Belt drive

[Chewyeti]

takes lots of HP to slip a toothed belt.....

[Rockinthecasbah]

It wont slip but it will get a lot of resestance when things start to get mucky
speaking of hp I think yeti weight would kill it ,, ps chewi send me a lingk to that 9" bike

[ka0t1c07]

all we gots are man power

[BrewMaster]

Chains that are covered in mud and muck would have just as much trouble. If anything a belt would flex if it got hit by a rock. Metal chains would be more apt to bend or jam.

[TURNERob]

That is an interesting concept, and for a single speed it certainly makes sense. Being an auto mechanic it never ceases to amaze me how timing belts put up to so much abuse and last for 100k+ miles. The interesting thing is most car makers are now switching to timing chains in their engines. I wouldn't worry much about the belt drive on a bike being exposed to the elements. Lots of guys who modify their cars and run adjustable cam sprockets take off the upper timing covers anyway and have no problems. I've even seen a customer with a '91 Accord who had some hack shop do their timing belt come in with absolutely no timing belt covers (upper and lower) and it was fine. With just human pedal power those belts should last forever.

[FyrFytrRyn]

well, i was actually thinking about thsi a while back for bmx park applications. mostly because the clearance between the chainstay 990 mounts and the chain (especially while running 25T and less which is very common now) is to tight, i have to run the chain so tight to keep it from slappinmg, i blow hub bearings... oh yeah, ive thrown belts off serp. systems on my truck. you hit a washout hard enough and jam something in there, anything can fly off.

[Rob]

Anyone try one yet?

[kanga]

Originally Posted by Rob

Anyone try one yet?

Pretty difficult to try one unless you have a frame that can be separated to allow mounting of the continuous belt... remember you can't "break" a belt to thread it through the chainstay. It could be mounted easily on a bike that has a raised chainstay though.

[bighit8]

Do you think it being a belt would make pedaling fill soft or flexy?I wonder how many ribs the belt has.What type of tensioner do they use?As tuner rob said people run no cover on the timing belt and they last. That is even when the cam or crank seals leak, or the water pump leaks onto the belt and they still last.
.

[richie_rich]

Looks cool, but really? I guess belts could work, they do it on motorcycles and they put out way more torque than you and I can. To me it's like the two wheel drive bicycle idea from the 90's. Not really necessary, but still cool.

Two wheel drive you say, read it here: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...48/ai_13923138

I found a picture of a similar idea.