Squeaky Gates Belt
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Squeaky Gates Belt
Hi folks,
I have a Trek Allant+ with Gates CDX belt drive and Enviolo gearbox. It's got about 1000km on it, so rather new. I've been riding it on dry conditions, on ok asphalt. Recently I had the back tube changed and a few rides after that, and as the weather got warmer, the belt started squeaking. A few more rides and the squeaking got really loud, quite obnoxious really.
I got to cleaning the belt with a clean wet rag and then applied a very light coating of silicone lube with a paper towel. That got it back to being quiet, but it only lasted about 40-50km (~25 miles) and it started squeaking a bit again.
What do you recommend I do?
- clean again and add thicker coat of silicone lube
- have the bike serviced professionally for some kind of misalignment?
- something else?
Looking forward to your
suggestions - I try to fix problems myself instead of going to the shop. Thank you!
I have a Trek Allant+ with Gates CDX belt drive and Enviolo gearbox. It's got about 1000km on it, so rather new. I've been riding it on dry conditions, on ok asphalt. Recently I had the back tube changed and a few rides after that, and as the weather got warmer, the belt started squeaking. A few more rides and the squeaking got really loud, quite obnoxious really.
I got to cleaning the belt with a clean wet rag and then applied a very light coating of silicone lube with a paper towel. That got it back to being quiet, but it only lasted about 40-50km (~25 miles) and it started squeaking a bit again.
What do you recommend I do?
- clean again and add thicker coat of silicone lube
- have the bike serviced professionally for some kind of misalignment?
- something else?
Looking forward to your
suggestions - I try to fix problems myself instead of going to the shop. Thank you!
Last edited by Fandomii; 06-24-23 at 01:11 PM.
#2
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Hi folks,
I have a Trek Allant+ with Gates CDX belt drive and Enviolo gearbox. It's got about 1000km on it, so rather new. I've been riding it on dry conditions, on ok asphalt. Recently I had the back tube changed and a few rides after that, and as the weather got warmer, the belt started squeaking. A few more rides and the squeaking got really loud, quite obnoxious really.
I got to cleaning the belt with a clean wet rag and then applied a very light coating of silicone lube with a paper towel. That got it back to being quiet, but it only lasted about 40-50km (~25 miles) and it started squeaking a bit again.
What do you recommend I do?
- clean again and add thicker coat of silicone lube
- have the bike serviced professionally for some kind of misalignment?
- something else?
Looking forward to your
suggestions - I try to fix problems myself instead of going to the shop. Thank you!
I have a Trek Allant+ with Gates CDX belt drive and Enviolo gearbox. It's got about 1000km on it, so rather new. I've been riding it on dry conditions, on ok asphalt. Recently I had the back tube changed and a few rides after that, and as the weather got warmer, the belt started squeaking. A few more rides and the squeaking got really loud, quite obnoxious really.
I got to cleaning the belt with a clean wet rag and then applied a very light coating of silicone lube with a paper towel. That got it back to being quiet, but it only lasted about 40-50km (~25 miles) and it started squeaking a bit again.
What do you recommend I do?
- clean again and add thicker coat of silicone lube
- have the bike serviced professionally for some kind of misalignment?
- something else?
Looking forward to your
suggestions - I try to fix problems myself instead of going to the shop. Thank you!
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#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Question: I've been driving a gates cdx drive on a different bike before for a couple yeaes down the same roads and haven't had squeaking issues. Any idea why I now do?
#4
Newbie
Check your belt alignment. The clue here is that it only started after the tube was changed, hence something that was done at that time changed the belt alignment or tension.
#5
Clark W. Griswold
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Make sure the belt is properly tensioned but if you have a snubber on the bike as I do with my R+M Supercharger and Rohloff set up that is open bearings and can make some squeaking. It is not designed at all to touch the belt but help to keep it from coming off if something odd happens. Mine got a little squeaky around that same time-ish after hitting some rain and after getting some grease in it and rotating it around a bunch it has been silent in another 3k miles.
If your belt is actually making noise and it has been properly tensioned and the wheel is in properly and it is not caused by anything else Gates recommends CRC Silicone Spray (remember like with all sprays don't get anything on your brakes) but I haven't had a need for it at all in 3000+ miles and then whatever I have on the new belt (mine got shredded in a crash which Gates replaced even though I was clear it wasn't a warranty situation at all, my own damn fault) and I don't imagine I will ever need to do anything to it minus wiping some mud from it if that happens. I guess if I lived in a very very dry location it might be more needed.
If your belt is actually making noise and it has been properly tensioned and the wheel is in properly and it is not caused by anything else Gates recommends CRC Silicone Spray (remember like with all sprays don't get anything on your brakes) but I haven't had a need for it at all in 3000+ miles and then whatever I have on the new belt (mine got shredded in a crash which Gates replaced even though I was clear it wasn't a warranty situation at all, my own damn fault) and I don't imagine I will ever need to do anything to it minus wiping some mud from it if that happens. I guess if I lived in a very very dry location it might be more needed.
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