Originally Posted by
MichaelW
Is there any specific instruction for wheel removal with a belt, vs an IHG with a chain?
Instructions specific to belt drive installation can be found
here
Originally Posted by
MichaelW
Does belt tension make wheel insertion in the dropouts difficult?
Not on my bike; when it's upside-down the wheel drops into the dropouts quite easily.
Originally Posted by
MichaelW
Do belt-riders have any recomendation on the best style of frame, whether the tensioner should be an eccentric bottom bracket or sliding dropouts.
I find the sliding dropout design on my bike to be somewhat finicky and can be aggravating. Proper alignment is critical to belt function and a small deviation from center can cause the belt to wander. If it wanders one way there's a chance it will slip off of the cog. If it wanders the other way it can rub up against the flange. Gates has addressed this issue with their new
CenterTrack design. Unfortunately, I would have to pay to retrofit my bike to that design (and I am tempted to do just that). That said, I think an EBB is the way to go.
The only bike I know of off the top of my head that's equipped with an EBB, belt drive, IGH, disc brakes, and is available locally is the
Globe Live 3, which doesn't really appeal to me. Other, more exotic (and therefore more $$$) examples include the
Tout Terrain Metropolitan and the
Co-Motion CityView. There are also a lot of European models besides the Tout Terrain available. I mention the Metropolitan here because
Peter White Cycles is a N. American distributor of Tout Terrain bikes.
Originally Posted by
MichaelW
can you even use horizontal dropouts with a belt?
Yes. A good source for examples of belt-driven bicycles is the
Belt Bikes website.