Carbon Belt Drive Bike Review

The current front belt ring is for use with 5 bolt 130 bcd crankarm spiders.

Carbon belt drive bike review.

Customer service was understanding fast and responsive. Our carbon reinforced belts last longer than chains never need grease and are nearly maintenance free. The gates carbon drive or belt drive as it has come to be known is a completely grease free low maintenance alternative to a standard roller chain. Free yourself from oily rusty chains and join the gates carbon drive revolution.

The carbon drive system consists of two sprockets and a carbon fiber reinforced belt. These are the advantages of the gates carbon drive system. Carbon belt drives last substantially longer due to not stretching in the same way as a chain. Because the app is free and with me whenever i have my phone i downloaded it and gave it a try.

I ve got a belt drive touring bike and a belt drive tandem sitting in my garage which both have 30 000km on their original belts. Say goodbye to high maintenance bike chains. This is primarily why the product is not mainstream. By contrast on all our tt bikes we make do with a chain that has pins and a series of interlocking metal rollers.

Another minor annoyance with the belt is figuring out how much tension to run. Are carbon belt drives the future. Say hello to simplicity and fun. In addition belt drive touring bikes are silent and require almost no maintenance other than odd clean with a toothbrush.

Belts can make a lot of noise on sandy dry roads. It s capable of handling the same or greater maximum load standards as a chain drive so it can be ridden hard. To put that into perspective a standard derailleur drivetrain will rarely shift well after 10 000km. Reimbursement was given where appropriate.

Belt drive bikes will feature specially designed frames referred to as a split frame so that the belt can be installed. Belts can only be used with an internally geared hub or as a singlespeed not for derailleurs. Deemed quiet efficient and grease free. There s no doubt that gates carbon belt drive is an excellent drivetrain solution for long distance touring bikes.

As good as a belt drive system sounds there are some drawbacks that need to be considered. Veer noted its upcoming pro version will have more crankarm options in the fall. The first is that carbon belts typically can t be broken and re installed like a normal chain. Carbon drivetrains are expensive but i think they re pretty good value if you consider the kilometres you ll get per dollar invested.

There s two ways to properly measure the tension a gates tension meter or the gates smartphone app. The gates carbon belt drive is clean looking and performing. It has no moving components like a chain but uses a single loop of carbon inside a nylon cover. Advantages of belt drive bikes.