i just hope that someone can come up with a joint-able system like the one in the video below, so that belt drive can work with conventional frame -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...jz-MiIqPk#t=10

The other option is to have the rear cog on the outside of the chainstay & have a hollow axle with drive shaft going through it. With a guard to keep it on, would that work?

- Andy

Zip tie kludge required on a $3000 bike to make it as good in bad weather as a $100 cruiser? OK.

:rolleyes:

The Spot bike is intended for racing,not commuting.

I suppose you consider these fenders kludge as well.

How many pros would even race on an IGH/Beltdrive bikes, unless they plan on loosing the race ??...Not very fast and efficient...And even if set up as a SS, there aren't a lot of gear ratios available with beltdrives.
Then there is durability issues. For example CX racing is very hard on bikes and drivetrains, when those cogs get clogged with mud and debris or snow the belt will be slipping a lot.

I am not arguing that a belt drive bike would be a good choice for racing (if it were, we would see it more often); but, the belt is toothed, it will not be slipping.

Right. It's just kind of a shame that it would make such a perfect, if expensive, all weather single-speed belt-drive disc brake commuter for me save for the lack of a seat stay bridge to attach a rear fender to.

so close.......

It seems both Spot and Cyclocross magazine think someone will.

fad.

You may want to look into the Ajax instead:

http://beltbik.es/sites/default/file...t-brand_0.jpeg

Maybe Spot would work with your local shop to build it drop bar/Versa shifters from the factory -- we built one up for a customer with rack and fenders for around $2000. Only downside was a real tight to non-existent fit for 700c studded tires.

The Rallye is a SS.

^ i've looked at both the Ajax and Acme, but after owning an IGH bike for 3 years now (alfine 8), i've come to the conclusion that i'm not crazy about IGH's. i found mine to be heavy, slow, and draggy in colder temps.

as i'm potentially looking for a new belt-drive winter beast, i feel that single speed is the way to go considering my preferences.

The center track system on gates equipped bikes have nowhere for anything to get clogged up. And if your belt is slipping, it's not tensioned correctly.

Would be great if people actually had correct info when commenting.

I personally would LOVE a belt drive on the bike I have now.

And as far as racing, I think folks need to stop comparing commuting bikes & high end racing & off-road bikes. They are designed from the ground up for totally different uses. Would you use a time trial bike to commute? No.

I think the big issue is having to notch the frame. If you didn't have to notch the frame, you could change bikes over to belt drive with a new cog chainring & internal rear hub. As far as I know, that would take about 4-6 hours to do including building the wheel off the new hub if it used to be a cassette shift system.

- Andy

Chains are cheap? Maybe in single speed style....

I've been using an N360 for several years and working out the range on Sheldons Calculator, mine runs from 27 gear inches to 97 and I've been really happy with that spread. That's using 46x22 traditional gearing and 38-584 tires. I'll be interested to see how the belt drive works for you. I am thinking of building a commuter for my son with a similar drivetrain.

Marc

really, that looks like quite bad value for $1700.

good value for (€999 or €799 without tax):

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=396285

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=396286

I agree, creating a usable joint will be the way to market the belt system. A lot of IGH bikes would be retro fitted that way. I would like to get away from the chain maintenance in the winter especially.

Marc

Fad type stuff

Some ideas about why belt drives are not so popular:

An acquaintance of mine owns a Harley with a belt drive. He says it works fine, but the manual cautions against riding on loose gravel, as gravel stuck between the belt and the cog (pulley?) will damage the belt. I would imagine you'd have the same problem with a belt on a bike.

When you set up a chain on a fixed gear bike, you try to set it with some play (if you're setting up a track bike for racing, you run the chain as loose as you can get away with). The looser the chain, the less friction, the faster you go.

Because the belt needs to be set tight, you're already losing energy overcoming the intrinsic friction of the drive train.

Also, because the belt comes in a fixed size, you're somewhat limited in the external gearing available. You can switch chainrings and cogs only insofar as your rear dropout allows.

Over the many years I've been riding fixies, I've come to the conclusion that a fixed gear puts far more stress on the drivetrain components than a geared bike. This is because on a climb, you are left to match any impedance with additional torque, rather than by shifting down. Thus, cogs and bearings will be under much more pressure. I wonder how a belt on a singlespeed would respond to the additional stresses of climbing? Would there be any belt stretch, or would the teeth skip?

So, I think you'd be perfectly happy with a belt drive as long as you're not concerned about performance. However, if you intend to use it in tough winter conditions, you might want to be careful about wet grit and snow getting packed between the belt and sprockets. One other reason for not running a tight chain is that if you do, you'll sometimes hear a "popping" noise. This is where the chain is too tight (the chainring and cog are NOT perfect circles, after all) and it starts crushing the hub and bottom bracket bearings and races. If a belt drive is set tight to begin with, then any snow trapped under the belt will certainly affect the bearings, especially if the belt does not stretch at all. And if the belt does stretch, you're losing efficiency. The third alternative is for the belt to self-destruct in some way.

(PS - I've ridden in wet snow conditions where the snow has totally packed the rear cluster, leaving the derailleur chain to slip uselessly over the snow on the cog. Under the same conditions, a fixie still works flawlessly, as the snow is driven out of the chain by the teeth of the sprocket because there's no derailleur to "lengthen" the chain. Conditions like these would certainly pack up a belt drive!)

Luis

Fully 'chain case' covering, over a belt drive would solve so much , but people want to save weight and show off their purchase,

so the whole thing is exposed.

The bike I posted above has a leg protecter.

Verbund Selbstverwalteter Fahrradbetriebe Fahrradmanufaktur FTW!

Im talking Opa type chain cases so no grit gets on the drive cogs .

So will it assemble over a Belt , Kid?

Belt drives are also common on snowmobiles and ATVs