Unchained
 

Interesting article in the New York Times about "chainless" bicycles -- which actually have plastic/carbon fiber chains that don't require lubrication.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/bu...e&ref=business

October 23, 2010
Bicycles, Unchained and Grease-Free
By ANNE EISENBERG
THE wheels on bikes haven’t been reinvented — though the chains are getting an update.

Those clinking roller chains that are now standard on most bicycles have long had a drawback known to any cyclist: they become grimy, and can soil a pants leg or a skirt. That’s because the metal links must be oiled regularly, and the oil attracts dirt.

Now companies are developing new designs and materials to replace these chains with grease-free alternatives like polymer cables or belts toughened with carbon fibers.

The Gates Corporation in Denver, a maker of industrial and auto parts, offers belt-driven systems for biking that, unlike chains, require no lubrication, said Frank Scurlock, its global business development manager. The belts, made of polyurethane and shot through with carbon cords to give them tensile strength, have teeth on one side that engage with metal pulleys to turn the belt as the pedals rotate. Other companies offering belt-drive systems for bicycles include Schlumpf Innovations in Vilters, Switzerland, and CycleDrive Systems in Foxborough, Mass.

Belt-driven systems were first used primarily on single-speed mountain bikes but are now appearing on multigeared commuter and city bikes as well, said Larry Wallach, manager of the Sid’s Bikes store in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

“They last much longer than chains, and are quiet and clean,” Mr. Wallach said. “In a perfect world, everyone would probably use them because they require less maintenance.”

But new belt-driven systems are likely to be a bit more expensive than chains, and can be installed only on frames adapted to their use, he said. That’s because links in metal chains can usually be popped open to slide a chain into position. But much like the timing belts on car engine, the new, continuous bike belts cannot be opened. Instead, the bicycle frame must have an opening, typically in the back, to let the belt pass through for installation.

Andy Newsom of Brooklyn says the benefits of belts are worth the possible premium. Mr. Newsom commutes daily on his bright blue, single-speed bicycle outfitted with a Gates belt drive. The three-mile trip from his home to the Union Square area of Manhattan, where he works framing art for galleries and museums, takes him about 20 minutes. He likes the belt because it’s strong, doesn’t stretch and, best of all, requires no oil.

“It doesn’t get grease on my clothes,” he said, “which makes it great for commuting.”

Gates began selling its bicycle belt systems in 2007. Today, they are included in models from 24 companies, including Trek, Specialized Globe and Raleigh. The systems, which have one belt and front and rear pulleys, can also be bought from many frame manufacturers for use in customized bikes. Prices for the system are $150 to $280, Mr. Scurlock said.

Gates recently announced the CenterTrack, a sleek new belt system, for the growing commuter and urban market. Its new belt has channels on its underside that fit snugly into the metal pulleys, which have a raised center track. The systems will be available to bike makers in early summer 2011, he said, and will cost slightly more than current offerings from the company.

CenterTrack was devised by the bicycle enthusiast and inventor Wayne Lumpkin, who owns Spot Brand, the bike company in Golden, Colo., that provides distribution, engineering and warranty services for Gates. The first bicycle with CenterTrack to reach the market may be the Acme, an 11-speed bike designed by Mr. Lumpkin and Sky Yaeger. It will cost about $2,000, and will be introduced in April, Mr. Lumpkin said.

Another chainless bike, the StringBike, is being developed in Budapest by the inventor Robert Kohlheb and his business partner, Mihaly Lantos, a patent lawyer. The bike replaces the chain and sprockets with a symmetrical combination of pivoting levers, pulleys and polyethylene cables or “strings” on both sides. (Mr. Lantos chose the word “strings” in part because he is a lover of classical music.)

When the right foot pushes the pedal down, a lever pivots. The pulleys attached to the lever go forward, pulling the cables with them to propel the back wheel. Then, as the left foot pushes down, the action is repeated on the other side.

Prototypes of the bike have been shown at trade shows in Cologne, Germany, and Padua, Italy, Mr. Lantos said.

The bikes’ development was financed predominantly by the two men, with additional support from the Hungarian government. Schwinn-Csepel, a bicycle company in Budapest, has been licensed to assemble and sell the bikes within Europe. The price will probably be 2,500 to 3,000 euros (about $3,500 to $4,200), he said.

