SSCX with belt drive?

dancook

Is the belt drive 'common' on production made bikes?

Is there anything that will come in around the £1000 mark?

cheers

t4tomo

It's not very common on any bike, mainly because apart from keeping your trousers clean it's has not advantages and several disadvantages over the good old chain.

Monty Dog

They don't work very well in mud either - I looked at this seriously for a custom build but talking to owners about their problems killed it for me. The availability/price of belts, sprockets etc makes it expensive to change gearing too. Spot Brand do some nice looking bikes - £950 for the frame only.

dancook

Thanks, maybe I should drop this idea then.. although I like idea of quiet, clean, and I wouldn't normally cycle in muddy conditions.

I saw a nice Spot Brand, couldn't anywhere to look at pricing, but kept seeing a figure of 3500 mentioned... ouch

My £1000 was meant to be tops for the whole bike too.


I was looking at commuting and pleasure road and off-road cycle paths

cougie

What's wrong with chains anyway ?

It can be done http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... bike-62873

But it's probably overkill for your purposes ?

wrayste

They do exist, like the Soma Wolverine: http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/wolverine.

There is going to be less choice and therefore they will be more expensive. You can also have a frame modified with a break in seat-stay by a frame build, but this is a little more tricky. There is an example on the LFGSS forums of a Genesis Day One with this modification and I always thought that the All City Nature Boy would be good frame to use.

Belt drives have their disadvantages but they also have advantages, such as being lighter, harder wearing and very easy to clean. Some disadvantages are that they are a more expensive solution with spares not readily available, they also require to be set up within higher tolerances than a chain system, this generally means that a belt drive needs less maintenance frequently but a larger amount of time infrequently.

Depending on your needs and situation you might find that a belt drive a better solution. I'm certainly looking to go this way with one of my bikes next.

You'll probably hear a fair bit of negative feedback on belt drives from some people, it appears that some of the early applications weren't that great (like the non-centre-track design and the Trek bikes that used it). However my opinion of some of the feedback is that people haven't understood the system that well and therefore made mistakes.

dancook

Thanks, I can only find the Soma Wolverine as a frame that requires importing, and I'm not sure building is for me.

Although I had worked my way to SSCX, something like this seems a more practical compromise

http://www.biketart.com/bikes-frames-c1 ... 015-p8526/

I'd appreciate if anyone had input on the price vs spec vs other options

cheers

janwal

I ran a Norco belt drive with alfine 8 speed drive as a winter bike.It was a steel frameset so wasn't that light.But never found a hill that caused too many probs as gearing has a wide range.Repairing a puncture is a bit more complicated as you have to split the frame by the rear axle.Just one bolt on rear upright and then line up the yellow dot on the gearbox with it marker.This is 4th gear or neutral,the direct drive gear on the alfine.Slip the belt off as you ease the wheel out.Replacement is similar but once back, if needed,adjust the tension on the belt usually by the inline dropout tension bolts.Practice it before you have to do it in anger though, not as hard as it sounds!! Belts are available on line but are good for thousands of mile anyway. Alfine 11 speed are more expensive,gearing range is similar to 8 just more of them.Also you can drain and refill the oil yourself,the 8 has to be dismantled to do it but shouldn't need doing for years. Gear changing is very quick and you can change up or down whilst staitonary,better for commuters
what size are you
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... -shadow-13
http://www.merlincycles.com/bmc-urbanch ... tAodfjEAEQ

FransJacques

The belt drive frameset to end all belt drive framesets was the Madone Carbon (or District Carbon, can't remember) from 4-5 years ago.

They only had it for 1 or 2 years and it was nigh on £3000 for a belt drive, wheels 2 brakes and a frameset.

But it was brave and I don't normally have much respect for what Trek does so this was a special offering.

dancook

janwal wrote:

what size are you
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/product ... -shadow-13
http://www.merlincycles.com/bmc-urbanch ... tAodfjEAEQ

About 6 foot, no taller.
I think around a 50-52 inch frame

I think I will put purchase on hold at the moment though