These guys are next door to us in Golden CO. Single speed with belt drive
The belt drive Spots are uber quiet and seem to be plenty reliable (probably more than chains). The main problem for me the way the chain stay has to be made to get the belt on and off, since you can't open a belt to install it. I'd worry that the little notch they put in the rear drop-out would eventually fail, but none of the CX guys have broken them AFAIK and so it's probably just me worrying. Also you are limited to one speed and internally geared hubs, so that is somewhat limiting depending on application. In this case, touring, I personally would not trust a Nexus if you wanted gears. Too much chance of things to break and no work arounds (a broken derailler can be bypassed to make a single speed in a pinch, for example). If I was in the market for an expensive single speed, Spot's belt drive would absolutely be #1 on the list, though.
Yes, they really are. But things do fail and having options when nowhere near a bike shop is nice. So I dunno what the right mix of reliability/simplicity/weight is and I suspect that it's different for everyone.
Yeah, you're probably right on. Still, the drive side drop out is held together with two bolts and there is a split. I dunno, I have trouble enough keeping welds together (I've had 3 frame failures and I've only owned 5 bikes) when I want them to, much less when there's an intentional split in the frame... :-/
Many internal hubs have been used with belts. Not uncommon. Even a Trek Soho is available out of the box with an 8 speed Nexus hub mated to a Gates belt. Works for commuting, but no one seems convinced it's durable enough to use off road, especially for off road touring. The nice makers of the Nexus hub sure as heck won't suggest you do so...I aske repeatedly. I spent a ton of time researching all sorts of belt and hub combinations. I spent an entire day at Interbike looking over the options and talking to the manufactures. The only consensus was - There's plenty of room for improvement. The Nexus stuff just won't hold up to much abuse as more than a few guys have had ugly failures, and the dropouts of many bikes won't accommodate the rather fragile axle nut system that really looks as delicate as a derailleur. The Rolhoff hubs are anything but light. We're talking a full 2 pounds and I've seen more than a couple Rolhoff hubs with repair issues. There's been chatter about another deficit with the belt systems. The belts have to be run pretty snug and that tension has been accused of damaging freehub bodies. There has also been alignment issues, squeeking belts and certainly plenty of issues with the lack of gearing options. Since the belts cannot be sized to fit like a chain, any gear swapping has to involve a new belt and should your dropout or EBB not allow for enough adjustment...yer screwed.
I think the belt has merit, but it's been the resurgence of one speeds that I think have let it develop as much as it has in the past couple of years. That and Spot being here in the same town as Gates I bet had something to do with it. Hard to imagine the belt ever being mainstream primarily because of the shifting and gears issue. Like Flounder mentions the weight and reliability of internal hubs is not yet suited to mountain biking (and internal hubs are not new by any stretch, so it might actually be difficult to achieve the weight/strength target with them) and unless that works itself through the chain/cog/derailler system is going to win out for the foreseeable future. But with all those thoroughbreds riding one speeds everywhere I guess maybe we'll all develop into a sub-race of super humans who don't even need gears. Until the genome guys figure out how to give me some of those traits, I will keep burying my 22/34 granny.
Moots ARE beauties! Too bad they cost as much as the combined value of all the cars I've ever owned. :-/ I'm still riding and racing my 10 year old Redline CX and it'd developed a very troubling rattling in the down tube/BB junction. It's aluminum ... yikes. There are problems using the Psychlo for touring. No rack mounts and only two cage braze-ons. You could work around only two bottle cages, but you need to make sure to have Moots put on rack eyelets if you go that way. Major upside, a place to crash anytime you're in Steamboat!
Yeah, I know what it means. One thing is fer sure, aluminum does NOT like mag-chloride no matter how good your fenders are... It also reminds me when I ride it that by 38 years old you'd think I would have my poop together enough that I could replace it after 10 faithful years, but you'd be sadly mistaken. :-( But yeah, for the discriminating tourer who is not working two jobs and has time to appreciate a gorgeous bicycle, Moots are top shelf. No question, beautiful machines. But OTOH, I paid $500 for my Redline and might have $1000 in it total (LOTS of spare parts!), minus tires, tubes and upkeep. It's got to have 25,000 miles on it now. Around 1,500 per year commuting (28 miles round trip), about a dozen centuries, 7 years of CX races. I'd be hard pressed to find a better bang for the buck. What a trooper.Priorities, priorities.
Honestly, I could be talked into that frame at $3-$4k, knowing that if I accessorized it correctly, could comfortably pull off double duty as a roady and an offroad touring bike.
That rattling is a sign.
I agree. I bought my first cyclocross rig in '88 for racing. It was a Gitane 531 steel rig. Loved that rig. I've had a crosser in the stable ever since. Currently I ride a Yeti Arc X and can't see it being the ideal off road touring rig. Good for a variety of terrain, but it certainly wouldn't accomodate any kind of racks or panniers. Even if I went with Old Man Mountain racks on it, they'd fit, but the bike would handle like poo. "Poo" being a techincal term for not so hot.
