Originally Posted by
reburns
It’s a pretty easy upgrade, about $250 in parts, as long as the distance between bottom brackets is compatible with the available parts. I did it initially to keep the left side of the bike cleaner for transport inside the car, but it’s also nicer from a maintenance standpoint and saves a small amount of weight.
Not to be hijacking this thread, but I did the Gates belt upgrade last night along with a test ride today, and it's definitely a nice conversion for this bike. It just turns out that my center to center BB dimension was exactly 724mm, so the 69T Gates ring along with some new 5-bolt, 130mm da Vinci spiders made for a perfect fit. The conversion couldn't have been easier! In addition to the overall sync drive being cleaner and a tad lighter, it seems that our pedaling rhythm is a bit smoother as well. Of course, that could be my imagination, but it felt good for both of us. All in all, I'm very pleased with it. Thanks for the encouragement!
Back to the regularly-scheduled program.........