boomhauer

By the looks of it.... I would speculate that it is to rotate in the Counter Clockwise Direction when under load.

seeker333

It's funny how our "problems" resolve.

Rob_E

No bolts. This is a 3 tab cog for a gear hub. It’s for Shimano, but the same type of connection as Sturmey Archer. Held on with a spring clip. Looks for the Nexus cogs here if you’re curious to see an unbroken one. https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...s.php?id=47338

I can see why people would wonder if it is might have been on backwards, but examining it further, all the markings, part number, etc. are only on one side. I can’t believe it was meant to face the other way, in which case you’d have to remove the hub to see any of that information. It was right up against the hub to the point where it actually marred the plastic casing of the hub behind the cog. So it wasn’t a perfect fit.

Seems like a weird break to me, as well. If I were only going to be using this bike locally, I might give it another shot, and I might try again once I build my Alfine wheel, just to see if it fits better and therefore lasts longer. But for now I’m thinking a chain is cheaper, easier, and more reliable.

djb

interesting, good to see the photo of a new one.
One would think this is a cog/hub interface thing going on. I know that the folks who tour using belts that Ive seen stuff on the web, either that Alf fellow or that Dutch couple, have done some pretty extensive touring with belts and cogwise have been fine. The Dutch couple are hefty folks who look pretty darn strong, and ride a lot off the beaten track, so must be putting a lot of force into their drivetrains.

again, good thing this came up now and not on your trip.

J.Higgins 

I've also heard that Gates belts don't respond well to sarcasm or innuendo.

rmsmith

The Nexus cog design doesn't inspire confidence.

antokelly

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9MY5WDwbg0

antokelly

www.youtube.com/channel/UCGamtiY212YK76rDI4IhCGg

expensive but some bike.

PedalingWalrus

Here is my new ride and my first ever mountain bike/gravel bike.. Co-Motion Divide.

I have a fat bike and then road touring bikes but this is my first ‘in betweener’ and my first belt bike.

I am taking it on my first weekend bikepacking tour this friday to Sunday. I am still making microscopic adjustments to the fit.

djb

Oooo, that's one snazzy number there pw. I just checked the weather forecast for the weekend around here and I hope it is clear. Makes me want to plan one myself if it stays nice.

Have fun with the new toy. Will be weird/ neat to not worry about dirt and crud and just washing it off with water.

downtube42

I've had a Priority 8 for about 3 years, with a Gates belt drive. Two ride-ending failures have occurred.

The original belt failed after about 12 months. In those 12 months, I commuted daily in west Texas (4 mile round trip, high heat, dry), then in Portland OR (10 mile round trip, wet, cool). I rode it on some 20-40 mile rides in TX, then on a RUSA Dart in the Seattle area (~200km). The failure was a number of teeth that shredded off in a clump. It left me stranded - fortunately just a short distance from a bus stop and not on one of the longer rides. It turns out the OEM belt was on the low end of the Gates scale; IIRC it said for 'casual urban use'. I replaced it with the top end belt; I forget the acronym.

A few months later the rear cog broke. The three legs that connect the cog to the hub sheared off. This one left me struck part-way home, about a half-mile from the nearest bus-stop. The quality level of the OEM cog was not (to me) identifiable. The warranty replacement was the higher end cog.

I hear other people's testaments of longevity, but it's going to be a while before I trust this system away from transit or a close friend. I do think the OEM stuff was crap, I'm just not sure how good the high end parts are. One more failure in the next couple years and it will be converted to chain drive.

Rob_E

It's encouraging to hear that the replacement looks to a better quality, but not so encouraging to hear that someone else has had this supposedly reliable chain replacement fail early in its life cycle. Like you, I had been using mine as a short-distance commuter, with access to transit if it failed, but more recently it has become my travel bike as well for any non-camping, on-road trips, so reliability becomes more important. Chain systems fail, too, but usually they wear slowly, and you get a warning, and even if not, they are a lot cheaper to repair. I think I'll leave mine as a chain drive for now.

