Tired of chain stretch, squeaky gears, and lube issues? Check out the Gates Carbon Drive drivetrain system – a carbon belt that replaces the standard chain drive on bikes. The belt is not compatible with standard cranks and sprockets so you’ll need to change those out as well but the advantages may outweigh the costs of retrofitting your ride.
So why go carbon? Gates claims the Carbon Drive belt doesn’t stretch over its lifetime like standard chains do which means it’s as effective on ride 1 as ride 50 – and it lasts about 2.5 times longer than most chains. The carbon belt is light too – just 80 grams compared to 300-400 grams for a standard chain. The Carbon Drive system is completely lubricant free and is equally as efficient as a normal chain. It’s also quiet – no more loud chain slap or clatter when bombing down the trail.
Early adopters of the Gates Carbon Drive include a couple Colorado mountain bike manufacturers – Spot and Maverick – and as the technology matures I’m sure we’ll see this popping up on more bikes in the future. The end of the chain grease tattoo – who would have thought?
Internal gearing or single speed only?
I saw this on some bikes in Park City, Utah shop. Pretty sure it was a Spot. I think it was a SS, not an internally geared bike.
I saw something similiar about 10-12 years ago at a race in Fontana, NC. Don’t think the belt was carbon. I recall looking at the bike, then seeing the guy riding it run into a tree on DH run. Man he that tree hard. I’ve never forgotten the bike because the guy hit the tree so hard…..to the point of I was relieved he got up. His was internally geared.
[…] Yesterday Trek introduced two new bike models that have gone completely chainless. While we wrote about chainless mountain bikes back in September, Trek is the first bike company to use the technology in a mass produced bike. The Trek chainless bikes, the District and Soho, are commuter / recreational bikes and will be available starting next month for just under $1,000 each. […]
I’m thinking about turning my current hardtail into a SS with a carbon drive but was wondering is there are compatibiliy issues. Such as not being able to get the belt around the chainstay. Is there somewhere to find out if a bike is compatible or not. and what “alterations” would need to be done to the frame? If any?
@B-Rax: You’re right – you need to be able to “break” the chainstay to get the belt drive routed. The bikes that ship with belt drives have special connections on the drive-side chainstay for this purpose.
Most of the frames I’ve seen also have a significant cut out or indentation in the driveside chainstay to make room for the wider belt chainring. I wonder if you could get someone to add couplers to your driveside seat stay! 🙂 Maybe Bilenky http://www.bilenky.com/Retrofits.html