anyone tried one?

just for a light touring/general day to day bike

any thoughts appreciated.

Yeah, I have a Alfine 11 with Gates CDX belt drive on my Avanti inc3 commuter bike. Been running fine since purchase, done around 2000 miles without any real problems. Alpine 11 hub is quite sensitive to setup. If not perfectly tuned it can slip internally under load which can be very annoying and/or painful.

Had one on a Cube hybrid, quiet and reliable fro the 6 or 8 times I actually rode it.

Can’t say much more really.

Love my Gates drive (not on an Alfine) but be warned you may have to change your chainring (beltring?) as the smallest rear sprocket for an Alfine is 22t. I don’t know what size you currently run.
The belt is great, zero noise and maintenance free pretty much.

I looked seriously at a belt-drive for a custom bike – belt tension is key and getting it wrong can result in a slipping belt. Components aren’t cheap. I met someone who had a new, custom built bike that stripped its belt on the first ride – not happy bunny.

Tension is key as above.

I don’t think I’d bother.

Tension is easy to adjust using the app like a guitar tuner.

on a bike designed built round a gates set up, tension problems would no be a problem surely?

I thought about converting the bike I have with a Rohloff but in the end I couldn’t see any advantage, certainly with the move to steel rear carriers and the break and reinforcement of the frame there is no weight saving. Even on an all year round off road commuter I’d only spend 5 minutes once a week wiping the chain over and relubing it. Chains with that level of neglect typically last 3 years. The only place I can see a real advantage is a city commuter where you don’t have to worry about getting oil on your trousers. Find or fashion a chain guard and even that advantage has gone.

I have a Gates belt on my Ion GPI so not really what the OP asks but it is lasting OK considering it has seen some right filth, 1416.5 miles according to Strava.  The belt can get a bit squeaky when dry but a squirt of silicon sorts that.  I am not looking forward to replacing it due to the cost of the belt and rings.

I also have a Pinion hardtail.  I chose chain drive because it is way cheaper, will last ages and doesn’t actually require that much maintenance since I stick the chain in a fryer full of Putoline every now and then.  Only downside to the chain is I do have to retension it once in a while as it wears, presently 975.2 miles on it (I have considered a tensioner for this reason amongst others)

So in short I don’t think belt drive is worth the expense unless you need to keep your flared trousers grease free or just fancy having a belt drive.

reason I asked was because I fancy this as a general hack for work and pottering.

https://www.cube.eu/en/2019/bikes/trekking/urban/hyde/cube-hyde-pro-blacknblue-2019/

If you don’t get on with it it should be relatively easy to go back a chain and may not cost any more than a belt replacement.

If it came on a bike like that Cube I’d have no hesitation in going for the belt drive.  Worst case scenario you can stick a chain on when the belt is done but with any luck that wouldn’t be for a long time

reason I asked was because I fancy this as a general hack for work and pottering.

https://www.cube.eu/en/2019/bikes/trekking/urban/hyde/cube-hyde-pro-blacknblue-2019/

That looks very similar spec to my Avanti. I’ve had mine for near seven years, used through all weather, without any maintenance, bar a true and tension of the rear wheel acouple of years ago. I imageine the Cube would be a great zero maintenance around town hack.

ton

reason I asked was because I fancy this as a general hack for work and pottering.

I was admiring one of those the other day. Haven’t ridden it*, but every detail I looked at on it suggest it’s a perfect only bike.

And if you don’t get along with the belt drive, it’s dead simple to convert back to chain.

*EDIT: I bought my daughter the Cube Hooper a few years back which is more or less the same bike. It has an EBB for adjustment, so it’s important to keep that clean. The only thing I’d change is the fork which is alloy and feels a bit wooden. I’d don’t know if that applies to the more recent Hyde.

I got one for my Mrs, on a new bike. Dead good. No issues, maintenance free cycling aside from pumping the tyres up.

I’ve got A8 and belt on a Canyon commuter I’ve had for a couple of years now. I’m mainly based at home so it’s not done big mileage but no issues so far with the belt. I did have a bit of hub slippage, once that almost threw me into traffic but in the end i replaced the inner cable and it’s been fine for some time.

For a commuter/hack bike the real benefit is the clean chain – no oily trousers. If i ride it in filthy wet weather i’ve Sometimes just quickly hosed it off when i got home before putting it away – no worries about a rusting chain.

On a complete bike I’d definitely go for it – as others have pointed out, cheap and easy to switch to a chain in future if you dont get on with it. Cost of replacement gates belts and sprockets seems the biggest issue.

That is a really nice looking bike Ton. I have a BMC MC01 singlespeed commuter with the Gates drive and the system has been effortless. That Cube has an eccentric BB like my bike so just get the app on your phone, twang the belt and use a pin wrench to turn the EBB until the app says the belt sounds right. Easy as anything.
Belts are a little pricey but mine seems to be lasting very well as I hose the crap off it after a really dirty day. No wear seen yet on the sprocket or ring, other than losing some anodising off the chainring.

Looks fun. If you fitted folding G-ones and went tubeless you’d save almost 3lbs of weight for £70.

A lad a work has the travel slt iirc looks like the one you linked to but has guards rack and dynamo, looks spot on tbh

I had a shand with gates on but although it rode great I couldn’t help but think what it this snaps out on a ride, probably unlikely but a chain is easy to sort and I couldn’t easily swap ratios if I wanted as it meant a new cog or two and a new belt. On the plus side I took zero maintenance

Ton the thing is you need to keep an eye on tension.

Had customers coming in after 6-12 months having ****ed the transmission through not doing so. £130 odd iirc.

My dad has a Rohloff and belt drive setup. He seems pretty happy with it (tourer not MTB).

A mate has alfine 11, it’s great. Sensitive to proper adjustment though.
As for belt drive, I wouldn’t convert an existing bike to use it. But I’d happily buy a bike with it already fitted, if you later decide the belt is not for you it’s easily replaced.

reason I asked was because I fancy this as a general hack for work and pottering.

What happened to being a one bike man ton? 😂

Regarding Alfine, I can testify that when it slips it is painful. Ended up with a broken radius when a bike I had slipped whilst I was pedalling very quickly down a steep hill.