Honda G-Cross RN-01 Gearbox

Although the gearboxes weren’t as groundbreaking as Honda’s first two attempts, they still allowed riders to shift without pedaling, which meant riders could better prepare for tight corners or tricky sections in a race. They were also more reliable and less susceptible to damage while out on the trails.

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But they are perhaps more well known purely because of the secrecy that surrounded them during the competition years. According to Cycling About, Honda took unimaginable steps to keep its designs secret. All the work that was done on the gearbox was carried out in secret and the parts were never stored with the rest of the bike. Instead, engineers would often keep the transmissions hidden away in their hotel rooms while they weren’t needed in races.

Then, once Honda disbanded its G-Cross team, the company even went so far as to destroy all its prototype gearboxes, according to Bike Radar. It’s maybe because of these steps that the innovative transmissions were never mass-produced for regular riders like me and you.