This wild steel gearbox enduro bike could convince me to drop the derailleur

After 14 years of trawling bike trade show floors, it takes something special to catch my eye – and this Tripping Balls prototype from Blues Bikes was one such machine, spotted at the Taipei International Cycle Show today.

It's a steel enduro bike, with a rarely seen suspension linkage, adjustable travel and a Pinion gearbox drivetrain.

It looks totally wild.

Fresh out of the blocks

The Tripping Balls has 142mm of travel at the back and features a 160mm fork at the front. However, with a longer-stroke shock (and a longer Gates belt), it can be adjusted to 160mm.

While I saw it in 29er form, it can also be set up to run as a mullet – 29in at the front and 27.5in at the back.

The rarely seen linkage was designed by Chris Canfield (of Canfield Bikes fame) and is a multi-link VPP system. It's currently set up with a coil shock, so I'd assume there's ample progressivity through the suspension's stroke to cope with the more linear spring.

Blues Bikes built this first frame from double-butted 4031 Chromoly steel, leaving it raw and ready to rust in order to give it a time-worn patina.

Cables run externally to make maintenance easier, and there's a removable seatstay bridge, which needs removing if the bike is run in its longer-travel mode.

At the heart of the bike is a Pinion C1.12 gearbox, shifted electronically from the bar.

This 12-speed gearbox might weigh more than a traditional derailleur-based drivetrain, but with its internals in an oil bath, fully encased in metal, and with the weight low and central in the frame, it's a solution many harder-riding MTBers may be eyeing up.

To drive the bike forward, there's a Gates Carbon Drive belt – no chain here.

These require a strongly sprung tensioner, which is nestled near the gearbox, to prevent the system slipping, but means that weight is not concentrated towards the rear of the bike.

Given a belt can't be joined as a chain can – they come in one fixed loop – the rear driveside triangle needs to be split.

Rather than cut a structurally important tube in half and give it a coupler, Blues Bikes has created a modular dropout that bolts the seatstays and chainstays together. Remove the dropout and the belt can be threaded into the rear triangle.

While I don't have a full geo chart, I'm told the Medium-sized prototype has a 450mm reach, 445mm chainstays, 64-degree head angle and 77-degree seat angle.

There's a plan to bring the bike to market, possibly by the end of the year, once the next set of prototypes have been built and put through more testing.

Here's hoping they make it to a trail near me soon, because I for one will be asking for a go.