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  • Belt Drives …. Your experiences please :-)
  • letmetalktomark
    Full Member

    When finances allow I would like to go down the belt drive route for a current build either running an Alfine or as SS.

    The kit (£220 for belt, two cogs & tension tool) is a lot of money for an experiment and I appreciate that a convention chain drive is a lot cheaper.

    But …..

    For those using the Gates kits any regrets?

    Would you go that route again?

    A quick search turned up these threads, if you want to search through them all.

    In short, I’ve broken three belts and worn out one pulley now.
    I would probably have worn out the equivalent value of chains and sprockets, so financially, there’s not much in it.

    The big difference is that a belt works perfectly up until the point where it breaks.
    A chain spends half it’s life half worn, but then that means you get plenty of warning of when to replace it.

    Belt drive at 2500km

    Broken belt

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    My Trek Soho commuter came with it fitted and although it’s only been used on road it’s done a fair few miles over the past couple of years and I’ve had no issues with it at all.

    It’s driving a Nexus 8 speed hub if that’s any help?

    letmetalktomark
    Full Member

    Thanks guys.

    I appreciate there are oodles of threads about Belts but I was keen to get actual users thoughts.

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    One thing that I would think is very important is making sure that everything is aligned and squared up perfectly.

    I take it you know that the frame needs a split in the rear triangle, so you’ll need to budget for a new frame, or a modification to your existing one, on top of your £220 ?

    If you’re using an existing frame, you’ll find the available gear choices may be very limited due to your chainstay length. I picked my gear ratios, then got my frame built to suit.

    Two of my belts broke due to damage caused by getting small stones trapped between the belt and pulleys. One punched a clearly visible hole in the belt, which carried on for several weeks before suddenly failing.

    The other broke due to shear volume of packed grass and mud getting wedged between the belt and pulleys. If I’d stopped to clean it out properly, it would probably have been OK. I was racing 24 hour solo and tried to keep going.
    Ask anyone what the conditions were like at SITS last year. Sure, I wrecked a £70 belt, but plenty of other people wrecked £70 derailleurs.
    The difference is, you can buy a derailleur anywhere the next day.

    letmetalktomark
    Full Member

    Frame is already BD compatible (and has a Lefty …) and has a reasonable amount of movement in the (sliding) droupouts.

    Having raced pootled around MM last year I think hub gears and either belt or chain driven are the way forward 😆

    Hmm.

    avdave2
    Full Member

    The only real advantage I can see that a belt gives over a chain with hub gears for off road riding is a bit of weight saving. My last chain and sprocket did 3 years of all year round off road commuting with no more than an occasional wipe with a rag and some more gearbox oil added. I replaced the chainring, sprocket and chain for £70 in December and expect to get another 3 years out of that set up and at that point the chainring will be reversed and I’ll only need a new sprocket and chain.

    “My last chain and sprocket did 3 years of all year round off road commuting…”
    I “stretched” a brand new £7 SRAM PC1 way beyond the 1% wear limit in 70km once. That worked out at about 10p per km. Belt drive is a bargain compared to that rate of chain wear.

    All muds are not the same. Worcestershire sandstone seems to dissolve in water, turning it red. Even avoiding the mud and just riding through puddles sprays everything with fine grit that seems to wreck chains and brake pads in no time, but doesn’t affect a belt too badly.

    yodagoat
    Free Member

    The Yak had a Revolution belter with the older style Gates belt drive. It was really nice when it worked but the bike ate freehubs so he swapped it for a Spesh langster. I think the quick wear on the freehub bearing might be down to the hight tension the belt runs.

    jim
    Free Member

    I “stretched” a brand new £7 SRAM PC1 way beyond the 1% wear limit in 70km once.

    What has a 1% wear rate got to do with a single speed chain?

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    Viz top tip:

    Instead of spending loads of money on a belt drive, just ride round with your back brake dragging to get the same feel.

    avdave2
    Full Member

    My chain had probably doubled in length after 3 years ! It still worked perfectly well.

