Enter the 3X3 NINE: Heavy Duty for Heavy Hauling
03 AUG 2024
4 MINUTE READ
BY LINDSAY BROADWELL
CONTENT SUPPORTED BY 3X3
As someone who is passionate about bicycles on an experiential, hands-on level as well as in their technical aspects, it’s long been something of a frustration of mine that in the burgeoning cargo-bike space, there’s been a bit of a lack of innovation when it comes to solutions specifically aimed at heavy-duty applications.
With that in mind, I was delighted to learn about the existence of the NINE hub from 3X3. For me, it’s one of the most exciting innovations that I’ve come across in quite a long time. 3X3 is a relatively new player in the cargo cycling arena, spun out of H+B Hightech GmbH in Germany. But before I get into what makes this hub so special, it’s time to talk a little bit of history.
Internal gear hubs date all the way back to the founding of Sturmey Archer in 1902. Their most famous hub, the three-speed AW hub, has been in production in one form or another since 1938; over eighty years. Many other companies have built hubs of various kinds, at various price points, with various capabilities in the time since. While many hubs have been and gone, there has never been a hub quite like the 3X3 NINE.
What makes it so special?
Probably the closest two hubs to the 3X3 NINE are the famous Rohloff 14-speed hub, and the Enviolo (née NuVinci) CVT. So, what makes the 3X3 NINE different? Well, for starters, the 3X3 NINE was designed from the ground-up as a hub for cargo bikes. This means it can take up to a monstrous 250Nm of torque input, offers a massive 554% gear range (bigger than many derailleurs!), and a handy 24% ratio step between each of the nine gears. All of which gives you a hub which is capable of pulling heavy loads, taking the highest power levels from the best electric-assist systems on the market, and gives you a wide gear range without having to constantly fiddle around between closely-spaced gears.
Being a standard rear wheel hub, rather than a centrally-mounted gearbox, also means that the 3X3 NINE can be fitted to almost any cargo bike out there. Clocking in at around two kilograms in weight, the hub is rugged enough to withstand almost anything you throw at it, without being excessively heavy.
Furthermore, this beefy design offers other advantages: packed into the hub is lubrication grease, which is designed to last for the life of the hub itself. No maintenance, no fuss, no fiddly oil changes, and no running the risk of said oil leaking out and causing the hub to fail prematurely. The hub has been painstakingly designed for ease of use: besides the lack of maintenance, the hub can be shifted at a standstill, or under load. This means that, unlike a derailleur, you never run the risk of ending up stuck in the wrong gear and having to mash the pedals to get going again.
As a former bicycle courier myself: I can attest this is a great way to end up with broken chains and lots of frustrations at the roadside. I’d have loved a hub like this when I was doing that job! Not needing to shunt a chain from one sprocket to another also means that the 3X3 NINE can use hefty single-speed chains, or belt-drive. Both solutions mean a longer-lasting drivetrain life and a much reduced risk that heavy loads will end up causing broken chains. Compared to a derailleur system, for a cargo bike, the hub really is a no-brainer.
Shifting, fast and slow
I touched on the shifting performance a little earlier, but now’s probably the time to go into more detail about that. The shifting system is fully modular, and offers you plenty of choice in how to set it up.
We’ll start with the basic set-up. Like the Rohloff, the 3X3 NINE offers a sturdy mechanical shifting approach: a chunky twist-shifter with two cables, in a pull-pull configuration, with indexing taken care of at the hub interface itself. This means that you’re never going to be at risk of falling in between gears and ending up with horrible grinding noises, or worse, cracked internals and a wrecked hub. As someone who’s put a heck of a lot of torque through some other hub gears, this is a real risk, and it’s good to see that 3X3 have really thought about it. The shifter is robust, feels great to use, and is extremely easy to set up and maintain when needed.
But what if you want to be a bit more tech-savvy? Well, again, 3X3 have you covered. They offer electronic shifting; both standalone and integrated with selected electric assist systems. I’ll start with the basic system: you get a wireless remote, and a shifting unit connected to the main e-bike battery. Clip on the shifter to your handlebars, wherever you feel like, and you get two buttons to switch up and down gears effortlessly. No wires at the handlebars, no fuss, no routing, no cables to worry about. This is especially handy for mountain bikers with crowded cockpits, and drawing on my experience as a courier, when I have pogies, a GPS, a bell, my phone, and all sorts on the handlebars already, this kind of flexibility in positioning is invaluable.
It gets better, though: the shifting system, can also work with BOSCH’s Smart System, and 3X3 are working on making it compatible with electric assist systems from a few other choice manufacturers as well. Not only does this mean that the shifting is powered from the main battery on the bike, but by integrating it with the electric assist system, the shifter cuts the motor power out when shifting, meaning quick and easy shifting each time, every time. While the 3X3 NINE is a chunky piece of kit and isn’t likely to get damaged by high torque, it does mean that there’ll be no graunching or sticking in the gear you don’t want.
Not only this, but the electronic shifter is pretty smartly thought out as well. There’s an option to have the hub automatically shift when you pull up to a stop, meaning you’re ready to pull off again, thanks to the hub switching down into a low gear (and you can choose which one you prefer!) when a stop is detected. As someone who’s been weaving in and out of the stop-start traffic in Amsterdam, both on my own bikes and as a courier, this would have been such a welcome addition to have!
Well this sounds good, but how do I get it, and how do I fit it?
The thing which has struck me about the 3X3 NINE is just how well-thought-out it is, not just as a hub, but as a complete system. This is probably because while the hub is new, the company behind it, H+B Hightech GmbH, has been around for a long time (since 1901, in fact, beating out Sturmey-Archer by a full year!), and knows what they’re about. German engineering has a world-class reputation, and in this case it’s not hard to see why.
Not only does 3X3 work closely with OEM manufacturers to develop bikes designed to work out-of-the-box with the NINE hub, but they also offer all sorts of fitting options – torque arms, different end plates, different shifting interface positions – that pretty much have any half-decent bike covered.The hub can accept both quick-release skewers and thru-axle setups. So even if you don’t quite have the most cutting-edge bike out there, you can still retrofit it with a 3X3 NINE down the line.
Living up to the hype
More or less as soon as I found out about the 3X3 NINE, I was a fan of the concept, and it’s been really pleasing to me to see that the reality does in fact live up to the hype. The cargo bike space has been in need of a hub to suit the needs of the heavier and heavier loads being carried, which, if cargo cycling is going to displace more and more light commercial vehicles (as well it should!) is really important to have. I can’t wait to get my hands on one personally, and any company using cargo bikes in their vehicle fleet should give the hub some serious consideration.
3X3 NINE specifications.
● 9 speeds
● 554% gear ratio
● 24% steps between gears
● 250Nm maximum input torque
● 2kg hub weight
● Chain or belt drive options
● 160 to 220mm brake rotor compatibility
● 32 or 36 spoke holes
● 135mm quick-release axle, or 142×12/148x12mm thru-axle compatibility
● Manual twist-shifting, or electronic shifting is available.
● Made in Germany, by a company with a long and solid reputation
