List of low-cost belt drive bicyles - help needed

Hello everybody!

I have been bike commuting for many years, and since I’m getting older, I’m getting sick of lubing my chain, adjusting my derailleur etc, so I’m seriously thinking about getting a bike with a belt drive and a gear hub.

i want zero maintenance.

The problem is that there are not many bikes like this sold at a reasonable price.

So here is what I found:

Alternative solutions:

  • Veer drive conversion kit

    • price: 540€, but I need to add at least a shimano hub (200 €) and someone to mount everything!

  • a bike with internal gear hub and a proper chain guard (thanks to @AchtungDrempels)

    • since the chain guard protects the chain from rain and dirt, the lube should last much longer

If you know other companies and models that sell belt drive bikes below 2000 $/€ let me know, I will add them to this list. Bonus point if they are available in Europe!

Thank you!

woobie,

You might also look at the Priority Brilliant L Train. That model has the Gates belt with a Shimano Nexus 7 speed hub. There are two versions, one with V-Brakes ($750) and the upgraded one with hydraulic discs ($850).

Both bicycles currently have a 20% off discount available. www.prioritybicycles.com/products/ltrain

Paragone,

Pinion seems to be the ones who are getting it right, to me:

I’d look only at bikes based on their geartrain.

( I’m sticking with derailleurs, simply because that’s what I got, but … yeah, I can really see switching & ditching the grease on the pants bullshit )

plactagonic,

I have one universal bike so for me it would mean big range hub (at least 7 speeds) so it is pricier.

I commute every day and have relatively new bike (few months but it has already few thousand km on it). My chain maintenance was pretty much cut in half when I started using wax based lubes.

But I know that some day I get fed up with it and convert my bike to belt drive.

I have bike built on Omnium CXC v3 frameset, the frameset is about 750€ and pre-built is about 2000€. You can get them as commuter or ATB/ gravel but they are currently out of stock.

If you go for the wax method, I would suggest some drip on paraffin based wax. Hot melt isn’t worth it and bees wax is too soft so it is good for about 150km.

BCsven,

For motorcycles they sell wax spray lube. Anyone tried that on smaller bicycle chain? It creates a very adherent coating.

plactagonic,

I only tried hot melt beeswax and paraffin blend and commercial drip on lube. I read on some forum that somebody tried it but it was too hard/ it just glued the chain together.

BCsven,

I can see that, it makes what feels like a thin rubberized coating, but motorcycle has larger sideplate gaps so on a bicycle chain probably gums up the tighter spaces

Spoodle,

Canyon’s commuter line has a couple belt drive options like the Canyon Commuter 6.

I have also heard some good things about the Spot Acme.

Gates also has a searchable list of their official partners to find others Gates Carbon Belt Drive - Bike Finder.

I have a Priority Ace that is my winter commuter and I gotta say, Priority’s customer service has been absolutely top notch for me.

lgsp,

Very useful, thank you! Added to the list

KISSmyOSFeddit,

My low cost solution for this issue was a single speed bike with a chain guard.

lgsp, (edited )

Personally I cannot go without gears: as I use my bike to commute, I want to avoid sweating, and one way if doing it is to never exceed a certain effort, keeping the pedalling rhythm constant.

But as @AchtungDrempels pointed out, a proper chain guard can lower the chain maintenance, and that, coupled with an internal gear hub can potentially fullfil my “zero maintenance” requirement too

AchtungDrempels, (edited )

Have you thought about a gear hub and a proper chain guard? Maybe you could save a lot of money doing that, maybe wouldn’t need a new frame either.

On my city bike i have an oldschool chain guard, bike is just standing outside in the rain all year, i have never ever oiled the chain. Not sure how good more modern chain guards are, but i’d assume pretty good.

lgsp,

No, I didn’t really think about this solution: my bike has a chain guard, but it’s only partial, because it has a rear derailleur. So it works mostly to protect the pants from the chain, but the chain itself is almost fully exposed, and gets all the rain and dirt from the ground.

But a proper chain guard should be able to keep the chain clean, and then the oil should stain on for much longer, as you stated.

Good point!

Thorry84,

I’ve been using a Gazelle Cityzen C8 (non e-bike version) since 2018, it has a belt drive, hydraulic disc brakes and completely enclosed gears. Except for cleaning and topping up / replacing the tyres it has 0 maintenance. I’m not sure of Gazelles current line-up, like a lot of brands they’ve gone pretty heavily in the e-bike direction, but I’m sure they still have some good belt models. I chose the Cityzen C8 because it lacks any kind of suspension, my previous bike had suspension beneath the seat and in the front and I hated it. It gave me a disconnected and unstable feeling, I like to feel what the tyres are doing.