DropBarFan

Pinion too, very cool. What's the finned part on the "chain" stay? I think belt drive would cut bike cleaning time in half, & on long tours most folks do chain lube & wipe which I guess is OK but not ideal. BTW some chain lubes are rather expensive.

PedalingWalrus

I think the finned part is to flare out and provide room for wider tires.

This past summer we toured our tandem woth Rohloff and chain. Somehow we missed good bike stores altogether and at the end of the day after we showered and pitched our tent I had no desire to do much maintenance. That got me on a quest to try gates belt drive. If I like it I may Change the drivetrain on the tandem too.

djb

Re the chain stay, the redesigned troll after 2017 has a similar shaped bit like that, to give more room for 3in tires.
I suspect the finned metal is to give strength, bracing so to speak.

PW, did you ever see webpages from that Dutch couple who do rather remote touring? They seem to be rather happy with their belt and pinion setup that they've taken on a bunch of trips now.

I may have mentioned them before on a thread you would have seen, but given that they go off on dirt a lot, and both are sturdy people, I figure they make a good test case for the technology.

PS bicycle junkies is their website

PedalingWalrus

thanks for the tip. I will check https://www.bicycle-junkies.com when I get to work on monday 👍

LV2TNDM

Old thread, but this post needs addressing. Sure, doing major work right before a big ride, race or tour is always a bad idea. Always do work when you have several rides in between.

That said, the ONE area where spending time to "do it right" is indeed chainring bolts. Bike component makers & brands the world 'round make the major mistake of NOT greasing chainring bolts when assembling. I have yet to find a factory bike with properly greased chainring bolts. When not lubricated properly (the threads AND both "heads"), chainring bolts don't get tight enough. Thread and head friction means they never get properly tight. Then, time, torque and corrosion lead to loose ring bolts that eventually fall out.

If there's one thing worth doing that isn't "dumb move in my opinion, no need," it's properly assembling your chainrings with greased chainring bolts. Doing so will prevent the typical loose chainring bolt at unexpected and inconvenient time. It is also a really good way to prevent future "clicking" noises "from somewhere down there," as well as corrosion problems. Plus, you're friend's mechanical failure wasn't due to WHAT he did, but HOW he did it. He could have just as well had a loose seat post or stem arise on his ride, but you'd never suggest to "not adjust your saddle height," or "tighten a loose headset" right before a big ride, right? If he had done it right, he'd have a more durable bike over the long haul.

So if you have a tour scheduled and you've never thought about your chainring bolts, now's the time to take care of this. Do them correctly so you don't get a surprise on tour. And when you do need to replace that worn middle ring? Greased bolts means the job will be easy without having to deal with seized and/or rusted parts.

djb

funny responding to a comment made years back.
but yes, it was how he did it, and as you say, he could have not properly tightened any and all sort of bolts on his bike. He's more of a bits and bytes guy.
I have another friend who regularly doesnt tighten stuff properly. I think a good part of it is simply not having enough real life real world hands on mechanic experience, kinda like friends who think that by pinching their tires and that it feels "hard", its ok. Weak fingers, super sturdy tires, general inexperience and again, badly judged tire pressures, just like not tightening stuff enough.

but yes, I will remember to properly grease chainring bolts. Cant recall the last time I had to loosen any, pretty rare for me in any case. Been years, and I most likely greased stuff, its a long time habit of mine when assembling stuff.

IPassGas

Ha! I grease everything on our bikes. My hands get near a bike and the grease leaps onto my hands I think. Well anyways, my hands do end up full of grease. I could wear gloves, but I usually forget to put them on before I am into the grease. My wife says you must have been working on the bikes...and then...you have grease on your nose.

John N

Our family have three bikes with belts and Rohloff. One thing I have learned is to ensure the tension is correct. If not sure, keep it on the looser side. I had a belt that was definitely too tight and the belt wore very quickly to the point the belt was losing teeth. Once I adjusted the tension using the Belts app, the wear stopped but I soon replaced the belt due to the missing teeth. I figure that was just an expensive learning lesson.

