Benefits of automatic transmission
A key feature of Revonte ONE is the automatic transmission, but what makes it desirable? Mainly it’s the same reason as in cars, having great riding experience. Nothing beats automatic transmission in simplicity when you need to continue after stopping at a red light, or climb a steep hill. It just works.
Another great benefit is getting rid of the mechanically complex manual transmission on the rear wheel. Those transmissions were never designed for the extra torque an e-bike produces and can thus wear out rapidly and malfunction easily. With the transmission tucked away inside the motor, all these maintenance problems are resolved, resulting in a much more reliable construction and less need for service.
As our automatic transmission is fully controlled by software, it can be customized to your liking. Select a different transmission style for different riding conditions or even change the number of gears, all in the comfort of your Revonte mobile application.
How it works
The principle behind our stepless automatic transmission is deceptively simple and mechanically robust. It’s just a planetary gear with two electric motors. Why didn’t someone come up with this before! Well, they did. For example Toyota Prius hybrid is built upon exactly the same principle as is the drivetrain of many tractors (not with electric motors, of course).
One electric motor is dedicated for adjusting the transmission ratio, while the other provides assistance to the rider. In fact both electric motors contribute to the total torque of the drive system, making Revonte ONE one of the most powerful e-bike motors in the market. As both electric motors are controlled by software, it makes the transmission software controlled as well. This opens up all kinds of possibilities to customize the transmission, which we will address below.
Finally, the system is mechanically stable and extremely reliable. There are no fancy tricks, it’s just gears and electric motors. The secret is in the software. You can safely expect the transmission to outlast the rest of the bike.
Different modes, with a dash of customization
For humans the most optimal speed of movement is constant, not too fast, not too slow. On a bike this translates to cadence. The fully automatic transmission mode of Revonte ONE is designed to maintain this cadence, by adjusting the transmission to a “lower gear” when pedaling gets heavier (for example in an uphill, or into the wind, and respectively to “higher gear” when it gets lighter.
Not everyone, however, has the same preferred cadence, so we made it configurable. In addition to adjusting the base cadence, you can also change the target cadence dynamically while riding by using the triggers in the controller.
Fully automatic transmission is great, in most cases. When going off-road, on forest trails, you will want more control over the transmission. For this purpose Revonte ONE provides a semi-automatic mode for the transmission. In this mode the transmission simulates a traditional cassette with a number of virtual gears with different sizes. You can simply switch gears instantly using the triggers on the controller.
Furthermore, you can set the number of gears and even adjust gear ratios using the Revonte mobile application (e-bike manufacturers may limit or even disable this functionality for certain models). No need to get your hands greasy!