Originally Posted by
General Geoff
Belt drive is the way of the future, IMO. My next bike will probably be a Gates Belt Drive coupled with a Pinion gearbox.
Greater longevity and no need to lubricate or clean/degrease saves far more time and effort than the ~1 watt you lose from efficiency differences vs a chain.
That sure is a low maintenance setup. However, a system requiring proprietary frames for the pinion and expensive components (belt, pinion) is unlikely to be a widely adopted future unless prices really drop.
For some reason I think the Rohloff has more chance to be more popular. It also could have a belt (or chain), but will work with regular frames. But again, at the cost it has it won't be widely adopted.