Supre Drive
efficiency of a derailleur + reliability of a gearbox
The Supre Drive splits the two functions of a conventional rear derailleur, with a simplified, protected derailleur at the rear axle solely for shifting gears and a chain tensioner relocated to a centered position above the crank.
We’re seeking bike brands to offer bikes equipped with the Supre Drive. Our goal is to make the Supre Drive a mainstream drivetrain option so that many riders can benefit from its advantages. Find out what others think of the Supre Drive in the reviews below.
Review excerpts
“This drivetrain is nothing short of incredible. 10/10, all aspects. When it comes to chain-driven bikes, there is nothing that matches the Supre Drive system. […] If you’d give me any bike, any drivetrain, I would choose this drivetrain, by and far, no questions asked. It is remarkably, remarkably good.”
Loam Wolf, Lal Katana Long Term Review (link to video)
The Supre Drive drivetrain is nothing short of a revelation in silence and reliability.
“I can’t describe the sounds emitted by the Katana, because they simply don’t exist. The Katana is an order of magnitude quieter than anything I’ve ridden. The Supre Drive hydraulic damper erases any chain slap. Riding through chunder and landing airs feels like you’re starring in your own Raw 100 movie, or I’ve jammed earplugs into my ears. This kind of wizardry is usually reserved for sound studios and erasing noises digitally, so chapeau to the Lal Bikes team for creating a silent bike.”
“A perfectly tuned derailleur works spectacularly, until you bash it against something, knocking it out of alignment, or worse, destroying it. I’ve witnessed many a broken rear mech. The Supre Drive virtually eliminates the weakest link of the modern MTB drivetrain.”
NSMB, Lal Katana (link to article)
The Supre Drive virtually eliminates the weakest link of the modern MTB drivetrain.
“The Supre Drive is the big story here, and it works great. The shifter feel and shifting performance are very similar to Shimano’s 12-speed mechanical groups at whatever tier of shifter you’re using (XTR in this case), but the chain control of the Supre Drive is far better. It’s extremely quiet, there’s minimal feedback from the chain bouncing around, and not having a derailleur cage hanging down in harm’s way is great, too.”
Blister Review, Lal Katana (link to article)
It’s extremely quiet, there’s minimal feedback from the chain bouncing around, and not having a derailleur cage hanging down in harm’s way is great, too.
Features of the Supre Drive
GROUND CLEARANCE
No more broken derailleurs thanks to the derailleur’s two mounting points, protected position in the frame, and its distance from the ground.
EFFICIENCY
More efficient than a gearbox, and more efficient than other high pivot bikes due to the large pulleys and constant chain tension system that reduces drag. You can learn about our measurement of the Supre Drive’s efficiency here.
SUSPENSION PERFORMANCE
Suspension performance is improved by the Supre derailleur’s low unsprung weight (nearly 300g lighter than the SRAM XO T-Type derailleur). Lower unsprung weight means better suspension.
DAMPING
The chain tensioner has a hydraulic damper that outperforms any derailleur clutch on the market. It’s speed-sensitive, which provides excellent chain stability without hindering shifting. Additionally, there are no sliding surfaces to wear out, so no loss of damping over time. To learn more, check out this video.
Katana bike
To demonstrate the potential of the Supre Drive, we built the Katana bike. It shows the ride quality that is possible with the Supre Drive. To learn more about the Katana, check out this page. The video below is when we launched the Katana with the intention of offering it for sale, but we changed our plans to focus on the Supre Drive and encourage other bike brands to offer bikes equipped with it.
How does the Supre Drive work?
Conventional derailleurs have two functions: they shift the chain across cassette sprockets and they tension the chain. These two functions are separated in the Supre Drive, with shifting remaining with the derailleur and chain tensioning moved to the middle of the bike. When shifting gears, a chain tensioner arm pivots around the bottom bracket axis to give and take chain slack. The derailleur has only one pulley and a lot of ground clearance.
The most reliable derailleur
The Supre Drive is the world’s toughest, most reliable derailleur drivetrain. The derailleur is not only far from the ground but also well braced for impacts. Regular derailleurs have been beefed up, but the dangling cage is still vulnerable and often broken or bent, wrecking otherwise great rides. The Supre Drive solves this.
PATENTED
The Supre Drive is patented in the United States (US pat. 11,560,201) and patent pending internationally.
PINKBIKE 2021 INNOVATION OF THE YEAR
The Supre Drive won the Pinkbike 2021 Innovation of the Year award. It was an honor to win this innovation award up against competition that included Rockshox Flight Attendant.
Technical details
There’s no derailleur hanger and no B-limit, making the derailleur easy to adjust. With the exception of the pulleys and pulley bearings that inevitably wear out, the Supre Drive is low maintenance.
The Supre Drive works with Shimano 12-speed chains, cassettes (10-51t), and shifters. Also, it’s compatible with off-the-shelf hubs, bottom brackets, chainrings, and cranks. Three specific requirements are a 52mm chainline, Super Boost rear hub, and T47 bottom bracket. The minimum chainring size is 28t, and the tensioner arm has clearance for up to 34t.
Our chain tensioner is unique in that it produces constant chain tension across the range of gears. This is achieved with an innovative design that separates the spring from the tensioner arm. You can learn about how this works in this explainer page.
There is very little chain slap noise with the combination of the hydraulically damped chain tensioner and good stay protectors. Also, the large idler pulley makes for a smooth and quiet high pivot drivetrain when pedaling.
When comparing the combination of the Supre derailleur and chain tensioner to conventional derailleurs, the Supre derailleur + tensioner is about 200g heavier than an XT derailleur and the same weight as an XO T-Type derailleur.
The Supre Drive creates a lot of chain wrap around the cassette sprockets and the chainring. This is beneficial for decreasing wear and preventing the chain from skipping forward under heavy load.
Some folks assume that increased chain wrap causes more drag, but this is not the case. The amount of chain wrap around a sprocket doesn’t affect the amount of drag. A major factor in determining the amount of drag is the pivoting angle of each chain link as it engages and disengages with sprockets. The pulleys in the Supre Drive are big and that decreases the pivoting angles of the chain links which in turn improves efficiency. For example, check out oversized pulley wheel systems for road bikes, which are designed for exactly this purpose
To learn more about the technology in the Supre Drive and also in our Katana bike, check out the following video. We also have technical articles accessible through the “Learn” menu of this website.
Experience the Supre Drive
Come test ride the Supre Drive on our local trails on the Sunshine Coast! We have prototype Katana bikes on hand that anyone is welcome to try. The Sunshine Coast has awesome riding without the crowds of the Sea-to-Sky.
About the company
Lal Bikes was founded in late 2021 with the unveiling of the Supre Drive. We’re located on the Sunshine Coast in BC where we have an industrial workspace and awesome trails at riding distance from our shop.
Our long-term goal is to make the Supre Drive a mainstream drivetrain option so that many riders can benefit from its advantages.
Lal Bikes is named after Pierre Lallement, the inventor of the pedal bicycle. Also, supre means “above” in Esperanto, in reference to the derailleur’s ground clearance.
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