Any cyclists here?

[Atmasphere]

...a couple of friends have belt drives. Nice clean solution, indeed.

Its weakness, also its strength, is you can't use a belt with derailleurs.

If you think about it, bicycles are far less reliable than cars, despite how much simpler they are. It really shouldn't be so profound in that regard, but if you think back to the time when cars used chain drive (1910s?) instead of shaft drive to move power from the transmission to the wheels, then you realize that the transmission of a bike, exposed to the weather without a lubrication system, won't be reliable.

Now that Sram has the new Eagle system (released last year; I'm not talking about the older Eagle setup) with its proprietary chain and so on, its about the same cost as a Rohloff yet does not have the gear range (although its pretty close). Yes the Rohloff is heavier and less efficient, but if you use belt drive with it you mitigate a lot of the weight issue, and if you are not cleaning and lubricating your Eagle system nearly every time you ride the bike, its efficiency will go down rapidly- at which point the Rohloff with belt drive, which does not require nearly so much attention, is more efficient.

 

[Audiohertz2]

How are Bicycles unreliable ?

 

[Atmasphere]

How are Bicycles unreliable ?

Clearly you've not worn out a chain or cassette. They don't last all that long.
I was recently on the Tour Divide, a mountain bike race from Banff to the Mexican border. A brand new derailleur based system will need a new chain and cassette by either Pinedale or Steamboat, just short of halfway or just over halfway. If you don't replace those parts by that 1200 miles or so, its a good bet you'll have a failure in the middle of nowhere (and many racers have failures well short of that).
1200 miles is nothing for a car...

 

[Neil.Antin]

I was recently on the Tour Divide, a mountain bike race from Banff to the Mexican border. A brand new derailleur based system will need a new chain and cassette by either Pinedale or Steamboat, just short of halfway or just over halfway. If you don't replace those parts by that 1200 miles or so, its a good bet you'll have a failure in the middle of nowhere (and many racers have failures well short of that).
1200 miles is nothing for a car...

1200 miles is nothing for a car that travels on the road, but what about off road such as the Baja 1000? I ride road only and about 10,000 miles/year, and routinely get 5000-miles on a Shimano chain and 7-10,000 miles on a cassette. But I wipe down the chain (& the cassette) after each ride (I use Rock & Roll Gold). And, yes, a car that only sees the road today can be very reliable with minimal maintenance up to a point. If you keep the car long enough replacing brakes is way more expansive that replacing bicycle brakes, and the timing-belt is not cheap unless you have a Toyota that may still use a timing chain (they did I last checked in 2017).

 

[Atmasphere]

1200 miles is nothing for a car that travels on the road, but what about off road such as the Baja 1000? I ride road only and about 10,000 miles/year, and routinely get 5000-miles on a Shimano chain and 7-10,000 miles on a cassette. But I wipe down the chain (& the cassette) after each ride (I use Rock & Roll Gold). And, yes, a car that only sees the road today can be very reliable with minimal maintenance up to a point. If you keep the car long enough replacing brakes is way more expansive that replacing bicycle brakes, and the timing-belt is not cheap unless you have a Toyota that may still use a timing chain (they did I last checked in 2017).

Emphasis added. I included this caveat in my prior comment so we are on the same page.

 

[chet atkins]

1967 eaton glider 3 speed i restored 30 years ago

 

[andromedaaudio]

Another great climb is the climb from rimini to San Marino
Enourmous amount of cyclists in italy .
The B road route from san marino to Firenze / Florence is also fantastic.
( which i did by electric car lol)
Emilia romagna area is great for motorbikes too.
Italians love 2 wheels , i saw a lot of moto cross / enduro riding as well

I cycled around Nice Monaco area las well

I hope to go to the alps again at the end of summer .

 

[DaveC]

My drivetrains hardly wear anymore after I started using Absolute Black graphene wax and lube.

An example... 1x mtb drivetrain with narrow/wide chainring, SRAM XX1 chain and cassette, AB 7075 Al oval chainring. I ran it for 2 years using AB graphene lube, the chain finally broke and when I replaced it I didn't have to replace the chainring. Using regular lube I have to replace the chain once a year and you have to replace the chainring with it. It doesn't look like the cassette or chainring is wearing whatsoever and the chain lasted at least 2x as long as with wet lube.

If you do get AB wax you must follow the directions precisely. Chain must be immaculately clean and wax must be 210F or more, immersed for 30 min and agitated a few times during the soak. I do this only for new chains, then use the lube. Wax typically isn't great in wet conditions, but AB lube is. You need to use it so infrequently a pack of wax and bottle of lube is almost a lifetime supply.

 

[gleeds]

My Serotta has been in storage for a few months, given my hectic audio show schedule and a move now just being completed. Seeing this and talking with Mark earlier made me hungry to return to the bike. I'm blowing off a few chores tomorrow and grabbing my bike from storage. Thanks for the inspiration, fellas!

 

[Audiohertz2]

Clearly you've not worn out a chain or cassette. They don't last all that long.
I was recently on the Tour Divide, a mountain bike race from Banff to the Mexican border. A brand new derailleur based system will need a new chain and cassette by either Pinedale or Steamboat, just short of halfway or just over halfway. If you don't replace those parts by that 1200 miles or so, its a good bet you'll have a failure in the middle of nowhere (and many racers have failures well short of that).
1200 miles is nothing for a car...

Err , no , i have 12K on my old Campi setup without Nary a failure, many setups in my racing days never a failure of chain or cassette ..

Failure @1200 sounds redonculous ..!

 

[Audiohertz2]

1967 eaton glider 3 speed i restored 30 years ago

Atmasphere Baja setup ..

 

[Audiohertz2]

My Serotta has been in storage for a few months, given my hectic audio show schedule and a move now just being completed. Seeing this and talking with Mark earlier made me hungry to return to the bike. I'm blowing off a few chores tomorrow and grabbing my bike from storage. Thanks for the inspiration, fellas!

Its all good until the Burn sets in ...

 

[Holmz]

Ever consider belt drive? You'd need an IGH or something like a Pinion. I prefer the Rohloff.

The 1x I guess makes sense.
Just not to me.

In the tallest gear one may not be peddling with much force, but on the smaller side, the chain is going down the track like a sidewinder snake, at exactly the same time, that the RPM is lowest and the force in the chain is highest.
It is a recipe for wear and inefficiency.

If the chain is running straight then it is a lot easier, but that is either on a flat road, or using a 2 or 3x front deraileur.

At least with a Pinion or a Rohloff there is not sideways chain, and the front and rear cogs (or gears) can be selected to not have astronomical force/tension on the chain.
And with a belt there are a few less moving parts than on a pressed together chain.
(There are also no deraileur hangers to rip off of he frame.)

But none of that belt durability matters a whole lot if one is on a short ride near a phone… not like 1/2 way to Baja.

And a Pinion and a Rohloff both can still suffer mechanical failures, so they are not absolutely 100% bullet proof.