As bike lanes are added to more city streets, chainless drive systems may catch on with urbanites looking for low-maintenance solutions, said Mr. Wallach at Sid’s Bikes.

“I think the belt-driven system will start to quietly encroach on the urban pavement market,” he said.


E-mail: novelties@nytimes.com.

I wonder do the belts just not wear out, so you can cut and reattach your frame to put one on, or if you would want to retrofit like seat/chain-stay sized s&s couplers...

Neat idea, but if you maintain your chain, you don't run into these issues. Some things just don't need improving.

This thread is worthless without pics. :)

Pix are in the original article if you click on the link .... which is why I included it.

Chain maintenance is a huge pain in the winter. For that reason alone I'm interested. I've also busted a few chains. Hopefully a belt would start looking a little worse for wear before it breaks because there's no fixing that on the road unless you carry a spare.

Only had my Globe Live3 for a little over a month and <300 miles, but the belt drive has been slicker than owl-poo so far.
The only downside so far has been changing the gearing will mean getting a custom-made beltguard bracket. The bike didn't originally come with clipless pedals, and I'm spinning out in top gear on the flats on the way to work.

http://www.calamarichris.com/images/101007-live3axa.jpghttp://www.calamarichris.com/images/101007-live3.jpg

The Gates Carbon Belt is well proven and reliable. The latest around the world speed record was made using one.

They are good mate to the current generation of high-grade hub-gears (Rohloff 14spd, Alfine 8 and 11spd.)

The clean-running characteristics are especially useful for urban commuters and for users of folding bikes on transit systems.

I'm tempted to jump on the Beltwagon.

I think they're okay and after trying a few they've seemed nice to ride, but nothing truly worth buying a new bike over in my eyes. Compared to a chain SS / IGH bike, chain guards work fine and also keep your pants, laces from being sucked in, a belt drive will still need a guard if you want to prevent things from being caught in it. 1/8" chains last forever, install easily, and can be bought for $10 nickel plated or $20 stainless steel. Sprockets and chainrings are really easy to find and change, belt drive cogs are currently not.

I use a stainless steel chain. With the chain guard, it needs to be lubed maybe every few months, it lasts a few years, and it doesn't cause any grief with my clothing. Maybe someday it will be worth changing it over for a belt drive, but i'm quite happy with my bicycles as they are now, and don't want to give up a whole bike just to have a cute new belt drive. Given that to me the gains seem overblown, it isn't worth it to toss away my bikes for this stuff yet at all.

Maybe if there was a bicycle I really liked that had the belt, sure. But i'd still shop around for all types of bikes, and would put belt as a "nice to have", and not something to base the whole search on, personally.

I disagree. Chains are so 20th century. The only thing they got to figure out is to match the wide range of gears from traditional drivetrains and make it as light or lighter. If they could do that, I'll upgrade.

Here's my belt drive commuter.

Attachment 175602Attachment 175603Attachment 175604

My Liquid will tick past 10,000 miles in the week or two. I'm seriously considering getting a belt-drive bike for my next commuter.

They must be slow though, if it takes that guy 20 minutes to go 3 miles. :p
(kidding!)

Very nice. It looks very light, yes?

That's why they make vanilla and chocolate :) Once they figure out how to get a belt drive on a 10 speed and allow breaking of the belt, I'll think about it. It should be noted that as a 19th-Century-o-phile, I still use a straight razor, Zippo, wooden pencils and postage stamps :D

Why not get rid of the belt/chain entirely and go with a drive shaft?

http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/

Where do you get a SS chain? Does it come in the standard widths?

What is a postage stamp?

My belt-driven pride & joy is a 2010 Norco Ceres. While everyone seems surprised when I point out the belt drive, it's hardly a new technology, nor a flash-in-the-pan; there are currently 24 manufacturers using the Gates Carbon Belt Drive system on 90 different models. I chose mine after a solid year of research. Downsides to my particular belt-driven setup have so far included the sliding dropouts and the aluminum rear cog: The sliding dropouts make belt alignment finicky, and alignment is critical for effective use of the belt drive. Eccentric bottom brackets are a better design, but a bicycle's inherent tendency to flex under load (especially steel-framed ones like mine) make alignment an issue regardless of which setup is used to maintain belt tension. The aluminum rear cog failed on my bike due to the three tangs that interface with the Alfine hub being sheared off while hammering on the pedals. I had the cog replaced under warranty but you can imagine how disconcerting this failure was. Gates has addressed both issues with its redesign of its system; it now uses a "CenterTrack" design to maintain alignment and the rear cogs are machined from steel instead of aluminum:

