in terrain like the constant up/down of Sedona things just didn't mesh. With the whir of the internal gears in the background you feel like you're always grinding as you propel 35-pounds of mythical monster forward.

That said, having provided ourselves with plenty of saddle time and hundreds of miles to get familiar with things, altogether we don't rate it well in the climbing or general pedaling departments. Ride after ride our legs felt spent, and in terrain like the constant up/down of Sedona things just didn't mesh. With the whir of the internal gears in the background you feel like you're always grinding as you propel 35-pounds of mythical monster forward. Moving to less spring force on the chain tensioner helped reduce drag, but we began dropping chains more often. Engagement within the Pinion gearbox is also quite slow, which can be an issue once in a while.

We felt as though the Cane Creek shock's climb switch was a worthwhile thing to activate on longer climbs and appreciated how calm it made all pedaling. The bike firms up underneath you while also increasing low-speed rebound damping which adds to the bike's ground stickiness.

Build Kit

In the US, Zerode's distributor offers five complete builds priced from $6,600 to $10,000 USD, a frame + drivetrain package for $5,000, and a frame + drivetrain + fork package for $6,000. Zerode offers international buyers one complete option spec'd with FOX suspension at 10800 NZD.

Decked out in some coil sprung fun front and rear, the $10,000 Signature Cane Creek Edition US build was up to bat for this review. Looking the components over, there's no denying that the bike we rode was built for abuse over efficiency. Those interested in a better pedaling bike should check out other builds or the newTaniwha Trail, a more spritely 140mm travel version.

WTB's massive 2.5-inch Convict tire graced the front with a 2.4-inch Trail Boss out back, both in the Tough casing. They provided ample traction in all conditions and great sidewall support, but also a bit of a dead response, slow rolling speeds, and lots of added rotational weight. A variety of faster-rolling tires were also mounted to help speed things up a bit, which they did.

Though they have since moved to Industry Nine Pillar Carbon wheels, our bike featured very wide Derby AM/DH 35i rims laced to the ultra-fast engaging Project 321 hubs. The stout wheels had zero issues and looked no worse for wear following our test period. We do feel they were too wide for the bike, however, limiting tire choice within the enduro realm.

Cane Creek's HELM Coil fork is a good effort for their first go. Though a bit less polished than competitor forks, it paired well with the damping traits of the rear end.

Even though the rear brake was often inconsistent and needed a bleed after a short time, the outright stopping power and modulation provided by the Magura MT Trail Carbon brakes was very impressive. We had great front end trust and control in all situations.

9Point8's Fall Line dropper post was another notably great component with very smooth action.

The quick addition of 3M mastic tape on inside of the seat stay can go a long way toward keeping things super quiet.

What's The Bottom Line?

Is this the end the derailleur as we know it? Very unlikely. Modern mountain bike drivetrains are increasingly reliable, the ability to smoothly shift under load fits mountain biking well, and with the creation of clutched derailleurs and narrow/wide chainrings dropped chains are pretty much a thing of the past.

Instead, we choose to view Zerode's Taniwha as another way of getting the job done – one with both tangible benefits and compromises. There's a lot to love about the design and function, especially in the suspension realm, you just need the lungs to propel it and resolve to master it.

Visit www.zerodebikes.com and www.cyclemonkey.com in the USA for for more details.

Vital MTB Rating

• Climbing: 2.5 stars - Okay
• Descending: 4.5 stars - Outstanding
• Fun Factor: 3 stars - Good
• Value: 3 stars - Good
• Overall Impression: 3.5 stars - Very Good

About The Reviewer

Brandon Turman - Age: 31 // Years Riding: 16 // Height: 5'10" (1.78m) // Weight: 175-pounds (79.4kg)

"I like to have fun, pop off the bonus lines on the sides of the trail, get aggressive when I feel in tune with a bike, and really mash on the pedals and open it up when pointed downhill." Formerly a mechanical engineer and Pro downhill racer, Brandon brings a unique perspective to the testing game as Vital MTB's resident product guy. He has on-trail familiarity with nearly every new innovation in our sport from the past several years and a really good feel for what’s what.