What do you do when you sell your bike company – known best for its bike packing rigs designed to go round the world?Steven Shand, formerly of Shand Cycles, has been spending some of his time advising on the development of Intra Drive‘s gearbox powertrain, the GD8, which is soon to be seeking crowdfunding. A UK made ebike motor with gearbox drive? With connections to Steven Shand, maker of bikes for going a very long way? This sounds like the sort of thing you lot might be interested in…
Intra Drive is a UK company aiming to create the ‘GD8’, a made-in-the-UK e-bike motor with gearbox. The company is committing to making it using renewable energy, and to making it repairable with replacement parts – something which should be of particular interest to those concerned about the repairability (or not) of current ebikes. The website states:
The burning of fossil fuels and disproportionate consumption of materials and energy by wealthy nations have driven humanity to a state of climate and ecological collapse.
THIS IS AN EMERGENCY
But it doesn’t have to be this way!
The bicycle is the most efficient mode of transport known to man. E-bikes consume a tiny amount of energy per km when compared to electric cars, and require far less material and energy to manufacture. e-Mobility is the future of urban transport.
By using renewable electricity for manufacturing, and by adopting a circular economy model which respects planetary boundaries, we will demonstrate that a livable world is possible.
Intradrive
Their GD8 ebike drive unit offers 600W of peak power and 3 assist modes. There are 8 speeds/gears with a 470% gearing range, and the unit fits into the same frame space as a Shimano EP8. They’re offering two battery options (630Wh and 500Wh) to go with it, that both use similar forms to Shimano and Bosch batteries – which they hope will make swapping to their product easier for bike companies. Orange has already shown a bike featuring the drive, and this latest funding appeal is designed to take the company from these pre-production prototypes to manufacturing.
An initial plan to seek funding in April this year was delayed thanks to a Scottish Enterprise grant, but there’s more needed to take things forward. They’ve already secured a good chunk of from three private investors, and hope to attract the rest through an upcoming Crowdcube campaign.
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We’re raising investment to enable us to take the product to market. We plan to produce a first run of production gearbox drive units in 2024. Our gearbox technology is at an advanced stage of development, with version3 prototypes on bikes being testing daily. We’re now in the industrialisation and testing phase, and the funds will allow us to complete testing (in house, and compliance testing), pay for tooling, and build a low volume/MVP production line in our Edinburgh facility.
Mark Ravilious – Founding Director
The Crowcube funding will be an equity crowdfund campaign, not a rewards based campaign (like with Kickstarter, or Indiegogo). However some equity campaigns on Crowdcube offer perks like special edition T-shirts etc. Intra Drive says that Singletrack World readers are welcome to let them know what they’d like them to offer – if anything. Do you invest to get a perk, or because you want to see a product succeed, or in the hope of making your fortune? Head to the comments to let them know!
The Crowdfund campaign for the GD8 is still in the early stages and not live yet, but if you’re interested you can register interest via the early access link. This doesn’t commit you to funding anything, it just makes sure you hear about it when the Crowdfunder actually opens!
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