I like the comparision of the belt drive and this clean sort of bikes for
using in urban terrain. It is great to have such a silent drive while you
are making some funny, speedy or athletic stuff.
But talking about efficiency or acceleration on a pro level, I would think
a chain drive would be better.
(Thats why the Heidelberg is displayed under the rafael concepts label and
not under rafael sports)
For real track racing I choose the normal chain drive. It works perfect,
and nobody worries about dirty legs or trousers. And you have more choises
in transmission ratios (for the moment - they will produce a lot of new
sizes, I think)
I have made my own special pulley attachment.
Greets
rafael
That is an email I received from the maker of this
bike. I had emailed him when the bike had first surfaced a few years back as I was thinking of trying to make my new build a belt drive.
For cost reasons I didn't, but since then I've also ridden a trek belt drive bike at the lbs. Didn't have my license with me, so only got to ride it around the store a few times. I felt no noticeable difference in the ride except the coasting which I'm not used to. The acceleration from 0 to like 10 (in a store remember) felt normal, the resistance seemed the same, it was quiet, it was dry (no lube).
I'd still like to build up a belt drive bike. Ideally I'll build a bamboo frame soon and put one on that. Even if there is no performance difference, it's novel and neat, and that is worth something at least to me.