[Closed] Tell me about belt drive....

google gates carbon drive, they do a kit, its available in the uk.

i cant comment on any advantages as i havent used one.
yet.

Ok, so how does the sprocket fit on anything? Doesn't look like it fits on a splined shimano freehub or a screw on freewheel hub or any other type of standard I've ever seen?

Ir bandito & another guy on here rum belts and love them

I'm annoyed they don't do a setup to suit my alfine gearing

Why no set up to suit Alfine? Or is it the number of teeth you need that you just can't get?

Ok, so how does the sprocket fit on anything?

not that obvious to look at but it fits onto a regular free hub its just that the free hub is pretty much hidden once its fitted - look at the tech-info bit of the site and you'll see pics of a sprocket being removed

(edit)

I think they do a screw-on freewheel version too but I guess that an alfini is neither of those fittings

But a quick google reveals there seem to be Alfine belt drive bikes available?

It would need to be a freewheel sprocket, as I think its track spacing at the rear - so I couldn't fit a Shimano freehub wheel with a single sprocket on it.

They do alfine ones, just not in the size I use

[img] [/img]

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/belt-drive-full-sus-singlespeed-kona-pics

Bit of history:

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/belt-drive-kona-a-update

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/belt-drive-full-sus-update

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/belt-drive-full-sus-update-again

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/full-suspension-belt-drive-singlespeed-update-now-with-added-centre-track

Was it worth it? Oh yeah. The bike is great funn anyway, add the silence and smoothness of a belt and its brilliant.
And I'm a niche-monger 😀

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/belt-drive-update-ive-broken-a-belt

So to sum it all up - where's the best place in the UK to get the kit?

Its for a road commuter, so no issues with mud and stones.

Steven Shand sometimes has stuff in stock.

Or you have to order direct from Gates Europe: info@carbondrive.net
but be aware they charge a fortune for delivery from Germany.

I bought my Centretrack setup from [url= http://www.bikeparts.com/categories/components/drivetrain-parts/belt-drive-parts-and-tools/#s=gates&e=false ]bikeparts.com[/url] in Colorado. Superb service from them. If they don't have an item in stock, they'll nip down the road to the Gates factory to get it for you...

Many moons ago I looked into making a geared belt drive bike. Basically a CVT that would maintain a consistant cadence.
Yes, I should have got out more.

Just send my peregrine to Ben at kinetics today to have an s and s coupling fitted in the seat stay to allow a belt.
I bought the belt and chainring off the classifieds,and sourced an alfine sprocket from ebay.
Hopefully it should all work.

If anyone has come across a cheap belt tension checker let me know.
I understand you have to tension these things quite a bit..

Just another way of reducing efficiency of a very simple machine IMO.

I understand you have to tension these things quite a bit..

Just another way of reducing efficiency of a very simple machine IMO

Naysayers and doom-mongers...

Okay thanks for update..
Will post up when I have it together..

[i]"Ir bandito & another guy on here rum belts and love them"[/i]

That'll be me then.
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bike.[/url]
[url=

shots of the transmission at 2500km[/url]
Also https://www.facebook.com/gatescarbondrive
I got all my belt stuff of Qoroz,when I bought the frame.
I don't know if there's a UK retailer. http://www.cyclemonkey.com/ will post to the UK.
Sprockets are available to fit normal 9 spline hubs, Alfine and Rohloff.
I've got a proper tension checker, it's actually a Cummins truck engine one, but looks exactly the same as the Gates one.
You can improvise with a spring balance and tape measure. The belt should deflect about 0.5" with a 5 - 10lb load.

You say you've got a suitable frame. With a split in the rear triangle ?
What about the chainstay length ? That will dictate what gearing you can use as there's a limited range of pulley sizes and belt lengths.

I've broken two belts now and had them both replaced free of charge.

More reading here;
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/show-me-your-belt-drive-hub-gear-lefty-titanium-29ers
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/gates-centre-track-review-at-2500km

http://twentynineinches.com/2010/12/12/the-gates-carbon-belt-drive-report-a-true-alternative-to-the-chained-life-part-i/

http://twentynineinches.com/2011/01/30/the-gates-carbon-belt-drive-report-a-true-alternative-to-the-chained-life-part-iii/

"Conclusions: The short and simple is this: Belts are not better than chain drive systems. Not in terms of single speed mountain biking. Belt drive has some advantages, but costs, unknown bearing wear issues, problems with cog wear, design constraints in terms of frames, and the limited availability of cogs and belts in all gearing ranges is holding belt drive back. For now a chain drive single speed just makes far more sense. In the light of “c_g”‘s thoughts on internal rear hub driven bikes with belt drive, we agree that this solution for low maintenance mountain biking makes far more sense now, and likely will be the best application of a belt drive for mountain biking into the future. "

http://twentynineinches.com/2011/04/26/gates-carbon-drive-extended-verdict/

"VERDICT: Initially I set out to probe just how tolerant the GATES Carbon drive was to misalignment and flex but it turned out my attempts were crowned with some very good fortune. Don´t get me wrong – I am sure there was a good portion of luck involved – retrofitting an existing frame to belt drive is and will always be a gamble (you may also find out your frame will not be suitable), but what I learned is that the system, while being sensitive to misalignment it isn’t so in an extreme fashion. In my case finding the desired combination of cogs and belt was no issue either. (Having the possibility to use flanges or in the near future going for the new CENTER TRACK belt technology extends that tolerance even further.)

In combination with geared hubs, even as low as 3-speed, the GATES Carbon Belt drive would be worth for me to consider, simply because of the lack of service and maintenance required. If that justifies the price over a chain driven system is something each rider has to decide for himself. With my positive experience on the system all winter – I would consider hard.

Once more: GATES does strongly discourage to have frames retrofitted as I did. If you choose to do this, it is at your sole responsibility. "

sounds about right macavity.
I've always thought that belt-drives are best suited to utility/commuter (and maybe touring) bikes with internal geared hubs. I built mine up as a SS mtb cos I figured if it could cope with that, it would be great on "lesser" bikes. It just so happened that I came across the A frame when I was thinking about it and it went from there.

I do intend to go down the route of geared belt-drive back at some point. I've started looking into fitting my Rohloff to the A now. But my long term plan is geared, belt-drive hardtail, but that needs a specific frame.

(and Centretrack is far better than Carbon Drive)