"The Belt": An Update

Not quite enough.....

Last November I reported that I had a bit of trouble with the Gates Carbon Drive Center Track belt, (see here), as it sits on the Sawyer.

I had a "pop", one that reminded me very much of a ratcheting belt,  which is a bad thing. Gates got wind of it and put out an e-mail to me that said they'd get on it pronto.

Well, keep in mind, this happened right before Thanksgiving. I had a few things in mind that I figured would happen in those ensuing weeks. One was snow. We've had snow right after Thanksgiving every year for several years in a row of late. I figured I'd wind down riding for a bit, because, well........it would snow, right? 

Well, there was that thought plus the fact that my life picks up speed big time in December. Two big, close family birthdays, Christmas, and my wedding anniversary all happen within a month. I happened to have gotten really sick in December as well. So......yeah. Riding then gets pushed back a bit, and even without snow, things got busy. 

Back when the trails were dry and clear...

Then one day I came home from work and found an odd cardboard box on my porch that I thought wasn't supposed to be there. I figured it must be something for Mrs. Guitar Ted. I looked at the label and saw my name on it. The senders address cleared up my confusion, it was from Gates.

It showed up in the midst of all the hullabaloo going on in my life, so it sat down in The Lab until things settled down enough for me to get to it. That took a while. In fact, a couple more weeks went by and after the New Year, I got the new belt fitted. Here was the belt I should have had from the get-go.

Now let me stop right here and say that Gates has said all along that not every belt combination would be available right away. It took six months from the time I got the first "too short a belt" till I got the "just right" belt with the "too long" belt in between. The newest belt set the axle right in the middle of the throw, which I think is ideal. I have gotten it set up with really good tension, and I have putzed around the neighborhood on it and it seems to be feeling really good.

Of course, it finally really did snow, and of course, the trails are socked in right now. I am looking forward to them getting cleared up in a couple weeks if the snow stays away. We'll see. It could be until March sometime too.

Okay- There is the update on The Belt. I'll be reporting more after things get cleared up around here and when I've had the Sawyer out for a few good rides.