All your questions about the Box stuff, answered.\r
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For the last month Ive been getting set up at my new house, building out my shop, and learning my way around the trails in Asheville. Brian and Alexander have been in town too, and during their livestreams a lot of you noticed that something was happening between me and Box Components. Why is there a Box banner in my shop, and why are there Box parts all over my bikes? Thats what this video is about.\r
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Lets start at the beginning. This winter, I reviewed the Box One, an 11 speed derailleur and shifter made by Box Components. GMBN then also reviewed it, and some of you guys gave them a pretty hard time about that. To be fair I wasnt the first person to review it. Singletracks, PinkBike, and MTBR all tested it out before I did. \r
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Anyway, back to my review. If you remember I tested the BoxOne for about a month, and gave it both praise and criticism. I was concerned with the clutch, wasnt sure how I felt about the lever, and noted that for an 11 speed drivetrain it wasnt exly cheap. On the positive side, I loved the quality of the shifting, and mentioned how admirable it was to develop a high end drivetrain amidst such formidable competition. Most of all, I liked how robust and serviceable it was.\r
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Most of us replace our derailleurs and shifters when they wear out, but the most demanding users can wear out a clutch or muck up a shifter in one season. The Box One gives users the ability to replace a worn clutch or totally restore a shifter by cleaning a self contained mechanism. To me, features like these are important.\r
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So, I kept in touch with Box and got some more info about the stuff they were working on. I tested their production derailleur and its improved clutch. I also tried their 11 speed cassette and its 46 tooth pie plate. It doesnt make you stronger, but it helps you feel like you are. I even smashed one of their carbon rims into a rock without so much as a ding. More recently, I spoke directly to the mad scientists in their R&D dungeon, which is something I rarely get to do. \r
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Fast forward a month later, and Im an official brand ambassador and product tester for Box. Thats why theres a banner in my shop, and thats why Ive got all this Box stuff floating around. Ill be testing their drivetrain long term, and trying out new products as they become available. As far as this channel is concerned itll be business as usual. \r
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For those of you interested in product development, I have something cool to show you.\r
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This is the “Push Push” lever on the Box One. It downshifts like a standard shifter and upshifts with a lateral thumb push. For a guy like me with stubby fingers, I thought this lever could be improved, so I sent Box a rendering I did in photoshop. See how I put the paddle closer to the end? I thought this would make it easier to push. Box responded to me and even complimented my photoshopping skills, but check this out. \r
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Box didnt cough up these prototype levers without some coaxing. Understandably, they want to keep their product development stuff under wraps, but these old prototypes were made long before I sent them my rendering. After playing around with these, it was clear why Box designed their lever the way they did. See how you dont need to bend your thumb to access either position? For some reason, I didnt realize that, and I had my lever way too close. In f, I had experimented with a lot of positions before finally moving my brake further inwards, and butting the shifter against it inboard. \r
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I prefer all my levers free and clear of my grips. When Im descending I grip in the center, and can access my brakes just fine. When traversing I tend to hold further inwards where I can reach my shifter and dropper more easily. Originally, I didnt think I could do this with Box since Id need to reach to upshift, but thats ually not the case. I now have gloriously uncluttered cockpit, and nothing encroaching on my grip space.\r
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Anyway, I wouldnt have spent all this time readjusting my levers if it werent for these prototype levers. Plus its interesting to me to see this levers ancestors. There were likely many designs like these being tested on the trails and revised in Boxs R&D dungeon. \r
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So occasionally Ill be sharing findings like these, not to jam Box products down your throats but to show you something interesting. I still maintain that you should run whatever feels comfortable, and works with your budget. As for me, Im kind of biased. I want to help Box write the next chapter in their story, even if its only a tiny part. I get excited now when I see this stuff out on the trails. Still, regardless of what you guys are running,