What Are the Pros and Cons of Gearbox and Belt Drive Gravel Bikes?

Question

Is it possible for you to elaborate more on the vulnearbilities and the advantages of the gearbox and belt drive systems which are mounted on gravel bikes?

Answer 1

Belt and gearbox systems on gravel bikes are protective, allowing for long-life and very low maintenance drivetrains. They are more robust, do not require adjusting or tuning, and can last a lifetime. But the disadvantages include a weight penalty in the range of 1.0 to 1.5 kg, a higher price than usual, and a moderate cut in drive efficiency which will be no more than between 2 to 6 % depending on the model.

Comments

Like so much in the bike world, things evolve in spirals, at first diverging, encountering limitations, then revisiting what was but somewhat differently ie the bike packing movement with the move away from racks and panniers to soft bags and straps, found there was not enough volume, too much wagging of seat bags and then a move back to racks (now carbon and about 2-3xs as expensive as the previous metal ones) and bags that sort of look like panniers but apparently aren't panniers. The one thing the bike industry is not, is static. A bored consumer is no longer a consumer. Still, I find the innovations in gearing and belt drives to be exciting. signed, Hopeless Consumer.

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Since you are a bicycle travel channel, I sometimes miss a reflection of repairability in your content. Is it really the best idea to take the latest tech - maybe a pinion gear box with electronic shifting and some fancy suspension - around the world or is it in some cases better to just have a rigid steel mtb, that you can most likely repair everywhere? I like that I am capable of understanding and repairing my bike everywhere and I think this is a dimension that needs reflection if you are seriously travelling and not only doing fancy overnighters in europe or america

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I've been riding my Priority Apollo with a Shimano Alfine 11 for about 2 years now. No maintenance needed!

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If you are competing then obviously efficiency is very important, for the rest of us, who don’t keep our gears & chains spotlessly clean we are probably no worse off. I wouldn’t swap back to a chain & gears from my belt drive but then I don’t compete or climb very steep gradients. I admit a lower gear (Alfine 8) would be nice to save some effort but losing a few kilos would probably be more effective.

The pinion gearbox looks interesting & should offer lower gearing as the problem with torque is handled by the gearbox & not the rear hub & again, losing a couple of kilos would compensate for the weight increase & unsprung weight should also be lower.

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pinion can handle max input torque of 250Nm before it starts slipping. 250Nm of momentary torque on a technical trial is definitely within reach of a strong rider. i use this stuff on my commuter bike and when i have to go fast from a standstill, on a high gear, they it sometimes does 'slip'. on top of reduced efficiency you also get a bit of a 'squishy' feeling under the feet - it's not as direct as a chain drive. all fine for me on my commuter bike, but i dont think i'd like it on a sporty recreational bike.

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The Trek District was such a great model that I found too late to actually get my hands on. Belt drive with rear gearbox and front dynamo hub, plus fenders and cargo rack? Commuter perfection. Now if they came out with an electric version I might just cream myself.

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I love the belt drives.

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regarding the fork : well, here we are back with MTB's, can't wait for maintenance on it
regarding the gearbox belt : introducing belt generalization and gearbox, supposely to be more reliable (which I don't doubt but if you need maintenance on it, that won't be the same price than a derailleur).

I chose a gravel for it's simplicity : now in this era, we are speaking of adding electronics, batteries (for shifting), gearbox and forks.

 I'll stick with my cables and my dumb derailleur to adjust...

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I guess it depends on the kind of road / path you have available in your region. As you said gravel bike is made for back road network away from the big majority of car traffic. That said where I live, that network is at least still 80% road (albeit not that smooth) and the gravel part is mostly hard packed dirt/gravel so pretty fast rolling anyway. So for my used case (and frankly, most of the european cyclist one), the perfect gravel bike is close to en endurance road bike, with a slightly longer wheelbase, no suspension, and 35 to 45mm tires depending on the thread pattern, the kind of terrain you ride, and the rims you have. If you live in a relatively flat area, narrower handlebars with next to no flare and deeper rims is gonna make more difference to the effort you produc than big tires and suspension.

That said, the wider choice of gearing and internal gearbox is a welcome addition to biking in general.

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gates belt drive and pinion is aweseome it tried the mcu last year on the euro bike.... also a small suspension (lockable) ont he seat and the fork is pretty helpfull