NUMBER 02 - Haas Automation, Inc.

The Nicolai G-Boxx Project
The catalyst behind the purchase of the Haas VF-2SS
was one of Nicolai’s most challenging and revolutionary
products: the G-Boxx bicycle transmission.
Most conventional bicycles use a derailleur to change
gears (see sidebar page 20). But these are far from ideal in
the fast-paced and demanding world of serious mountain
bike racing. So in 1999, Karlheinz Nicolai decided to design
something completely different: a bicycle transmission using
a planetary-gear cartridge and robust AlCuMg1 aluminium
casing incorporated into the frame design.
The complicated casing for the G-Boxx transmission was
the Haas’ first critical test, and the results were a resounding
success. The development phase of the project required
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making and testing a large number of design prototypes,
and the Haas was just the machine to get the job done.
Now that the product is on the market, Nicolai can turn a
solid aluminium billet into a finished G-Boxx casing in just
18 minutes.
The VF-2SS continues in daily use, not only for the G-
Boxx, but also for a multitude of short runs, prototypes and
tooling of all sorts.
“We machine a lot of parts where we need less than 100
pieces,” Nicolai says, “or where it’s just not economically
feasible to make a casting or have the pieces extruded. In
such cases we machine them from solid stock on the Haas.”
Having this production capacity in-house allows Nicolai
to keep costs under control, with the flexibility to rapidly