I have a Priority Apollo. The maintenance is way less than any of my chain-drive bikes, which I really appreciate. I tend to bike in the winter and in the rain (although not so much this last year), and it has been so much better for that (internal hub as well: no salt/sand in the gears, no risk of rust, etc). The internal hub on it is different shifting than a normal derailleur, but you get used to it. It’s definitely heavier than my roughly equivalent spec chain-drive bike, and it feels a lot slower. It is silent (like you don’t think of chains as loud, but by comparison you really notice the lack of sound). The major downside is it just doesn’t “feel” as responsive as a chain. I don’t quite know how to describe it, it’s not like there is a bunch of stretch in the belt or anything, but it just feels different in a way I don’t entirely love. That could partly be a factor of the internal hub though, and I’ll be honest, if I could do it again I would have gotten a belt single speed rather than internal hub, but I would get a belt again – even if only for avoiding the salt damage in the winter.
The major downside is it just doesn’t “feel” as responsive as a chain. I don’t quite know how to describe it, it’s not like there is a bunch of stretch in the belt or anything, but it just feels different in a way I don’t entirely love.
From what I heard, a belt drive has an efficiency loss that’s greater than a chain drive, so that’s what you could be feeling. The energy you put in isn’t being translated into the same energy output you’d get from a chain.
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