Gates carbon drive

Any one know of any UK dealers? or prices?

You need to buy direct from Gates, Europe
sales@carbondrive.net

i dealt with them and they’re pretty speedy, but delivery costs from Germany are horrific.

alternatively, you could try these guys:
http://www.bikeparts.com/
Search for “Gates”. A centretrack system comes in at around £140 I think, plus delivery.

Here’s mine:
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DSC_0094[/url] by ir_bandito[/url], on Flickr

on balance, do you think it was ‘worth it’ as far as your riding experience and possible bike maintenance reductions were concerned?

Oh yeah, I paid about £160 for belt, front and rear cogs and pulley (with delivery) from Gates

there’s an online pricelist here but its a little out of date.

Whatever you do, don’t buy a snubber. The standard design quite simply isn’t up to the job.

wwaswas: hell yeah.
when it works, its truly brilliant (helped by being based on a great bike)

I always viewed my build as a development model, to give me ideas for future bike designs, so I don’t mind that its temperamental. After all, you can count the full-sus belt-drive bikes in the world on one hand, and I have one of them 🙂

I wish they’d do normal size rings. it says for my setup I’d have to run something silly like 44:25.

oh and there are a couple of other belt drive manufacturers but one laughed when it was suggested using it off road

That’s my next question, what size cog etc for off road? It’d be for an alfine 11, which I currently run as a 32,22…

Available sizes are here

Gear ratio/belt-length calculator is here

i guess 46:32 gives a nearly similar ratio, then its a case of finding the belt that fits your chainstay length.

Great, thanks.

Thepodge, the belts are a shorter pitch than a chain. A 44t pulley will be smaller than a 44t sprocket.

MTG, Thanks I didn’t know that, I was expecting some kind of dinner plate sized chainring (beltring?) up front. I’ll have to look a bit closer

I really like the idea but on my hub geared bike I just cover the chain in some old gear box oil and wipe it occasionally. I reckon to spend no more than five minutes a week doing that on a bike used all winter for an off road commute. The current chain is 2 1/2 years old. So from a maintenance point of view the time savings are pretty small.

The lower weight is a good thing but the bike I have with a hub gear is heavy all round and therefore the weight saving to go to a belt drive would be insignificant and the cost very high to modify the frame and the hub.In the summer I ride a bike with a 1×9 setup which is light enough and as it’s only a nice weather bike again doesn’t need a lot of looking after.

So I think where it would really score is if you want a light as possible single speed or hub geared bike for all year round use.
Which is exactly what I would want if I could only have one bike.

The pulley dimensions are here.
http://www.carbondrivesystems.com/downloads/tech_docs/SprocketDimensionsBeltLineSpecifications.pdf

I’ve got a 50t pulley on order, which is 173mm diameter, about the same as a 42t chainring.
It’s a bit bigger than I would like, but there’s a limited choice of pulleys and belts and I was looking for the closest match to 32×18 single speed and 32×13 Rohloff that both used the same length chainstay.
I had to go for 50×28 and 50×20 with a 122 or 118 tooth belt.

Oh well, looks like I cant run a 32:18 equivalent on a 405 chain stay & Alfine due to not enough rear cog sizes.

not really convinced?

had an unhealthy number of commuting bikes come through the workshop all with Gates belt drive issues, bear in mind these are commuting bikes and not even ridden on the dirt in wet / muddy conditions

typically:

– stripped drive cog (rear cog / freehub body interface is mangled)
– damaged freehub body bearings
– damaged bottom bracket bearings
– belt constantly “crabbing” under power and getting stuck in rear wheel spokes or frame tubing

unless the frame alignment is very good, and belt tension is near perfect (Gates actually provide a “tuning fork” to set the belt tension at the correct frequency???) the system tends to self destruct

its too easy to set the belt slightly too loose, which results in the belt slipping under power over the rear cog (called “ratcheting”)

or set the belt slightly too tight which results in the bearings in either the freehub or bottom bracket taking a beating and quickly failing

so the local mechanic using the tuning fork (I have yet to actually see one in person) or the new I-Phone APP (I kid you not..) gets it set up perfectly for you, until you get a rear puncture and have to pull the wheel off, and then the belt tension is all buggered!

Gates are now introducing their new belt system with the central spline to aid in keeping the belt running true on the cogs, and to flush any debris from the drivetrain especially if running off-road

thanks but not thanks…I will stick with the humble chain myself 😉

My experience is better than that, ive been using belt drive quite a while now with both types ill admit i didnt get on too well with the original carbon drive but the new centre track is excellent. Ive had centre track since july and in that time i have ridden some really muddy rides, SSUK was particularly shitty, the gates sheds mud better than a chain and never gets clogged up. With regards to tension i dont have a tension meter but i do have some common sense. I use an ebb and on the rare occasion ive had to sort the tension i simply bollock the EBB round until i can flex the belt inwardsd about 5mm using a fair bit of pressure. In 6 months i have had to change the bearings on my HT2 bb once, last week. The hub bearings are still running smoothly (american classics) My frame was designed for belt drive and was tested by rohloff to make sure the stays were stiff enough. I use a 39 front and swap between a 22 and 24 on the back giving me close to 32:18 and 32:20, 😀 i love it

Interesting.

anyone know what the pitch/mod for the gates belts and pulleys is?

they aren’t the only ones in the belts and pulleys game might possible to do a cheaper equivalent…

esher shore, are they really that bad ?

“rear cog / freehub body interface is mangled”
Do you mean the splines on the pulley wear ?

Damaged freehub or BB bearings.
Is the bearing load from belt tension really so much more than from the rider’s weight ?

Resetting belt adjustment after removing the wheel.
Most of us are using EBBs or sliding dropouts these days.

Biggest problem I’ve had is that I’ve had is due to the restricted choices of sizes, I’ve got slightly above 2:1 ratio. Which is fine with my thighs of steel, but that’s when I have belt ratcheting. Solved it with an integrated snubber:
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DSC_0008[/url] by ir_bandito[/url], on Flickr
Combined with a change of dropout geometry to get more tension, and tension bolts to balance it out. And conversion to 10mm bolt-in to stiffen the frame as the suspension linkages caused a bit of misalignment. Now works a treat, just needs checking once in a while.

Oh yeah, that pic has a bodged outer-flange to keep the belt on, but I didn’t actually need it. And i have no problem with wheel removal/replacement.

Have a search for epicyclo, you should see some of his belt-work.

I love the Idea of belt drive, just makes perfect sence. Coupled with a hub gear its just got to the future. You guys are doing the pioneering stuff.
Until the big S puts a system into the market it will always be for true ,tinkerers, only.
Im sure the big players are working on their own systems as I type. In less than 10 years I wouldnt mind betting you couldnt give away a rear mech. At least I hope so.!
Chain drive reminds me of Porsche 911,s. An inherantly floored design then spend the next 30+ yrs getting it to work.
P.S. I love 911,s

I don’t see why a chain is a floored design.

Cambelts on cars – ticking timebomb waiting to fail. Only uses as they have less backlash and are quieter.

Timing chains – go on for years no problem.

Oil pumps are fed by chains for a reason.

But it is something different and I’d like to try one to see what it’s like so not going to dismiss it until I have some experience of it. Saw the centre track at Bespoked – very good idea that makes much more sense than side fences. Snubbers are also a good idea and won’t add much/any drag unless it gets caked in mud.