belt drive
 

Thinking of having a disk brake, Shimano Alfine 11 speed Di2 , drop bar touring bike built. Possibly with SS couplers for trips to Seattle to visit the grandchildren. Every time I go the rentals are booked up. Any thoughts?

Have you checked out the Spot Acme or Ajax?

http://spotbrand.com/bikes/product-page/acme/

they should be able to build on the couplers for you and any bar you want.

The easiest solution is n+1. Just buy a spare bike to keep in Seattle.

Shimano Alfine 11 speed Di2

As long as "How Much?" does not Matter , Go Fo It. [They would never rent one of those out anyhow.. ]

R&E will be happy to build anything you wish, and the card charges are approved.

No clue about the shift buttons with that thing , probably not on the Brifter.. only the Derailleur kit.

Bike Friday has 2 models that work OK as belt drive, neither are big wheel.
silk 20".. Tikit 349-16"..

Just putting this down in writing should almost be X Rated. :eek: It could make someone's pulse rate hit tachycardia symptoms. But does that hub come in belt drive?

They can be set up belt or chain drive. As far as shifter goes, small Di2 switch for flat bar set up, and Di2 shifter built into brake levers on drop bar set up which I prefer. Interested because with Di2 you can just unplug to take bike apart, no cables to deal with.

Any other ideas?

Gates makes the belt drive stuff Shimano makes the hubs they have compatible parts
but are separate purchases from different countries Companies.

Does Shimano make an electric/electronic servo shifter/actuator for the IGH? If not is would be easy enough to separate the two halves of a bike by taking the rear connection to the IGH off and letting the whole cable go with the front half of the bike. The control is entirely in cable outer from shifter to hub. The unhook from the hub is pretty easy if a little dirty.

There are several companies making Alfine -8 or -11 hubs with Gates drives. All you need is one that lends itself to breaking down with couplers. Keep in mind that the Gates drive requires that a seat stay be "breakable" to change out the belt so you can't just add a belt drive to the random frame. The frame also needs a way to tighten the belt, either proper rear drop outs or an eccentric BB. I would guess that you will have to go to a custom frame builder and start from scratch.

Some of the higher end folder manufacturers have belt drive and IGH, might be a place to start.

Thanks for your imput. I want to get this fully thought out before its built. Seems like a big project to ride to the coffee shop, but should be worth it.
If I wanted to use chain the new Salsa stainless Vaya Travel frame would be good start. Anyone have experience with that frame?

If price is of no concern Co Motion (www.co-motion.com) can add couplers to just about all of their belt drive bikes.

Almost. You would still have the rear brake cable...

Buy a bike to leave in Seattle... get a Bike Friday or Brompton and fly it back and forth or go with what you proposed. I have done the buy a bike and leave it trick many, many times. Currently I travel with either a Dahon Classic III or a Raleigh Twenty in my car trunk. YMMV if I have to fly somewhere it is usually for a day or so at the most.

Back when I was a Superintendent and would be on a given job site for months on end I would throw a bike in the back of my company truck and be happy. Then I got promoted to Operations Manager which meant traveling from site to site, I started leaving beater bikes at the hotels that I would stay at, when the job was over I would either haul the bike home, leave it or donate it.

Aaron :)