I bought mine on the internet, but Gazelle is well available in shops in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France and according to their site many other countries although I’ve only ever seen them in the countries I mentioned. I paid around 1000 euro, but these days that probably translates to around 1500 given inflation. Looking at their site they still have a good lineup for around 1200-1500 euro.

lgsp,

Ok great! The Italian website only shows ebikes, but the Netherlander one actually have belt drives one, and this one is still 1099, which is pretty great. Plus the company is well know and for sure not low quality 🙂

www.gazelle.nl/esprit-belt

Thorry84,

Yeah it’s a very good brand for sure.

The Esprit is kind of a budget model, something like the Chamonix S8 is probably more in line of what my old bike used to be. It’s around 1400 euro which is a bit more expensive and it also has suspension for some reason.

Maybe there’s a dealer near you where you can try out some of these bikes. But if you live in Italy it may be kinda hard.

lgsp,

The Esprit is kind of a budget model

I looked at the specifications and it looks very good to me: nexus 7 speed hub, aluminum frame, disc brakes… Ok I have to admit tha I’m used to much lower level coponents 😁

Thorry84,

True, within their line-up it’s lower end, but it’s still pretty high end stuff. Probably a fine bike for thousands of miles without issues.

huginn,

I’m considering taking up seasonal bike commuting. Belt drive and internal hub seems like a must tbh.

Showroom7561,

Belt drive and internal hub seems like a must tbh.

On paper, yes. But I’d like to know how easy it is to repair these when something does go wrong.

On a standard bike with a chain and derailleur, you could fix any problem roadside in a few minutes. With internal gears… go watch a few teardown and maintenance videos… it’s not a simple process!

That said, this combo should be very reliable. Unless you’re putting tens of thousands of KM on it on a yearly basis, it’s likely you won’t really have to mess with the belt or internal gears for a very long time. A bi-yearly tuneup should keep it very hands-off for the ride season.

huginn,

It definitely changes the cost of ownership somewhat but I’ve had issues with chain and derailer for every bike I’ve owned at some point or another. Part of that is the American obsession with having both front and rear detailers.

I’d take a bike that I’d 1/10th as likely to break down over a bike that is easy to repair when it does.

Showroom7561,

Different priorities, for sure.

The question I’d ask is:

Would you feel more comfortable touring remote places with a derailleur and chain, or a belt and internal gear hub?

Nearly every problem on a bike, except for catastrophic frame failure, can be repaired fairly easily and with minimal tools, with a “traditional” setup.

I think that for most people, especially those who wouldn’t do home wrenching anyway, a belt and internal gear system is going to be miles better to own.

The Priority bikes have certainly caught my attention in the least year. Tom from Shifter rides one as his winter commuter.

huginn,

Yeah I love Tom.

The long distance touring cycling community consensus seems to be belt and hub… But bring a spare belt. That’s just from me lurking on bike buying advice forums because I’m too chicken to lock my bike up on the street and don’t have much room in my apartment.

lgsp,

I agree Tom Is great, but the reason I want a belt and gear hub is this channel CYCLINGABOUT, he does long cycling tours in remote parts of the planet, and has done a lot of videos on technical stuff like comparison of gear systems or belt drive.

He himself does the tours with a belt drive and gear hubs, and as @huggin suggests, he carries a spare belt (which is very light btw)

Showroom7561,

Thanks for sharing. He’s got some excellent points about belt drive systems.

I’m sure at some point I will be getting one. They certainly seem to be the future.

Dotcom,

I didn’t buy one so I can’t speak to their quality but Brilliant sells belt driven bikes with Shimano hubs for about $650 USD.

lgsp,

Never heard this one, they are really cheap! Thank you. For commuting one would need to add fenders and rack, but they don’t cost that much 🙂

Dotcom,

If you go that route let me know, I was waffling back and forth on picking one up!

lgsp,

I’m just exploring right now, and I would rather choose something from Europe because of shipping costs and warranty.

I’m the other hand I would be curious to know your experience if you get one 😁

maculata,

I’m happy to run behind you, attempting to whip you with a belt, if you like.

But it’ll cost you,

Especially because I’m not usually that sort of girl.

lgsp, (edited )

Thank you for the kind offer, but I would rather spend my money on a belt used on the drive system on my next bike.

But I’m sure you can find around plenty of people who would be happy to accept your proposal

maculata,

Oh well. The offer is there. What kind of belt? Like a sparkly one with a super-cute buckle?

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