QUANTOR Kraftwerk 9.0 – Out Of The Box: by c_g
QUANTOR is a very young German brand we stumbled across during the last Eurobike Demo Days´13 – there they were present with a sweet looking Alloy hard tail made by NICOLAI featuring the PINION 1.18 internal gearbox called Kraftwerk. Ever since we have been in loose contact and QAUNTOR has been kind enough to send us their top end bike out of the range – the Kraftwerk 9.0.
Here are a few words by QANTOR CEO Andreas Krafft on the project: “One of the motivations when designing the KRAFTWERK was to include as many national manufacturers as possible. The 9.0er version features a high percentage of German products and we are proud of this. One reason for doing the KRAFTWERK range was to create a low maintenance bike, which would not hold back on the fun factor either. Three targets were to be met: performance, quality and reliability.“
THE FRAME: At first glance already this frame is a work done by NICOLAI Maschinenbau closely resembling their ARGON hard tail. The round and straight front triangle tubing, square rear end tubing, the welded seat stay yoke and the machined dropouts – all are a unique trademark of this premium manufacturer. As are the high level of attention for detail and quality of workmanship. A NICOLAI bike isn´t necessarily aiming for weight records, but it is bound to be running trouble free for a long time. Of course you find all those modern day standards incorporated here, too: Semi-integrated headset, tapered steerer tube. 142/12 Maxle Lite rear – here combined with sliding dropouts and a drive side opening, that will allow the use of a GATES CARBON DRIVE belt, too. In fact, QUANTOR even received an regional award for the innovative thinking put into the Kraftwerk. The frame comes either in raw alloy or black anodized – the powder coated finish as seen on our sample is some € 119.- extra.
_______________________________________________________________________________The The geometry is not the standard NICOLAI ARGON one, but a specific one developed by QUANTOR themselves. There isn´t really that much unusual about the geo apart maybe from the rather slack seat tube angle of 72.5°. That usually would have me worry about the bike´s climbing abilities, but with longish (by today´s standards) effective chain stays this should be compensated. We will see, because as we all know, numbers are one thing but how a bike rides out on the trail may be a completely different matter.
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The other key feature of the Kraftwerk is the PINION 1.18 gear box. Some of you may remember that we have had a bike on test last winter with the same system – the MI:TECH Epsilon with mostly positive results. But for convenience sake – here some specs on it:
• 18 gears with even gearing steps of 11.5%.
• total gearing range of 636% – more than any other system.
• Multiple gear shifting, even when standing.
• Completely sealed construction with an internal oil bath lubrication.
• Long maintenance intervals of 10.000 km
• Minimum working love of 60.00 km
• Low center of gravity
It is going to be interesting to see how the system feels when ridden on a hard tail such as the Kraftwerk.
COMPONENTS: You think this is enough of technology. Well, not here. The top end model 9.0 also features a ROCK SHOX SID Worldcup fork (with Carbon-crown and steerer and 15 mm axle), AVID XX Worldcup brakes (180 front / 160 rear), some hand built wheels with German Acros.54 and .1G hubs, SAPIM CX-Ray spokes and NOTUBES Crest rims, a TUNE “Geiles Teil 4.0” stem (100 mm) and “Schraubwürger” seat post clamp. Another attribute to the „stay local“ concept are the superlight carbon bar „Wilde Hilde“ and seat post „Flotte Lotte“ by the very small high end weight weenie specialists of CARBONICE – which we will be talking about separately in a short while. Oh, and I almost forgot the smart (and light ;)) stem cap by CARBONICE called „Heiße Inge“, which eliminates the chances of the stem clamping your precious carbon steerer to far on top. I am not sure one really needs custom made carbon clamps for the brake levers, but on this all-stops-pulled-out bike you have them.
All in all the Kraftwerk 9.0 is supposed to be the most you can get out of a high end hard tail with a PINION gearbox. And while the reading on the scale with 11,80 kg (or 26 lbs, for a size L bike) doesn´t sound spectacular, it really is, considering a naked weight of 2,7 kg for the gearbox alone (w/o cranks).
Of course the pricing resembles the high end attitude – the Kraftwerk 9.0 comes at € 5495.- stock. For our sample you´d have an € 119.- upcharge for the powder coating and € 95.- for the red anodized gear box side plates. Luckily there also is a slightly down speced version the Kraftwerk 7.0 for € 4495.- and a almost budget version Kraftwerk 5.0 for € 3495.-. So much for the intro of this high end low maintenance hard tail by QUANTOR – the Kraftwerk 9.0. Surely an interesting combination of minimal weight components and worry free transmission technology. That bike is bound to be an interesting one to ride. Stay tuned for more on that soon.
RIDE ON,
c_g
Interesting to see a Pinion hardtail!
But the whole “include as many national manufacturers as possible” thing is a bit of marketing BS if you then ignore Magura (fork and brakes), German A (fork), BOR (rims), Brakeforce One (brakes) or many other german manufacturers. Feels like they didn’t really try…..
They should at least use the FlowEX rims because the Crests are not in keeping with the “heavy duty-long lasting” theme. I like Crest rims, but even at my 170 lb. weight, they are not all that durable. I guess the Crest decision was to try to get the weight to a reasonable range.
Otherwise, a very nice package but way more than I want to spend.
I’m sure this bike is top-quality. I ride a Focus 29er alloy hardtail which I absolutely love! German quality is world known for its attention to detail and the worlds highest manufacturing standards. This ride is out of my budget but it is special indeed.