Commuting - Gates belt drive riders - regarding removing/replacing rear wheel on the road?

Hello,

I'd like to hear from people who ride a Gates carbon drive bicycle. Question is if you find the belt to be a hassle for changing flats or removing / replacing the wheel, given the belt cannot be twisted or mistreated for fear of breaking some of the carbon fibers.

For flats I'd prefer just to swap a new tube in and patch holes at a table rather than at the road side. This requires taking the wheel off the frame, and when replacing the wheel, you need to ensure the belt is positioned and tensioned correctly, all without overbending or twisting the belt.

Anybody carry and use the Gates belt tension gauge around to check your belt?

Thanks.

Jumping on your thread here, those riders with belt drive, have any of you got significant miles on them? like 5,000+ miles?

I only have a couple of hundred miles on this bike, but I had the same question. Apparently it's no problem to pop the rear wheel on and off. The tension is set by the position of the removable dropouts, not by the position of the rear wheel. There is no need to loosen the tension at the dropouts when removing the rear wheel, just loosen the skewer and pop the wheel off. It makes sense when you look at the arrangement, but I don't know if it's really that simple in the real world, as I haven't tried it yet. Hope that helps.

Um...I think you have to take out your multitool and unscrew some stuff to physically open a hole in the frame to get the rear wheel off, don't you?

Um...I think you have to take out your multitool and unscrew some stuff to physically open a hole in the frame to get the rear wheel off, don't you?

No. Why would you think that? You don't have to take the chain off when you fix a rear flat on a chain-driven bicycle. You don't have to remove the belt on this bike just to remove the rear wheel.

No. Why would you think that? You don't have to take the chain off when you fix a rear flat on a chain-driven bicycle. You don't have to remove the belt on this bike just to remove the rear wheel.

Because that's the reason you can't slap a belt drive system on a traditional frame - you need to be able to break the frame (you know, open a gap in it at the back, not really "break" it) to change the belt.

If you wanted to put a whole new tube on there, wouldn't you also have to "break" the frame to remove the rear wheel?

Because that's the reason you can't slap a belt drive system on a traditional frame - you need to be able to break the frame (you know, open a gap in it at the back, not really "break" it) to change the belt.

If you wanted to put a whole new tube on there, wouldn't you also have to "break" the frame to remove the rear wheel?

I took a photo for you, but it might be best to go take a look at it in person. You need to be able to break the frame open, but *only* if you need to remove the belt. No need to remove the belt when removing the rear wheel, just like you don't need to remove a chain just to remove the rear wheel on a chain-driven bike. The belt will come off the rear cog and hang on the chainstay exactly like a chain does.

I took a photo for you, but it might be best to go take a look at it in person. You need to be able to break the frame open, but *only* if you need to remove the belt. No need to remove the belt when removing the rear wheel, just like you don't need to remove a chain just to remove the rear wheel on a chain-driven bike. The belt will come off the rear cog and hang on the chainstay exactly like a chain does.

You know, I assumed that since I had to remove the chain/belt from the wheel to get it off the frame "break" thing would be required to remove the wheel...but what you're saying makes a lot of sense. Huh.

Well - thanks for replying and posting the pic! :-) What you're saying makes a lot of sense...looks like I was wrong.

No problem! The frame "breaking" thing freaks a lot of people out, and it freaked me out for a while until I rode a friend's District. It's really a smooth and quiet ride. I *think* the setup should hold up well and be relatively easy to maintain, but time will tell.