http://www.bikerumor.com/2010/09/15/...rtrack-system/

Other than those two issues the bike has been everything I'd hoped it would be. I've never topped out the gearing on flats and the Alfine's granny gear lets me climb any local hills. The bike handles like it's on rails and is light, responsive, and very quick. Here's my baby... every mile is pure joy, and the low-maintenance belt-drive/IGH setup is a commuter's dream (well, for this commuter anyway):

http://imgur.com/9sS4tl.jpg
http://imgur.com/1QBBLl.jpg

And again, but naked this time ;)

http://imgur.com/G56RAl.jpg

Welcome to N+1.

I thought this would be pretty nice because I hate chain maintenance. But lately I've been using DuPont wax+teflon spray, which seems to pick up less crap than oil. Also after the last time I changed my chain, it started skipping, meaning that the cassette was worn out. So I said "what the hell" and put the old chain back on. I've now put another 4000 miles on that "worn out" chain and cassette, and it's still shifting fine. I'm going to leave it on until it starts skipping.

You know what, when I was changing chains every 1800 miles, I still had to buy a new cassette every 10K anyway. It's starting to look like I can just leave the same old chain on there and still only have to buy a new cassette every 10K. Maybe even longer.

So my reasons for wanting belt drive are disappearing.

If I were going to do any playing with alternative drivetrains, I'd pick up a NuVinci hub. I have a friend who tried one and he said in 5 minutes you'll be so spoiled you'll never want any other system.

The IGH makes it heavy out the back when you pick it up, but it is light in general.


I wanted low maintenance and clean running - everything rusts in the tropics and when it rains, it pours. Also having less 'stuff' poking out (ie derailleurs) was an advantage.

Nice ! Three speed hub ???

KMC S-10 is what i'm using. It's 1/8", made for single speed / fixed / IGH applications, just as the gates drive is. I'm not aware of any purely stainless multi speed chains, Wippermann has a few chains that are multi speed with stainless inner links though.

One other thing that has bothered me about the Gates system is that on their faq they only loosely state that it "lasts twice as long as a regular chain", but they don't specify what chain they're comparing it to, what the comparative drive train setup, and what the true expected lifespan is. As a result, their claim is pretty vague. Regular chains have widely varying lifespans. A single speed or IGH setup with a good 1/8" chain already outlasts a normal derailleur based thinner chain setup by quite a factor on its own. I'd like to know what gates is really basing their claims on. I don't doubt that their belts can last quite a long time, but it'd be nice to know more precisely what they're going to give relative to the other options, because some of the other options last months, while others last years.

Nexus 8 speed. Versa VRS8 shifters (based on Microshift).

The shifting isn't 100% precise, but I'm not too familiar with IGH set ups. Not sure if it is the nature of the beast, a set up issue (cable tension etc) or if it is the shifters.

ItsJustMe, you can extended the lifespans even further by rotating multiple chains. Eventually though the chains will continually snap apart due to excessive rivet wear.

irclean this centretrak is the belt or the cogs? did the lbs switch everything?

KMC S10 stainless steel chain: currently $17.88 with shipping
http://www.amazon.com/KMC-S10-Bicycl.../dp/B000C1YOQ8

Looks nice. I think I'll have to get one of these next time I need a new chain.

Nice to hear from cyclists with personal experience with belt drives. The idea is intriguing. However, do you have to use a rear hub with internal gearing, or can you still use a derailleur system? I don't think I'm ready to give up my 18-speeds, and weight is a big factor for me because my commute route is very hilly.

Holy $(@*. Want! Anybody have any experience with these things? I'd get the roadbike version for commuting.

Edit: Oh. I see there's no shaft drive road bike. :(

You can not use a derailleur with any set up I've seen. It is IGH or single speed with belts.

I was disapointed that they did not have a road bike version too. Hopefully someone comes out with one in the near future. There are other drive shaft bike makers. I have not found one that makes a road bike yet though.