Drivetrains usually feature a gear known as the pinion, which may vary in different systems, including

the typically smaller gear in a gear drive train (although in the first commercially successful steam locomotive—the Salamanca—the pinion was rather large).^[1] In many cases, such as remote controlled toys, the pinion is also the drive gear for a reduction in speed, since electric motors operate at higher speed and lower torque than desirable at the wheels. However the reverse is true in watches, where gear trains commence with a high-torque, low-speed spring and terminate in the fast-and-weak escapement.
the smaller gear that drives in a 90-degree angle towards a crown gear in a differential drive.
the small front sprocket on a chain driven motorcycle.
the clutch bell gear when paired with a centrifugal clutch, in radio-controlled cars with an engine (e.g., nitro).^[2]

In rack and pinion systems, the pinion is the round gear that engages and moves along the linear rack.

Applications

See also