Theoretically a belt drive makes for a great upgrade to a bicycle, as it replaces the heavier, noisy and relatively maintenance-heavy roller chain with a zero-maintenance, whisper-quiet and extreme…
Chains are also significantly more efficient than belts, robbing your drivetrain of less of your precious power. Motorcycle riders have known this for decades, so welcome to that particular club. But when you have to pedal your machine yourself that matters even more. In the world of bicycles, if you’re going to have multiple gears you also need an internal gearbox and these also inevitably have yet more frictional losses built into them than a traditional derailleur.
Chains are repairable in the field with master links, or cobbled together bits of other chains. Belts aren’t. Every belt drive bike also has a specific length and pitch of belt that you need to be able to find premade, whereas you can produce a chain of any length easily using random bullshit found at any department store and the aid of the little screw press that’s probably built into your bicycle multi-tool. Or failing that, a couple more master links.
I got my local bike shop/ repair to give feedback, to be blunt if it’s something amazing all bikes would’ve been sold with belts…
I have 10,000 miles on my belt, no chain I have ever owned has lasted anywhere close to that. The efficiency difference is real, but less important for ebikes.
I gotta give grudging respect to the marketeer who invented just replacing “unmaintainable” with “zero-maintenance”. In truth a belt is “zero-maintenance” like a paper cup, you can’t do shit to extend one’s life. That’s why they’re generally used where exposure to the elements is limited, and that just isn’t inches from the ground on a bike.
Really? I’ve seen them on high end touring bikes and have ridden mine (just a Folder, nothing crazy) through all sorts of shit.
Don’t get me wrong, chains are amazing, but belts are still pretty good in their own right. They’re both good, just different IMO.
Still if I had to pick something for touring, I’d probably still opt for a chain because they’re so easy to source anywhere in the world.
You can emergency-fix a chain even with a piece of wire!
You can, but you should carry quick links because they’re tiny, awesome, and work great!
