Some Things Didn't Stick

 In celebration of the twentieth year of this blog, I have a few tales to tell. This post is one of them. This series will occur off and on throughout this anniversary year, I hope to illuminate some behind-the-scenes stories and highlights from the blog during this time. Enjoy!

In the nearly 20 years of blogging here I have had the privilege to share a lot of really cool things that most riders may not ever get the chance to try out. Some stuff like full suspension 29"ers, carbon wheels, and "gravel bikes" that I was afforded early access to have become rather standard items now. Most of you readers have likely tried all of those. 

But I have also tried a few things that I would characterize as "fringe" in terms of desirable products. Heated flat bar grips come to mind there. I have also tried some stuff that didn't stick, not in a mainstream sense, but are things you could still try. Take for instance Gates Center Track Belt Drive.

Gates Center Track Carbon Belt Drive on a Trek (Gary Fisher) Sawyer.

"The Belt", as I called it then. Back around the late 2000's and early twenty-teens, Gates was trying hard to make their "Carbon" Center Track belts a mainstay of cycling. One way they tried doing this was to get me, a belt critic, to be convinced of The Belt's "magic powers". I tried these belts out at Interbike at first and this was before Center Track. That was, quite frankly, an abject failure and Gates quickly pivoted to the vastly superior Center Track version of The Belt which was reinforced with carbon strands. 

I ran this for an extended period of time. I had some hiccups along the way. Sizing The Belt was not quite figured out at this point, and there were limitations to The Belt which made it a sort of niche, at best, application for most cyclists. 

I really liked this Raleigh XXIX with The Belt.

The worst parts of The Belt is that, although the claim is that these are quiet, The Belt can and will squeak. Very dry or very wet conditions will bring this out. In the dry, silicone spray will take care of the noise, for a while, but it comes back again, and again, and.....

The Belt can and will break. I've seen it (at Trans Iowa back in the day) and have heard about this before from riders. You cannot fix that. You must be carrying a complete belt to replace the broken one with. And there are strict rules as to how a belt can be stowed so as not to cause it to fail. 

The Belt, and its required cogs, are expensive. Far more so than with a chain and alloy or steel cogs are. You need a belt compatible frame, which is another barrier. And finally, you have to run an internally geared hub or gear box to use The Belt. No lighter, more efficient external drive trains (past single speed) here. 

Of course, now belts are being promoted as a solution for down hill racing, since that discipline often now uses gear box drive trains. Still, that's not going to be quite the mainstream goal Gates had back in the late 2000's. 

That was a multi-year try with a product which, in the right applications, works, but isn't anywhere close to "mainstream". I was proud to be able to bring this to the blog when it all was very new. Just one of the really cool things I was able to be a part of because of this platform.