Long-Term Review: Nua Roure Pinion Through a Customer’s Eyes

Every now and then, we receive messages from riders that remind us why we do what we do. Kurt is one of those riders. He’s taken his Nua Roure Pinion on incredible adventures - across Australia, Mexico, the U.S., and Peru - and has been kind enough to share his honest, long-term impressions with us.

He’s also sent us some amazing photos from his journeys, which we’re excited to share alongside his story.

Here’s Kurt’s story, in his own words:

¨Those of us with even a passing interest in cycling would recall a semi successful cyclist from the early 2000’s who co-wrote a book called “It's Not About the Bike”. As it would turn out, for him it wasn’t about the bike but other ways of enhancing his ride. For me, though, it’s all about the bike. For me, for how and where I want to ride, it’s about the bike.

Why the Nua Roure?

I had begun to dabble in long-distance off-road cycle touring around 2015. Over the years and tours I had tried a number of different setups, from a gravel bike to a dual suspension XC mountain bike, but all with traditional derailleur based drive trains. What I discovered was that long, loaded off road touring was particularly harsh on traditional drive trains. Despite regular maintenance and cleaning, I would wear through chains relatively quickly. The derailleur was exposed and at times took knocks putting it out of alignment, although I was lucky enough not to completely destroy one.

I wanted something that was more robust and required minimal maintenance for long distance touring in remote areas. I had read about Rohloff hubs and was considering it as an option. However, I was also aware of Pinion gearboxes being an alternative with equal robustness and reliability with the added flexibility of being able to easily swap wheelsets. I also wanted a bike with clearance for wider tyres. Fortune and Google led me to Nua and the Roure Pinion.

Nua Roure Pinion @ Peru Divide.

The Nua Experience

I first contacted Nua in early 2022 about the Pinion Roure. From the outset it has been a great experience. Roberto and his team were always very helpful. Roberto worked with me to confirm what my requirements were and what type of bike I wanted. He then developed a frame design and shared it with me. We went through a couple of iterations of this process to finalise my design. Even so, I requested an amendment quite late in the process, once the manufacturing had commenced, but Roberto was more than helpful and was able to accommodate my request.

Since receiving my Nua in 2022 until now, I have contacted Nua a number of times to ask questions or to share a photo of my bike on a tour. Roberto has always responded promptly and been very helpful.

Mawson Trail, South Australia.

But isn’t it about the bike?

Yes, yes, back to the bike. I purchased the frame, Pinion gearbox, belt drive and fork from Nua, and built up the rest of the bike myself. The quality of the frame and fork was evident from the moment I first inspected it. I was really happy with the bike from the first time I rode it. It felt exactly like I had wanted, with a more relaxed riding position for long days in the saddle, whilst being stable and capable on more technical trails.

My first long tour was the Hunt 1000 route starting in Melbourne Australia. This was a good test for the bike as there is a lot of remote and off-road sections. The bike was perfect. I had zero issues and did zero maintenance.

Sea of Cortez, Baja Divide, Mexico.

Surely it can’t be perfect?

Since the Hunt 1000 I have also ridden the bike on the Mawson Trail in South Australia, The Baja Divide in Mexico, the SoCal Ramble in California, and the Cajamarca to Caraz and Peru Divide routes in Peru. And there have been a couple of issues. The first: I have snapped two Gates belts. While the carbon belt system is generally very reliable and super low maintenance I have had the belt come off a couple of times while riding off road. I believe this was caused by a small rock or other debris being thrown up from the trail and lodging between the belt and the sprocket, causing it to derail.

The carbon strands in the belts are strong and add to the belts durability in normal use. They are susceptible to damage if stretched, which is why you need to slide the wheel forward in the dropouts when putting the belt on so that it can be easily put in place before tensioning the belt correctly. I believe the belt being dislodged by the debris caused the strands to be damaged, and this led the belt to snap, both times a couple of days after the initial incident. I always carried a spare belt, so I was able to get back on the trail quickly. However, after the first time it happened I was uncomfortable being in remote areas with no additional spare, so now I carry two spare belts. They are relatively small and light so this is not an issue.

The second problem I encountered was with the Pinion cranks and creaking. Despite correctly torqueing the crank bolts I found them to loosen over time, which led to the cranks creaking. This has largely been solved now with the use of some Loctite on the crank bolts.

Joshua Tree National Park, California, USA.

Both of these issues are specific to the Pinion and the Gates carbon belts, and nothing within Nua’s control. The frame and fork from Nua remain as perfect as the day I received them. While I may have been unlucky with two belts snapping, I am not the only one who has experienced this. I read some of the comments in the Bikepacking.com review of the Pinion gearbox, and one of the commenters had a similar experience using belts on a Pinion mountain bike. They reverted back to using a chain on the Pinion gearbox, which is always an option. For now, I am sticking with belts.

Final thoughts

I am still really happy with my Nua Roure. It is exactly what I wanted for the places I ride and the type of riding I do. The purchasing experience and the after sales support from Nua has been exceptional. I would not hesitate in recommending Nua to anyone.¨

We’re truly grateful to Kurt for taking the time to share his experience and for trusting his adventures to Nua Bikes. Stories like his inspire us every day to keep building bikes that last a lifetime and carry their riders to unforgettable places.

If you’ve got a Nua story of your own, we’d love to hear it and see where your bike has taken you!