Originally Posted by
mconlonx
OK, I'd grant you something like that on a bike like the District, made for running around town and whatnot, but on a drop-bar longer-distance commuter bike?!? In either case, a simple outboard chainring style guard would work better, look cleaner, and not be even somewhat superfluous. People who worry about dirt from a belt drive probably shouldn't be wearing such clothes outdoors anyway... or those marketing the belt drive need to stop with the "cleaner than a chain--no more greasy pants!" schtick.
If it wasn't for your "Oh. My. God. I cannot believe she just SAID that!" tone, I'd say you might have a point that a chainring style guard would be preferable. I do think you need some sort of guard to make sure you keep your pantleg out of the sprockets, but since you don't have to worry about putting your leg to far back and getting grease on it from the chain I suppose I can't really think of any advantage of a chainguard over a chainring guard. Sometimes a chain guard keeps stuff (dirt, snow) from getting thrown onto the chain, but between the fenders and the fact that stuff that lands on top of the belt doesn't go through like it would on a chain but rather it would likely just fall off as the belt goes around, I suppose I can't think of any advantage. Hmm, maybe it would help keep snow from getting into the cogs (or whatever they're called) on the belt, but it seems like it wouldn't make much of a difference. Hmm.
I disagree with your "probably shouldn't be wearing such clothes outside anyways" thing - I know I'd prefer a bike I can just hop on in whatever I'm wearing and simply not even have to think about it. In fact, I just bought a bike and went waaaaaaaaay out of my way to get a chainring guard as it didn't come with one (let me tell you - it's a PITA to find a chainring guard for a 50 tooth chain).
In regards to "cleaner than a chain", while it's a little bit marketing hyperbole I think it's still true -
1. If I put my bike in my car, I don't get chain grease on stuff (there's chain grease on the backs of my seats for example as I have to wedge my bike in between the front seats and the back seats).
2. I don't get anything oily when I oil the chain - don't have to take it outside or to the garage. (Unrelatedly you don't have to oil a belt at all)
3. No matter where my bike ends up, I just don't have to worry about getting chain oil on anything that might fall against it, press against it, etc.
Now my personal opinion is that I'm going to take a "wait and see" attitude about whether using belts on a bike rather than a chain works out. It's new, and I'd rather not be the first in the pool, so to speak (tried it once with a bike already, could have worked better). But I do think it's an intriguing idea - in theory far better than a shaft drive (no efficiency losses (well we'll see), no grease to add, no (or negligible) extra weight, and a simple enough change that your local bike shop mechanic isn't going to look at it and say "we don't even know how to work on these").