Where and when did Pinion start? What was the first idea?

So was Pinion your first job out of university?

Your technology is basically derived from cars, but the technology is miniaturized? Is that a fair assessment of your product, or is that oversimplifying it?

Did you consider a clutch? Is that something you looked at in the beginning?

Your production gearboxes are, in some ways, a very simple system. But in other ways, this is insanely complicated.

How do you come up with something like this? Can you visualise this in your head?

Your new C12 seems to be a big step from the P18. It seems to be much closer to something that could be accepted by the mass market. Is that your goal with that?

Was there a point where you considered doing your own?

One of your guys told me that the casing for the C12 gearbox is a half-million Euro cast.

That's a huge investment for a company of your size.

It's always interesting to talk to German companies about ownership as they tend to be privately owned, which means they can maybe take a longer view of things and make decisions that wouldn't necessarily get past shareholders.

How hard is it for a small company like Pinion to break into the market?

The chicken and the egg then?

At the moment, there's a lot of planned turnover with mountain bikes. The expectation is you keep a bike two, three year's time, whereas if you're making a gearbox that you guys are saying it'll last 100,000k. Is that a tension for you?

I have a 10-year-old VW Golf, and maybe it's not got Bluetooth, but it's fine. Where if you look at a 10-year-old mountain bike, you wouldn't really want to ride that anymore. Is that rate of progress a problem for you?

Realistically, will we see mass market bikes with Pinions in the coming future? Is that something you're working on?

Obviously, the weight is always an issue with the gearbox. At the moment, you guys say it's a 600-gram offset between that and a standard derailleur drivetrain?

One of your team said that, for instance, with a change of material in the cranks you could save 150g. You could, in theory, have lighter sprockets. Is this something you've already done? He reckons you can get to the same weight as a standard mountain bike.

To what extent has your automotive background influenced the way your product is and how is it different to other mountain bike products because of that?

What would you like the next evolution of your gearbox to be? How would you like it to change for your next step? What would your next goal be?