carbon belt drive bike

[andy67b]

Hi, as per title, do any of you out there use this type of drive train? if so, what are your thoughts pros/cons. Looking at buying a new bike for my commute to work and never thought about buying one with this drive train before.
Thanks in advance

[troc]

I have a commuter bike with a belt drive and it's great. The model in question is a Canyon Commuter 6.0 with a Shimano Alfine 11 sped hub and disc brakes. Also has mudguards and rack mount and hub-dynamo lights.

It's quite light for such a bike at around 11.5kg and has a rather clever carbon seatpost with a little bit of suspension.

I've ridden it right through the winter now and love jumping on every day. The bike is purpose-designed (narrow bars for example for traffic) and happy on roads, cobbles and tow-paths.

The belt drive is excellent, maintenance-free and weirdly quiet. It seeps impervious to anything the Dutch weather can throw at it. I've ridden it 3 days a week in everything from hot sun to snow, sleet, rain and loads of wind and not made any attempt to clean it and everything still works perfectly.

For commuting, the system can't (IMHO) be beaten. The only thing that could improve my bike really would be a Rohloff 14 speed hub instead of the Shimano system as Rohloff are the ultimate in in-gear-hubs but they are stunningly expensive!

[andy67b]

troc said:

I have a commuter bike with a belt drive and it's great. The model in question is a Canyon Commuter 6.0 with a Shimano Alfine 11 sped hub and disc brakes. Also has mudguards and rack mount and hub-dynamo lights.

It's quite light for such a bike at around 11.5kg and has a rather clever carbon seatpost with a little bit of suspension.

I've ridden it right through the winter now and love jumping on every day. The bike is purpose-designed (narrow bars for example for traffic) and happy on roads, cobbles and tow-paths.

The belt drive is excellent, maintenance-free and weirdly quiet. It seeps impervious to anything the Dutch weather can throw at it. I've ridden it 3 days a week in everything from hot sun to snow, sleet, rain and loads of wind and not made any attempt to clean it and everything still works perfectly.

For commuting, the system can't (IMHO) be beaten. The only thing that could improve my bike really would be a Rohloff 14 speed hub instead of the Shimano system as Rohloff are the ultimate in in-gear-hubs but they are stunningly expensive!

Thanks for your great write up, sounds like the belt drive train could be the right choice.

[gazza285]

My friend had a single speed mountain bike with one, it suffered from a snapped belt so often he swapped the drive to chain and sprockets. He's seriously quick though, and single speed mountain biking puts a lot of strain on the drive, so don't read too much into it. Stones and crap off the rear wheel into the belt teeth can't have been good either.

Should be perfectly adequate for commuting duties though, and no fourth cat tattoo on your leg/pants either...

[louiebaby]

troc said:

Much useful stuff...

I'm looking at a new commuter to do 18 miles each way, in all weathers, but at a brisk pace. I have been seriously looking at the Canyon belt drive offerings, and your review pretty much confirms it for me.

I just need to make sure the gear range is suitable, as it's a bit lumpier here than (most of) the Dutch landscape.

Many thanks!

[TwistingMyMelon]

My concern would be parts or experience isn't plentiful nor cheap

For example I bent my rear mech on my commuter, local backstreet shop put a new Tiagra mech on they had in stock for £30 , bent mech in morning, picked up bike in evening

Ive seen people have issues with belt drive bikes bought mail order and local shops haven't got the experience to deal with them quickly

Each to their own, never really found chains a problem

[Barchettaman]

louiebaby said:

I'm looking at a new commuter to do 18 miles each way, in all weathers, but at a brisk pace. I have been seriously looking at the Canyon belt drive offerings, and your review pretty much confirms it for me.

I just need to make sure the gear range is suitable, as it's a bit lumpier here than (most of) the Dutch landscape.

Many thanks!

I would get a drop-bar chain drive commuter bike, with mudguards, hub dynamo/lights, rack and panniers, and a Brooks B-17 saddle, for that kind of mileage.

OK, it'll require a bit of maintenance but for those needs I would want something I could (realistically) repair in the field.

You'll be thankful for the extra hand positions that drop bars give you.

Apologies if you already know this but to commute 4 seasons you'll almost certainly need bike-specific outerwear. Things will very quickly get very miserable otherwise.

[Quickmoose]

TwistingMyMelon said:

My concern would be parts or experience isn't plentiful nor cheap

For example I bent my rear mech on my commuter, local backstreet shop put a new Tiagra mech on they had in stock for £30 , bent mech in morning, picked up bike in evening

Ive seen people have issues with belt drive bikes bought mail order and local shops haven't got the experience to deal with them quickly

Each to their own, never really found chains a problem

maintenance is a good point, one that you might want to look up prior to purchase to see who/if there's anyone nearby who can help you.