As far as touring with a spare or not, I always have a box at home (or a with a friend) so that that my lovely bride can fed-ex the belt (or various other parts I really don't want to carry) to me should I need them. For me, I am not too worried if I have to hole up for a few days. However, when I do some really remote touring at times where the chance of coming across somebody to hitch a ride back to a Fed-Ex-able town, I do carry a spare using the triple look method. I put it in a zip lock bag and put that in an old stuff sack and put that in the "sleeve pocket" (not the zippered pocket) on my Ortlieb that is between the inside "wall" next to the tire and the zippered pocket on the inside of the pack. No issues so far.

In summary, ensure the belt is properly tensioned and you are probably good to go.

Tailwinds, John

Rick

My belt equipped ride is over 7 1/2 years old. I just recently have been able to put allot of miles on it. I check from time to time on availability of the 118 tooth belt and found they were becoming scarce. So I ordered one, that should arrive tomorrow. The shop that I purchased mine through had a Co-Motion show and tell one weekend several years ago and I quizzed them about belt tension. I found out the tension can be a little loose but not overly tight. If my bicycle was equipped with a chain I would have replaced it at least twice by now. Having a belt instead of a chain has helped motivate me to get going. I like the Rohloff hub with the belt so much that the thought of purchasing a bicycle with a chain annoys me very much.

Tourist in MSN

Sorry if I annoy you.



I have nothing against belts, but the ability to change the gear range is important to me, that would be more troublesome with a belt. I use a 44T chainring (with chain) for riding this bike around near home where the most it ever carries is a pannier or two of groceries. But on a bike tour where I need low gears I use a 36T chainring instead, and remove four chain links. A second quick link makes that swap very quick.

Photo is from before I got a bashguard/chainguard actually designed to fit with a 36T chainring, was using the 44T chainring as a bashguard/chainguard.

I built up most of my bikes from parts. Some people see replacement of expendables as a hassle and prefer to avoid periodic maintenance. I do not mind that at all.

Rick

You don't and I have been able to learn allot of useful info from your posts.

I ride primarily on the road and my gear range allows me to pedal in my lowest gear around 3 mph. The high gear is around 24 mph to 27 mph. Speaking of parts. I changed The wheels , handlebars, brakes, seat post and stem after purchase and ordered it with Phil Wood outside bearings. I had Co-Motion setup the right fork stay for the SL version of the Schmidt Son 28. I have no Shimano parts on my ride. I am going to order a Middleburn R8 crank to replace the marred up one. As I have mentioned before. I would have ordered from Thorn If I could have had the customization I needed. If I had known at the time of purchase that I could get The Rohloff hub and some of the other parts from Bike24 I would have ordered just the Co-Motion frame with the Chris King headset installed. If I move to a flatter area I might order parts for more high gears. It is expensive and more complicated but doable.

skookum

As somebody that has belts and chains on different bikes, I think they are both good depending on how you intend to use them. I agree with MSN about changing gear ratios, I have had the same problems, with a belt it cost a couple hundred bucks to change sprockets.
But belts are strong and durable and wear slowly, so if you feel you won't ever have to change gear ratios, go for it.

Tourist in MSN

I was pretty sure that was the answer, I was mostly joking.

Yeah, that is where my Rohloff came from. I bought my CSS rims from SJS, came in the same box as the Nomad Mk II frame. Do not remember where I bought the spokes or nipples.


I understand the concept and goal. My rando bike, Tektro brake lever on left, right side brake lever is a Campy brifter which also shifts the back. Front shifter is a Huret on downtube. Crank is a Campy square taper triple, same with bottom bracket. Front derailleur, FSA. Rear hub, a 17 year old Shimano XT (with steel axle), Sram cassette, 1990s vintage Shimano XT rear derailleur, KMC chain, Shimano A530 pedals, Tektro canti brakes, front hub is SP PV-8.

So, I have a few Shimano parts, but where I have them I did not see any great need to seek out something else. Nice mix of parts, I am pretty happy with it.

I think I have tried five different front derailleurs, but the one on there now which was also the first one I put on there seems to work best.