Gates Carbon Drive : User Experiences

[Deleted member 18083]

Today my R&M Homage's Gates Carbon Drive failed without warning – none that I was aware of, anyway.

As far as I could tell, one moment the belt was perfect, the next utterly useless. Many of the 'teeth' were missing and the blue nylon 'facing cloth' was shredded. The belt had come off both front and rear sprockets and, given the length of the sections without teeth, there seemed no point in attempting to get it back on.

The 'evidence'…

1. Before failure: just under 15,000 km travelled.
2. At time of failure: gentle acceleration from traffic light; Tour setting (PAS 2); 'senior gent' not contributing too much effort.

The bike had been serviced at 14,000 km just fifteen days ago. Did we miss warning signs? Should the belt have been replaced at a set interval (10,000 km?) irrespective of obvious wear?

Click here for the story of the ride.

Please share your knowledge, experience and opinions.

 

[JRA]

"not contributing too much effort"

This factor probably saved you some discomfort David.....if you were up out of the saddle and getting after it that could have been ugly.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

If you were up out of the saddle that could have been ugly.

With a step-through frame the 'personal damage' might have been whacking my face on the handlebar!

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Today my R&M Homage's Gates Carbon Drive failed without warning – one that I was aware of, anyway.

As far as I could tell, one moment the belt was perfect, the next utterly useless. Many of the 'teeth' were missing and the blue nylon 'facing cloth' was shredded. The belt had come off both front and rear sprockets and, given the length of the sections without teeth, there seemed no point in attempting to get it back on.

The 'evidence'…

1. Before failure: just under 15,000 km travelled.
2. At time of failure: gentle acceleration from traffic light; Tour setting (PAS 2); 'senior gent' not contributing too much effort.

The bike had had its 14,000 km service just fifteen days ago. Did we miss warning signs? Should the belt have been replaced at a set interval (10,000 km?) irrespective of obvious wear?

Please share your knowledge, experience and opinions.

I was also told that you should replace the Gates chainring and pinion ring. Please check with your dealer and also Gates. It is not ideal to use a new belt on a worn chainring.

With the extra torque of the motor, things wear out faster, whether it is a chain or a belt.

These approx numbers are for a 175lbs rider + 19-20 mph avg speed (30-32/kmph).

E-bike chain + Derailleur = 2500 to 3000 miles
E-bike chain + Rohloff = 5000 miles
Gates belt + Rohloff = 8000 miles

 

[FlatSix911]

Does Gates publish maintenance intervals for the MTBF data?

Mean time between failures - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[JRA]

It's odd that if R&M has service intervals that they don't address the belt drive as recommended? I would wager to say there aren't many 175lb. R&M riders so that would make increase the wear.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Gates Carbon Drive links …

• General Info – web page
• User Manual – pdf
• Technical Manual – pdf

 

[Stefan Mikes]

There's nothing indestructible in this world. The timing belt in the car has to be replaced too...

 

[FlatSix911]

The links appear to be identical... edit, now working correctly.

Gates Carbon Drive links …

• General Info – web page
• User Manual – pdf
• Technical Manual – pdf

 

[Stefan Mikes]

These open three different documents on my PC, @FlatSix911 ...

 

[Gege Hughes]

There's nothing indestructible in this world. The timing belt in the car has to be replaced too...

View attachment 44965

I replaced the timing belt on my 01 Acura MDX four times. Engine was running well when the frame went at 525,000 miles.

 

[Akrotiri]

I was also told that you should replace the Gates chainring and pinion ring. Please check with your dealer and also Gates. It is not ideal to use a new belt on a worn chainring.

With the extra torque of the motor, things wear out faster, whether it is a chain or a belt.

These approx numbers are for a 175lbs rider + 19-20 mph avg speed (30-32/kmph).
E-bike chain + Derailleur = 2500 to 3000 miles
E-bike chain + Rohloff = 5000 miles
Gates belt + Rohloff = 8000 miles

I didn’t know the rohloff could be pared with a chain. Thought only belt drive, interesting.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

Yes, here is a case where they installed the Rohloff E-14 on a Trek Super commuter. On a derailleur, the up and down jumping of the chain leads to faster wear but with the Rohloff, the chain is always straight and if you keep it well maintained, you should be able to get 5000 miles using an E-bike specific chain.

Tech Talk: Retrofit your e-bike with Rohloff E-14 Electronic Shifting | Cycle Monkey

www.cyclemonkey.com

 

[Akrotiri]

Yes, here is a case where they installed the Rohloff E-14 on a Trek Super commuter. On a derailleur, the up and down jumping of the chain leads to faster wear but with the Rohloff, the chain is always straight and if you keep it well maintained, you should be able to get 5000 miles using an E-bike specific chain.

Tech Talk: Retrofit your e-bike with Rohloff E-14 Electronic Shifting | Cycle Monkey

www.cyclemonkey.com

Would be nice to see more of these setups in the future.

 

[FlatSix911]

Yes, here is a case where they installed the Rohloff E-14 on a Trek Super commuter.
On a derailleur, the up and down jumping of the chain leads to faster wear but with the Rohloff, the chain is always straight and if you keep it well maintained, you should be able to get 5000 miles using an E-bike specific chain.

Tech Talk: Retrofit your e-bike with Rohloff E-14 Electronic Shifting | Cycle Monkey

www.cyclemonkey.com

A brilliant setup for a mountain bike... no derailleur!

Nicolai's EBoxx E-14 electric mountain bike features the electronic shifting system along with Gates Carbon Drive. It's also available from Cycle Monkey.

 

[Ken S]

Today my R&M Homage's Gates Carbon Drive failed without warning – none that I was aware of, anyway.

As far as I could tell, one moment the belt was perfect, the next utterly useless. Many of the 'teeth' were missing and the blue nylon 'facing cloth' was shredded. The belt had come off both front and rear sprockets and, given the length of the sections without teeth, there seemed no point in attempting to get it back on.

The 'evidence'…

1. Before failure: just under 15,000 km travelled.
2. At time of failure: gentle acceleration from traffic light; Tour setting (PAS 2); 'senior gent' not contributing too much effort.

The bike had been serviced at 14,000 km just fifteen days ago. Did we miss warning signs? Should the belt have been replaced at a set interval (10,000 km?) irrespective of obvious wear?

Click here for the story of the ride.

Please share your knowledge, experience and opinions.

David,
I had a catastrophic failure of my belt at 17,000 kms, but pretty sure it was due to the my use of the wrong silicone belt conditioner the day before half the teeth sheared of. Normally use a CRC brand but grabbed a WD40 instead, not noticing that it has petroleum distillates.

Will find out when I get a replacement Tuesday.

 

[PedalUma]

David,
I had a catastrophic failure of my belt at 17,000 kms, but pretty sure it was due to the my use of the wrong silicone belt conditioner the day before half the teeth sheared of. Normally use a CRC brand but grabbed a WD40 instead, not noticing that it has petroleum distillates.

Will find out when I get a replacement Tuesday.

@Ken S
You might want to conduct your own experiments with DOT 5 before trying it on your belt. It is pure silicone oil and used in race car brake lines. It restores and lubricates rubber. Try some on a old tube and on an old tire. It is pretty amazing stuff.