Perks of Belt Drive Bikes

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If you are looking for a Belt drive bike, you need to look no further than Downtube. You will be able to find a variety of the bikes to your liking. The following article talks about the perks of the bikes and what you need to know before you purchase one.

Introduction

A Belt drive bike is a chainless bike that uses a toothed synchronous belt in order to transmit power from the pedals to the wheel of the bike. The belts are usually made by the same manufacturing companies that produce timing belts for cars, machinery and other belt drive applications. The application of the belt drives to bicycles is growing, especially in the commuter bike market, because of the low maintenance and lubrication free benefits that these types of bikes offer.

Pros of the Bikes

You are going to find the following perks/benefits out of a Belt drive bike:

• The drive belts are not going to rust.
• Lubrication is not required of the drive belt.
• They are going to stay very clean because of the fact that lubrication is not required of them.
• There is little to no maintenance required of the belt drives.
• The bikes offer a smoother operation compared to bikes with chains.
• The bikes are much quieter than with bikes that have a chain on them.
• You are going to get a longer life span than bikes with a metal bicycle chain.
• Some belt systems are going to be lighter than conventional chain driven system.

Cons of the Bikes

The following are things that people do not like as much about the bikes:

• Derailleurs cannot be used on the bikes.
• The drive belt is not able to be taken apart as you can do with a chain.
• A frame must be able to accommodate the belt by having an opening in the rear triangle.
• Belts come in limited selection of lengths, which have to be accommodated in the design of the frame that you have.
• A beltdrive bike and the repair/replacement parts are harder to find at bike shops than bicycles with conventional chains.
• The front and rear pulleys or sprockets need to be well aligned in order to avoid excessive friction and wear.
• Compared to bikes with a chain, the drive belts are usually going to run at a much higher tensions but the high belt tensions is going to reduce the life expectancy of the bearings in the bottom bracket and rear hub.
• First-generation pulleys with dual guides had problems with snow becoming compacted and trapped in the pulley. The second and generation models have improvedwith the design.

Conclusion

The possibilities for Belt drive bikes are increasing as manufacturers of internal gear hubs are constantly innovating and introducing new designs of the bikes. When you are ready to start looking at the very popular types of bikes, you need to look into the many different bikes that are offered from Downtube. The bikes may be more expensive than bikes with your traditional chains but they are definitely worth the extra money.

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