10 years ago I bought a chain driven Giant electric bike with a seven speed hub in the rear wheel and a motor in the front wheel. I still have that bike. I have over 25000 miles on it and it still has the original chain. I don’t hear any chain noise when I’m riding and rear tire flat tire repairs are simple. Two years ago I bought a Pedego belt driven folding bike with a three speed hub in the rear wheel and a motor in the front wheel. About a year after I purchased the bike the belt started squeaking. The only thing that would stop the squeak was to replace the belt. 6 months the three speed hub started making a clunking noise and had to be replaced. My local bike shop did both repairs at no charge. I have a friend that has an R&M bike with a belt drive and a rear hub. He also had to replace his rear hub. His bike shop blamed the required belt tension for destroying the hub. That belt tension also makes fixing rear tire flats quite challenging. You have to use a smart phone app to get the tension right. I’ve done it a couple times and it took me way too long to get it right. From now on, no more belt driven bikes for me. Ed
Chain vs belt. Dad
- Thread starter EdC
- Start date
No cassette. 7 speed internal hub.
Since belt drives become more and more popular I wonder if they have any other disadvantage than squeaking. Are they harder to use when just pedaling, meaning, do they swallow power or is it just the same. On stability, I would not have a single doubt, because they are used in regular engines since decades and the power they transmit far exceeds anything we can push with our legs. Lately also on big motorbikes, and they got huge torque and HP. Just wonder if they lose something through slip, even when correctly adjusted. On a toothed belt of course rather not.
Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
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- Boston North Shore
They lose some to friction, they don't slip as they use a cog. Many have got extreme mileage from them.
Sifu Ben
Active Member
I thought 30k miles was the service life of a Gates belt. I've ridden the belt drive Electra, wasn't too enthusiastic about that bike but not because of the belt drive. One of the most memorable bike test rides I've had was on a BMC Alpenchallenge with Gates belt drive and Shimano 8-speed Alfine internal geared hub. What a fantastic bike!!! Immediate response from the drivetrain, gear changes even when not pedaling, smoooth! My brother, another cycling nut, has a Priority belt driven bike and was the one who got me to try the BMC. No maintenance, no greasy chain to mar my pants, no maintenance for the bike gears. Chains break, need constant cleaning and lubing and shorter service life, derailleurs need to be adjusted, etc. There are advantages to chains too (nobody races on belt drive bikes). You just have to pick the poison that's right for you.
Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
- City
- Boston North Shore
That is indeed a major advantage, considering how much time I spent with the derailers and cleaning/lubing of my MTB. Which is ok, its part of the weekend fun, but for a commuter bike I prefer a service free life. 30k lifetime is enough, I never doubted that looking at the belts in cars doing an extreme job under much worse conditions without complaints. Replacement belst look a bit expensive in Amazon, but i just did a quick search there and most likely I can find cheaper in the range of car belt prices as well. But I won't need them til 20xx anyway
thanks for posting that video J. Very interesting topic and near and dear to my heart as I'll be picking up an ebike over the next year, but a debate I'm going through is belt drive vs chain & derailleur, etc.,
Additionally, however, the issues encountered by Ed, would be very annoying to deal with, re downtime, money. I'd like to think that when you pay as much as we are paying for modern e-bikes, that you're not going to face significant repairs. At the end of the day, I'm drawn towards belt drives, but...
Additionally, however, the issues encountered by Ed, would be very annoying to deal with, re downtime, money. I'd like to think that when you pay as much as we are paying for modern e-bikes, that you're not going to face significant repairs. At the end of the day, I'm drawn towards belt drives, but...
