Belt Drive

grahamcp
grahamcp Posts: 323
edited January 2011 in Road buying advice
I've been toying with the idea of belt drive for my next build later this year - although they're still quite new I've heard some good reports and I really like the concept.

Obviously frame choice is limited because of the need to open the rear triangle to swap the belt in/out but I have been looking at the titanium Van Nicholas Amazon which is available as a frame only (http://vannicholas.com/40/Amazon_Belt_Drive/bike.aspx)

This would give me an extremely versatile bike which could be a relatively light-weight winter singlespeed and commuter (currently use a Genesis Flyer). I'd be able to fit mudguards + rack, and have the option to fit a geared hub in years to come if I decided to do some light touring or moved to a hillier area.

So what do you think - both to belt drive in general and my thoughts above? Good or bad idea? Are there any gotchas I might have missed?

Comments

  • stratcat
    stratcat Posts: 160
    I had belt drive on a motorbike and it was brilliant -no lubing/tensioning, no wear. It might be heavier than a chain though on a bicycle? I don't know.
  • grahamcp
    grahamcp Posts: 323
    In fact I understand the belt and sprockets together weigh less than a standard chain.

    It does require tensioning and there are various systems to do this. I think on the Van Nic I linked to, it is done by an eccentric bottom bracket - certainly appears that the rear axle position is fixed, which I suppose means the wheel can have QR.

    TBH I'm not entirely sure exactly how the tensioning works, perhaps re-tensioning after a puncture might be a pain in the neck?
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Didnt that bloke ride round the world on one last year ? Must be lots of info about him and his bike somewhere ?
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    I'm attracted to belt drive, particularly for something like a single speed cross bike - but the price of belts and sprockets is prohibitively expensive. I expect we'll see more frames / bikes as it gets refined. I'm particularly impressed by Spot Brand's Mod SS as a design:

    http://spotbrand.com/bikes/product-page/mod-ss-ti/
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    For me it just solves a problem that doesn't really exist. Bicycle chains have been around a long time, work extremely well, and having read a few engineering treatises on their efficiency (out of interest; I am not an engineer) I cannot see any real advantage in changing over to a belt. Years from now I may look back at this statement and cringe, but for now, January 2011 and for the foreseeable future, I have precisely zero interest.
  • fred22
    fred22 Posts: 509
    i'm the opposite of the previous poster then. I'm really interested in belt drive. There's a fair bit of faffing involved in chains from cleaning to lubing to getting oil on your good jeans. That's gone with a belt drive and tbh good riddance in most cases. I know some measure their masculinity by how long they spend fettling but for the most part I'd either really rather be riding the damn thing or doing something different entirely. When you consider how maintenance-intensive bicycles are, if cars were anything like that much work we'd all be using the bus and congestion wouldn't exist. Belt drive is a step towards redressing that imbalance between usage and maintenance.
  • unixnerd
    unixnerd Posts: 2,864
    Interesting to note that BMW started to use belts on some of their motorcycles about five years ago. Personally I think it's a really good idea when combined with a good hub gear. Even better for recumbents maybe.
    http://www.strathspey.co.uk - Quality Binoculars at a Sensible Price.
    Specialized Roubaix SL3 Expert 2012, Cannondale CAAD5,
    Marin Mount Vision (1997), Edinburgh Country tourer, 3 cats!
  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    Just spoted this thread.

    I've got a belt drive Civia Bryant Alfine and for me it's the best winter commuter I could want. It's essentially maintenance free, clean and quiet. For me it's not going to replace a chain driven bike in the summer, but during poor weather I find it to be excellent.
    Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
    Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
    Sun - Cervelo R3
    Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
  • andrew_s
    andrew_s Posts: 2,511
    Hoopdriver wrote:
    For me it just solves a problem that doesn't really exist.
    I cannot see any real advantage in changing over to a belt.

    Chains are dirty; Belts are clean
    Chains wear out quite quickly; Belts last a long time
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    Hard to separate the benefits of belts v chains and hub v derailleur gears.

    An enclosed chain with a hub gear won't be too far off the maintenance levels of a belt, surely, and certainly easier to split, albeit will probably need replacing ten times as often.
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    Not so, at least not for me. I get a lot of use out of my chains - I wouldn't say they wear out quickly. And I keep them clean. (Could be why I get a lot of miles out of them, eh)

    I can also pick up a chain anywhere, and do not need any weird tensioners or eccentric BB's to fit them. There may be a time when belts become as ubiquitous as chains, but I do not see that happening for a long, long time yet. As I understand it, the mechanical efficiency of a chain is better than that of a belt and in the rarefied world of racing, where tiny percentages of advantage matter they are unlikely to be widely adopted by the pros - and since what the pros use has a huge bearing on the market, and also influences what the big companies choose to promote, I can't see belts becoming more than a niche item for some time.

    I could be wrong - I was wrong once before, come to think of it: that time when I thought I'd made a mistake but actually I hadn't. :-)
  • MichaelW
    MichaelW Posts: 2,164
    Outside of racing and sport riding they make a lot of sense, especially combined with a Rohloff or Alfine hub.
    Check what kind of eccentric bottom bracket the bike has, some types are more prone to seizing up or loosening.
    How much stretch goes on in a belt over the duration?

    If you are going for a convenient, all-weather ride, think about using disc brakes. A chainstay mount works with all rack and mudguard option.
  • Grahamcp wrote:
    This would give me an extremely versatile bike which could be a relatively light-weight winter singlespeed and commuter (currently use a Genesis Flyer). I'd be able to fit mudguards + rack, and have the option to fit a geared hub in years to come if I decided to do some light touring or moved to a hillier area.

    Are you saying that your choice of Genesis Flyer as a commuter bike was wrong because you can't fit mudguards to it, you can't fit a rack to it, and it doesn't have any gears?
  • ascurrell
    ascurrell Posts: 1,739
    stratcat wrote:
    I had belt drive on a motorbike and it was brilliant -no lubing/tensioning, no wear. It might be heavier than a chain though on a bicycle? I don't know.

    I will second this statement, great on my Kawasaki EN454 ltd,
    I suppose a question would be why don't a lot more motorbikes use them, all I know is I enjoyed my experience of one.
  • mrushton
    mrushton Posts: 5,182
    Phil wood havew a belt drive crankset coming out so they must think there is a market if they are investing in the eqpt. for that
    M.Rushton
  • I've been running a belt drive trek soho commuter for over 18 months and I can't fault it.
    Apart from tubes/tyres and a couple of assisted offs I've can honestly say once set up I've done zero maintenance.
    Ok the back wheel feels a little heavy and removing the wheel is a bit of a pain but the pro's Outweigh the cons.
    I'd imagine the belt drive coupled with a van nic frame would be a match made in heaven.


    Winter bike :- Trek Soho
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/58472678@N08/5361685962/
    Summer bike :- Boardman Team Carbon
    http://flic.kr/p/9bAgrw
  • Interested in the concept certainly.

    I've heard of one or two issues cropping up.

    The belts need to be under a lot of tension compared to a chain to stop them skipping, and the chain line (belt line?) Needs to be absolutely dead straight. or else they tend to derail. Bikes not being the stiffest thing laterally, riders at the more performance end of the market have been having problems with frame flex making the belt ping off. (MTB SSers sem to have the most problems). There's been various bodged up "snubbers" bolted on to prevent that, but it's still a bit cludgy.

    As a commuter/urban bike thing? Great...
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    I don't know why belt drive isn't used more quite frankly. Surely more reliable than a chain?
  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    At the bottom of this fat cyclist blog are some interesting thoughts about belt drives...