Re:Ceramic-bearing bicycle drive shaft (2018)
by rconti on Friday August 16, 2019 @12:37PM
(#20716901)
It's interesting, for sure. I've now commuted on 2 belt-drive systems. I wanted to love it. I'm settling more solidly for "mostly like".
I bought a Ghost brand bike at REI (they're a German brand, but REI is the exclusive US distributor). The model is an "Urban" of some sort, can't remember which. It has an 8 speed Shimano Alfine internally geared hub. I really wanted a Spot Acme (made in Colorado) that was absolutely gorgeous, 11 speed hub, Gates Carbon drive, brooks leather saddle, etc. But that $2k+, and the Ghost was on sale from 1300ish to $850 if I recall correctly. It didn't have a dyanamo so I bought a Shutter Precision hub and had a local bike shop build up a wheel with a dynamo so I could run lights.
The Ghost came with a Continental belt drive instead of the Gates. Instead of having the center groove of the Gates, the continental just... stays in place. Hopefully. The right side of the crank had a flange, and the left side of the hub gear had a flange, but the belt could technically fall off the 'other' side of either one. And it did, occasionally.
Belt tension is regulated by how "tight" you make it by adjusting the rear wheel in place. The Ghost frame has angled dropouts sorta like a normal road bike (not horizontal dropouts like a motorcycle or like the Spot bikes I saw). It's a COLOSSAL pain in the ass for the average person to hold a heavy geared hub wheel in place with one hand, thread the nuts on with your second hand, use a wrench to tighten the nuts with your third hand, and deal with belt tension with your 4th hand. Not to mention keeping the wheel straight. And if you don't get the tension right (how many lbs of tension for a 1 inch drop, again?) the belt will fall off. Repeatedly.
Another problem is that you need to unhook the shifter to remove the wheel. It's not that hard, but when you're a novice to these bikes, it's tricky because some models recommend you shift to the lowest gear; others to the highest. You need some needle-nosed pliers and some finagling to get the cable out.
A problem specific to the Ghost was that the rear disc brake rotor ran into the caliper as you tried to slide the wheel out. So you ALSO have to unbolt the caliper to remove the rear wheel. Overall, it's a vastly bigger pain in the ass to remove the wheel on that bike than on a "normal" bike. God help you if you have a flat on the side of the road. I went through a bunch of different tube/tire combinations before I ended up with slime tubes, which i now HATE because the valve stem gets gummed up and leaks constantly, but I've spent a year or more dealing with it (adding air every week or so) because I'm too lazy to go through the hassle of removing the rear wheel to take out those godawful leaky slime tubes. (but at least I found a tire that's great and puncture-proof!)
Anyway, back to the drive belt. After owning the bike for roughly 5 months and 1000 miles, while trying to cross a busy street, the belt snapped. I tried to source a replacement, but couldn't. I took the biek back to REI, where it sat for the better part of a month while they tried to find parts.
To their credit, Ghost had discontinued use of the Continental system in favor of Gates, and as a goodwill gesture, they replaced the entire drive system of my bike with the Gates drive system.
Knock on wood, the Gates system has been perfect, doesn't squeak like the continental system does, apparently isn't as picky about belt tension, won't slide off (because of the center groove).
The shifting is less than perfect but I like the fact that geared hubs can shift in reverse, so you can downshift at a stoplight while waiting for a green. The spacing between the gears is a bit uneven, but I think it's a pretty good low-maintenance solution for a commuter bike.
I bought a Ghost brand bike at REI (they're a German brand, but REI is the exclusive US distributor). The model is an "Urban" of some sort, can't remember which. It has an 8 speed Shimano Alfine internally geared hub. I really wanted a Spot Acme (made in Colorado) that was absolutely gorgeous, 11 speed hub, Gates Carbon drive, brooks leather saddle, etc. But that $2k+, and the Ghost was on sale from 1300ish to $850 if I recall correctly. It didn't have a dyanamo so I bought a Shutter Precision hub and had a local bike shop build up a wheel with a dynamo so I could run lights.
The Ghost came with a Continental belt drive instead of the Gates. Instead of having the center groove of the Gates, the continental just... stays in place. Hopefully. The right side of the crank had a flange, and the left side of the hub gear had a flange, but the belt could technically fall off the 'other' side of either one. And it did, occasionally.
Belt tension is regulated by how "tight" you make it by adjusting the rear wheel in place. The Ghost frame has angled dropouts sorta like a normal road bike (not horizontal dropouts like a motorcycle or like the Spot bikes I saw). It's a COLOSSAL pain in the ass for the average person to hold a heavy geared hub wheel in place with one hand, thread the nuts on with your second hand, use a wrench to tighten the nuts with your third hand, and deal with belt tension with your 4th hand. Not to mention keeping the wheel straight. And if you don't get the tension right (how many lbs of tension for a 1 inch drop, again?) the belt will fall off. Repeatedly.
Another problem is that you need to unhook the shifter to remove the wheel. It's not that hard, but when you're a novice to these bikes, it's tricky because some models recommend you shift to the lowest gear; others to the highest. You need some needle-nosed pliers and some finagling to get the cable out.
A problem specific to the Ghost was that the rear disc brake rotor ran into the caliper as you tried to slide the wheel out. So you ALSO have to unbolt the caliper to remove the rear wheel. Overall, it's a vastly bigger pain in the ass to remove the wheel on that bike than on a "normal" bike. God help you if you have a flat on the side of the road. I went through a bunch of different tube/tire combinations before I ended up with slime tubes, which i now HATE because the valve stem gets gummed up and leaks constantly, but I've spent a year or more dealing with it (adding air every week or so) because I'm too lazy to go through the hassle of removing the rear wheel to take out those godawful leaky slime tubes. (but at least I found a tire that's great and puncture-proof!)
Anyway, back to the drive belt. After owning the bike for roughly 5 months and 1000 miles, while trying to cross a busy street, the belt snapped. I tried to source a replacement, but couldn't. I took the biek back to REI, where it sat for the better part of a month while they tried to find parts.
To their credit, Ghost had discontinued use of the Continental system in favor of Gates, and as a goodwill gesture, they replaced the entire drive system of my bike with the Gates drive system.
Knock on wood, the Gates system has been perfect, doesn't squeak like the continental system does, apparently isn't as picky about belt tension, won't slide off (because of the center groove).
The shifting is less than perfect but I like the fact that geared hubs can shift in reverse, so you can downshift at a stoplight while waiting for a green. The spacing between the gears is a bit uneven, but I think it's a pretty good low-maintenance solution for a commuter bike.
But it's not perfect.