Wilhelm CCLII is our latest and at the same time most spectacular custom mode. The bike is almost indistinguishable from Schindelhauer's classic models, but comes up trumps with very special features. As the name suggests, the bike has a total of 252 gears and thus sets a world record for the total gear ratio: 3350% (!). This is made possible by a 14-speed Rohloff Speedhub gear with 526% spread in combination with a Pinion P-Line 18-speed gearbox, whose transmission ratio is 637%. Per crank revolution, this results in a covered distance of just 70 centimetres in the lowest gear, while in 252nd gear the value increases almost 34-fold, i.e. a distance of an impressive 23.3 metres. Speaking of the question what speed can be achieved: If at a relaxed cadence of 60 revolutions per minute the top speed is already a stately 84.4 km/h, athletic riders will find their optimum cruising speed of a brisk 126.6 km/h with Wilhelm CCLII at 90 crank revolutions.
Head of Design and co-founder Stephan Zehren is excited: “In the development team, we always wanted to build a bike that has the right gear for every situation. Finally, we can make our community in the UK happy, who can now tackle the Hardknott Pass in the Lake District in Yorkshire (gradient up to 33%) in a relaxed manner. In addition, we are already setting the mobility trends of tomorrow by creating new incentives to switch to cycling, especially for commuters. On rural and federal roads, they are literally on a par with car drivers and no longer have to put up with overtaking manoeuvres. I even dare to predict that many of our customers will checkmate their four-wheeled colleagues with Wilhelm CCLII.”
Tested by Paul Göhrke, member of the Schindelhauer-Gates racing team
Paul Göhrke had the opportunity to convince himself of Wilhelm CCLII. As a rider in the Schindelhauer-Gates racing team, he is very impressed after a first test on a Wahoo KICKR in our development department: "I win races with my Hektor, but when I'm pedalling at 1,500 watts and want to experience the ultimate speed kick, I swing onto Wilhelm CCLII - and just shift up. How reliably that happens thanks to Rohloff and Pinion is another highlight for me." Paul was able to achieve just under 90 km/h on his first attempt - he is already looking forward to his first tour in the wild.