I have a Schindelhauer Ludwig 8. Never had so much as a puncture....2 or 3 years of use now
The best bits are obviously the lack of grease/oil, but also the silence of it.
Not massively impressed with Shimano Alfine
Other than that, I'd look to have belt drive in any future bike I bought.

[Kell]

How do you get the belt on and off?

[louiebaby]

Barchettaman said:

I would get a drop-bar chain drive commuter bike, with mudguards, hub dynamo/lights, rack and panniers, and a Brooks B-17 saddle, for that kind of mileage.

You'll be thankful for the extra hand positions that drop bars give you.

Apologies if you already know this but to commute 4 seasons you'll almost certainly need bike-specific outerwear. Things will very quickly get very miserable otherwise.

I was thinking about adding TT bars to the commuter bike, as there are parts of the route that I could get good use out of them...

I already have a cupboard full of clothing, I do 9 miles each way year round currently. It's taken a toll on my £750 Giant MTB!

[Quickmoose]

Kell said:

How do you get the belt on and off?

All belt drive bikes have a break somewhere within the rear triangle, more commonly a drop out hanger of sorts.
Undo that, the belt tension drops, unhook it and feed it through the break in the frame.
The belt is a continuous piece so that's the only way it works, unless the rear drive 'cog' is mounted on the outside of the hub (rare)
Once on, you then have to tension it.

[MDMA .]

i like them. thinking of building a SS with one on. problem is, finding the right frame -

http://www.gatescarbondrive.com/

[Fluffsri]

MDMA . said:

i like them. thinking of building a SS with one on. problem is, finding the right frame -

http://www.gatescarbondrive.com/

Trek carbon Stache frame would be spot on and use an adjustable BB for belt tension.

[Barchettaman]

louiebaby said:

I was thinking about adding TT bars to the commuter bike, as there are parts of the route that I could get good use out of them...

I already have a cupboard full of clothing, I do 9 miles each way year round currently. It's taken a toll on my £750 Giant MTB!

Yep, Ergon grips and a set of TT clip-on bars makes for a good set up. Plenty of hand positions and respite from a headwind if necessary.

I'd be wary about using the TT bars in traffic, I wouldn't want to be stretched out that far from the brake levers.

[MDMA .]

Fluffsri said:

Trek carbon Stache frame would be spot on and use an adjustable BB for belt tension.

sorry, was thinking more road frame/build, not MTB nice frame though.

although I wouldn't mind building a mix of old steel frame with it on.

[Fluffsri]

MDMA . said:

Fluffsri said:

Trek carbon Stache frame would be spot on and use an adjustable BB for belt tension.

sorry, was thinking more road frame/build, not MTB nice frame though.

although I wouldn't mind building a mix of old steel frame with it on.

Gotcha, I saw a few road frames at the bike show with belt drive. Some really nice designs to split the frame as well.

[MDMA .]

Fluffsri said:

Gotcha, I saw a few road frames at the bike show with belt drive. Some really nice designs to split the frame as well.

I'm thinking old steel frame ( Gazelle / Gios ) with the carbon drive with a nice set of 40mm profile carbon wheelset.

[troc]

MDMA . said:

I'm thinking old steel frame ( Gazelle / Gios ) with the carbon drive with a nice set of 40mm profile carbon wheelset.

How would you attach the belt though? You'd need to get a frame-builder to break the frame somewhere in the rear triangle to thread the belt through. On my Canyon, the break is in the stay, just above the dropout.

You also need horizontal dropouts or an adjustable bottom bracket to tension the belt correctly.

I'm not sure that adapting an old frame is really viable - you need to start with a belt-specific frame.

[Fluffsri]

I saw some very neat cut outs on seat stays. My fave was a a solid bar that was cut so when you removed 2 x bolts there was enough flex in the seat stay to move apart to feed belt through.

Very similar to this frame

http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/wolverine
found one

http://forums.mtbr.com/frame-building/retrofit-fra...

Edited by Fluffsri on Tuesday 14th March 15:04

[anonymous-user]

Late in the day..
I have a Marin Fairfax belt drive bike, for the commute. Nexus 8 speed hub. Hydraulic disks.
No problems at all & very quiet as others said.
Had 1st puncture today, was surprisingly easy to remove rear wheel. The wheel axel slot is straight down, so no need to retention belt after etc
I’d certainly recommend..