[Closed] Surly 1x1 belt drive

How long will a belt last before it needs replacing? (regular weekend riding)

a looooong time.

It's the future!

I'll update when it wears out!
The guy who broke Mark Beaumont's round the world record apparently did it on a bike with one of these belts and a Rohloff. Changed the belt once in 18,000 miles.
Don't think I'll get 9,000 miles out of mine when using it in Scottish mud, but I'm hoping it will last a while.

And is better than a chain, or just more niche (which amounts to the same thing obviously) ?

That looks like an unnecessarily complicated joint.

Neat conversion though.

Looks good, did you do the conversion yourself?

[url= http://www.shandcycles.com/ ]Steven Shand[/url] put the join into the seat stay.

Ah ha, Falkirk way isn't he? If you don't mind me asking, how much was it?

You've obviously spent a lot of time, effort and money on this, so please don't take this the wrong way (I'm, genuinely curious), but what exactly is the benefit of a belt drive? Apart from keeping your right trouser leg clean of course? 😀

I've got a 1x1 myself - great bike which will probably outlast me, I don't doubt that the belt drive will last ages, but I run a SRAM PC1 chain on mine which also last ages, costs buttons and takes about 5 minutes to replace.

Given that belt drives can only be used on singlespeed or hub gears, which by their nature are pretty reliable anyway, I really don't see what the advantage is.

There is no need to oil/clean and they last over 9k miles.

Is that really it?...I'm thinking a couple of minutes to oil / clean a singlespeed chain every so often (not very often in my case, admittedly)...A few quid and about 5 minutes to change a chain every few hundred miles compared to cost / time / effort to chop the frame and install belt drive.

That's not to mention the hassle of changing tyres and tubes which I'm assuming is a real faff.

Sorry, but it just doesn't seem to add up... unless of course you just really really want one, in which case that's fine! 😀

Why would it be any harder to change a tire or tube???

I assume other benefits are its quieter and you don't wear out the chainring or sprocket

What about stretch?

What about weight? I'm guessing the belt is less than a chain but what about the chainring and sprocket? They look heavier

How will it 'go'? will the notches just wear out of will is suddenly snap?

I'm guessing carrying a spare is no big deal

edit: looks lile less hassle for changing a tyre cos you won't get crappy oil all over your hands

Looking good and a change to the usual split dropout. I'm seriously considering belt drive for a new project of mine

twohats -my mistake, I was assuming you'd need to decouple the frame to get the wheel out but I just clocked the picture showing that it's tensioned using the Tugnut in the normal way.

To those who ask why...
I don't know yet!
By next spring I might know. A winter of grit, muck and filth will either wreck the belt and pulleys or have little impact. If it's the latter then I will be happy and will probably convert my other singlespeed. If it's the former I'll go back to chains and write the project off as an interesting but expensive experiment.
Weight wise the pulleys are probably about the same or slightly ligher than an aluminium chainring and a steel sprocket. The belt is much ligher than a chain.
According to the manufacturer the belts don't stretch at all. I imagine that when it's worn out the belt may start to 'ratchet' or jump teeth. Should certainly never snap unless it's mistreated.
It is noticably quieter than a chain and I do really like not having grease on my calves, clothes, car and carpets.
Changing tyres/tubes is no different to on any other singlespeed with horizontal dropouts and a chain tug.

The silence of a belt drive single speed bike is sublime.

That alone makes it worthwhile to me 🙂

You get to see all sorts of wildlife you don't normally see.

All the other advantages are well documented, but the weight weenie in me also appreciates the loss of half a pound or so.

Here's the weight comparison.

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

BTW a chainbreaker tool is heavier than a spare belt if you are the sort to worry about drivetrain breakages.

I think the USP for me would be the lack of lube/oil/grease, although that would be more or an actual benefit on my commuter than an MTB.

how much was the join in the frame?

Where did you get the belt drive kit from?

Can i ask total cost?

[b][u][url= http://www.g-boxx.com/e-carbondrive.html ]Here you are.[/url][/u][/b]

BTW if you have a frame with flat dropouts, you can do the frame split yourself. No need for fancy connectors. Many On-Ones would suit this purpose. I have done a number of conversions.

[b][u][url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/34903211@N02/sets/72157624060602242/ ]Here's a pictorial how to showing my latest conversion.[/url]
[/u][/b]

Completed job

[img] [/img]

Mr Shand charged 95 euros for the join. Got the belt drive kit from him too. (Although he's in Scotland he prices these conversions in Euros because he has to pay for the components in Euros)
As Epicyclo says you can do it in a more diy fashion by sawing through the dropout and bolting a plate on. I didn't fancy this, so went with the seatstay join.

Epicyclo, that is a very nice looking bike

Very nice conversion. Let us know how the belt lasts - I read somewhere that they should do 3 times a chain when used in muck, which in my case would still be less than a year.

Is it really quiet? Any buzz from the belt at all when spinning fast?

simon1975 - Member
...Is it really quiet? Any buzz from the belt at all when spinning fast?

Silent.

Epicyclo - I'm belt curious 🙂 - what does the Gates Carbon Drive cost? Where did you buy it? Am considering doing a DIY cut job on an Inbred.