Hot on the heels of the release of the M2S and M2 motors back in April, Avinox has rocked up at Eurobike with another brand new unit, the MG Concept. This is a new motor developed in partnership with Canyon, Commencal, Mondraker and Forbidden, and it’s a pretty radical departure from the company’s other motors, in that it’s internally geared.
It’s hard to believe that Avinox only launched at Eurobike two years ago. Those two years have seen a massive shake-up in the ebike motor market, and Avinox has been, for want of a less techbro word, a key disruptor, with more than 60 bike brands now using the motors. And the brand is at it again.
“With a new platform debut less than three months after the unveiling of the Avinox M2S and M2 in April 2026, Avinox continues to accelerate its innovation, collaborating with five of the industry’s brightest stars to bring positive change to the e-bike industry,” said Ferdinand Wolf, Avinox Product Experience Director. “Avinox continues to challenge what is considered possible, and we are privileged to work with the best in the business. OEMs and consumers alike are embracing the Avinox ethos and vision, and we are dedicated to delivering on our promise of bringing them the best cycling experience imaginable.”
We only have the outline specs of the motor right now, and a rather cryptic press release, and we haven’t ridden it. But the unit is a mating of Avinox’s motor technology with an internal gearing unit with a range comparable to an external 1x drivetrain. The press release talks about an “internal derailleur unit”, but in reality, what’s inside is some manner of continuously variable transmission system. We’ve seen motors with internal gearing before (the Pinion MGU, for example), and we’ve also seen continuously-variable gearing: the Enviolo hubs are common on urban and cargo bikes. The mating of the two concepts isn’t a first either; Owuru motors are used on a number of Decathlon city bikes. But the Avinox is breaking new ground in moving this technology into the MTB sphere. The motor is on display at Eurobike, built into Canyon, Commencal, Megamo, Forbidden and Mondraker frames, suggesting that while it’s billed as a concept, we’re not far from production here.
What are the benefits of running a motor like this? Well, there are plenty. More of the transmission weight centred in the bottom bracket will be good for weight distribution, and the removal of the rear mech and cassette means less sprung weight, which will improve suspension response. Also, everything’s encased and protected in the motor body, so there’s no danger of totalling your expensive rear mech on a rock. The singlespeed drive unit also opens up the opportunity of using a belt instead of a chain for even lower maintenance; the Mondraker concept bike is a belt drive.
Avinox claims the internal gearing requires “no maintenance during its lifespan”, which is a good thing to hear. CVT systems are generally less efficient than a chain/derailleur setup, so the system’s possible range will be impacted. But other than that, there aren’t many downsides. Avinox is promising a “Smaller and lighter platform for all e-bike types” that “can be easily adapted to e-MTB, e-Trekking, e-SUV, e-Gravel and other bike models” but we don’t have a confirmed weight as yet; it’ll probably be around 3.5kg, which is comparable to a standard mid motor with a derailleur and cassette.
Avinox already has a great motor for e-bikes, and it’s not reinventing that: the MG will have similar specs to the M2S motor, so that’s a peak power of up to 1,500W and peak torque of up to 150Nm. Avinox is working on a regenerative braking system for this motor, which will charge the bike under braking as you head back downhill. That will depend on the bike transmission, though; the prototypes so far all look to have some kind of chain or belt tensioner, and regenerative braking systems don’t tend to play nicely with them. There’s a locking function too, which will lock the pedals to stop chancers riding off on your pride and joy.
Shifting is electronic, and Avinox claims “uninterrupted power delivery and a shift time of less than 0.1 second.” So, although we’re talking about a CVT system that has an infinite range from low to high, the MG concept splits that up into discrete gears you can select like you would on a derailleur system. In the same manner as electronic derailleur gears, you’ll be able to configure multi-shifting and also auto-shifting based on cadence; that works steplessly, so you’re always running at exactly the cadence you want. And of course, there’s an AI mode, because everything has to have an AI mode these days.
What it actually does isn’t really covered. The tech allows for any number of gears between low and high because you’re not constrained by sprockets and pull ratios; you can define how many gears you want, and also the ratios for those gears, so it’s hugely configurable for different styles of riding. Shifting up or down under load is not an issue with a system like this, and you can shift at a standstill, too.
At the moment, we don’t have a timescale for a full launch of the MG motor, but the number of frames already built to spec suggests we’re a long way down that road; we’ll update you when we know more, but we’d expect it to be commercially available in time for when Eurobike rolls around next year.
