Gates belt drive

[mzjo]

It was James Bowthorpe who went round the world in 2010 with a Gates belt transmission. The bike was a Santos Travelmaster. Santos at the time were pushing the idea of Rolhoff hubs with Gates belts, particularly in sandy conditions. The advantage, they said, was you could race in the sand all week-end, then hose the bike down before commuting to work on it on the monday morning.
 https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/james-bowthorpes-round-the-world-bike-62873

[Paul H]

said to be a Genesis Croix de Fer; not sure how the chain slack was accommodated.

[edit; is that a single pulley CT-S510 tensioner I can just see....?  I think that would be the correct one for that frame...?]

cheers

Yes, I went to a talk Vin gave shortly afterwards and the bike was on display - Apparently a Mr Thorn told him nothing less than a Rohloff would do.  Choosing a bike that could run derailleurs was an insurance policy, apparently you can't change bikes but changing the gearing would be OK.   

[Brucey]

ah that's very interesting; it makes the bike choice quite a cunning one.  FWIW I have seen quite a few 8s alfines that blew up, but it has nearly  always been water ingress that did the damage.



cheers

[Paul Rainbow]

I have been interested in the Gates system for some time for my long distance exploits on fixed wheel. The appeal of no lubrication and not having to constantly re-tension the chain every few 100kms being a big bonus. I managed to get hold of a Schindelhauer Viktor earlier this year and have truly been amazed by the experience. The smoothness is quite hard to describe and there is certainly no spongy / stretchy feeling whilst pedalling. Its quite the opposite in fact and I find on climbs it just feels more efficient with total consistency through the pedal revolution. I have not had to touch the belt since I set it up in January which for a fixed gear set up is unheard of!!

I am currently rebuilding the bike for PBP as I got it second hand so adding bottle cages bosses and a respray were in order but will post a few pics as its reassembled    But as a hassle free drive chain solution for single speed/fixed/hub gear I really cant fault it and I always find it amusing when im moving it around the house and the belt touches my leg or something and its not covered in oil!!

https://www.schindelhauerbikes.com/en/Bikes/Current/Viktor.html