Wilhelm CCLII is the latest and at the same time most spectacular custom model of the Berlin bicycle manufacturer Schindelhauer. The bike is hardly distinguishable from the classic models of the brand, but trumps with very special features. As the name suggests, the bike has a total of 252 gears and thus sets a world record for the total gear ratio: 3350% (!). This is made possible by means of a 14-speed Rohloff Speedhub hub gears with 526% spread in combination with a Pinion P-Line 18-speed gear unit, whose gear ratio is 637%.

This results in a covered distance of only 70 centimeters per crank rotation in the lowest gear, while in 252nd gear the value increases by almost 34 times, i.e. a distance of a remarkable 23.3 meters. Schindelhauer addresses the question of the speed that can be achieved with this with two scenarios: If the top speed is already at a stately 84.4 km/h with a cadence of a relaxed 60 rpm, sporty riders will find their optimal cruising speed of a brisk 126.6 km/h with Wilhelm CCLII at 90 crank revolutions.

Head of Design and co-founder of Schindelhauer Stephan Zehren is excited about the new addition to the Wilhelm family:

“In the development team, we have long wanted to build a bike that has the right gear for every situation. Finally, we can make our community in the UK happy, for example, who can now tackle the Hardknott Pass in the Lake District in Yorkshire (gradient up to 33%) in a relaxed manner. In addition, we are already setting the mobility trends of tomorrow by creating new incentives for commuters in particular to switch to bicycles. On rural and national roads, they are literally on a par with motorists and no longer have to put up with overtaking maneuvers. I even dare to predict that many of our customers will give their four-wheeled colleagues with Wilhelm CCLII a good wetting.”

Tested by Paul Göhrke, driver in the Schindelhauer-Gates racing team

Paul Göhrke already had the opportunity to convince himself of Wilhelm CCLII in advance. As a rider in the Schindelhauer-Gates racing team, he is very taken with it after an initial test on a Wahoo KICKR in the development department at Schindelhauer: “I win races with my Hektor, but when I pedal in at 1,500 watts and simply want to experience the ultimate speed kick, I swing onto Wilhelm CCLII — and simply shift up. How reliably that happens thanks to Rohloff and Pinion is another highlight for me.” Paul was able to reach just under 90 km/h on his first attempt – he is already looking forward to his first tour in the wild.

Wilhelm, the custom model

Wilhelm, along with Hektor, is part of the Custom line and is built to customer specifications directly by Schindelhauer at their Berlin manufacturing facility. Color choices include pure alu, cream white, garnet red and midnight blue, with other paint finishes also available. Equipment and add-on parts can be configured individually. In addition to Wilhelm CCLII, the basic model is generally available with Rohloff Speedhub hub gears or Pinion P-Line/C-Line gears and can also be configured as a singlespeed variant in the future.

Availability and price

Due to very high demand, the delivery time for new orders of custom models is currently about three months. Customers who opt for the color garnet red will get their dream bike the fastest, as for pure aluminum, cream white and midnight blue longer waiting times are to be expected. Since the Wilhelm model can be configured differently, the price is calculated individually. In the version shown, this would be 8,995 euros. Other features such as lights, mudguards and racks are optionally available.

Note: The Wilhelm CCLII is (of course) an April Fool’s joke by Schindelhauer!