    Edit. Just looked again at how long the last chain lasted and it was 4 years. Then again I’m a proper vegan – 55 kg and often too weak to get out of bed 🙂

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    The Pinkster – Member
    My Trek Soho commuter

    What is it with you and grey bikes? Is it to match your carpet slippers? 😉

    (Sure as hell isn’t to match your carpet!)

    mattjg
    Free Member

    My SS is belt capable I think. Aside from a bit of weight, is there any benefit to the belt drive? In particular, on an off-road bike?

    (I’d never run a hub gear).

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    😆 @ Flashy.

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    Instead of spending loads of money on a belt drive, just ride round with your back brake dragging to get the same feel.

    ooh, get you Big John…. Mine isn’t draggy.

    My Carbon Drive conversion was an expensive experiment, destined to fail due to lack of understanding.

    Centretrack is totes amazeballs 🙂 Quiet, smooth, maintainence-free and clean. Perfect for a commuter, and not bad on a mtb. I shall be riding it in precisely 70 minutes and can’t wait.

    Any excuse to post this pic:


    DSC_0289 by ir_bandito, on Flickr

    Edit – in answwer to the OP question, non, je ne regrete rien. Yes, I’d do it agin, in fact I want to look at fitting a belt to my Rohloff next…

    D0NK
    Full Member

    seriously considering splashing out on a beltdrive system (and frame cut n shut) for the commuter. I know clean chains are the most efficient but my commuter chain is very rarely clean so figured belt drive in the long run shouldn’t be massively inefficient. Plus should reduce mucking about, got a new drivechain last month, have had to adjust the rear wheel to take up the tension 3 times already and that’s been a pretty dry month too so not been caked in mud.
    The freehub wear yodagoat mentions sounds ominous have other people had that?

    D0NK
    Full Member

    My Carbon Drive conversion was an expensive experiment, destined to fail…Centretrack is totes amazeballs

    eh? Are you saying you bought a CDX system which was pants but then got a CDX CT which is brill? cos if not, I say again, eh?

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    Are you saying you bought a CDX system which was pants but then got a CDX CT which is brill?

    Pretty much. Its partly the circumanstances. The single-flanged CDX pullyes couldn’t cope with the lateral flex from my suspension linakges, now matter how much tension I wound in. Repeatedly slipping off the side of the pulleys fatally weakend the belt, so by the time I’d fitted a bolt-in hub to stiffen the back up, it was only a matter of time before I was freewheeling the wrong way….

    Centretrack by nature of its design is held by the flange on both sides, so can cope with laterla flex, which means even on a rigid frame, it doesn’t need as much tension.

    The alternative method is to use a double-flanged pulley, but that has issues with trapping dirt in it.

    D0NK
    Full Member

    cheers for clarifying. CTC reviewed a woodrup (i think) this month, belt/rohloff combination of the high tensions belt and the low gear drag on the hub meant the reviewer didn’t like it much, should be ok SS

    Ringo
    Free Member

    Centre track works flawlessly been running it for a long time now, the one before was shit, I love mine and have ridden it through all sorts of crap,

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    Rohloff are funny about fitting a belt too, they’ll only let you have the kit if they’ve personally tested the frame, but I’ve never got an answer out of them as to why.

    Restriced choice of pulley and belt sizes is an issue.

    I’m happy to let any STWers have a go on mine if you want to try it…

    Rohloff won’t even sell you the adapter to fit a pulley to their hub unless you either buy a hub from them at the same time, or post your old hub back to them in Germany for them to fit the adapter.
    Even Qoroz, who built my frame, and MSG bikes who sell the Qoroz built, belt drive Expedition Won, could get me a loose adapter for me to fit myself.

    I found a way round it though. 😉

    ir_bandito
    Free Member

    I’ve figured out a way around it, just need a bit time with a lathe….

    c_klein87
    Full Member

    good feedback from the tour divide ’12 winner on his gate drive

    and to those who get 3 years from a singlespeed setup mustn’t be riding enough! even ck stainless cogs turn to sharks teeth in 6 months max

    http://chris-noble-mtb.blogspot.co.uk

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