4 ms·

If the belt is like standard belt drives (I need to look further into this, not sure if Ikea cheaped out or not), it should actually stand up to time better tha

by legodt 10y ago

If the belt is like standard belt drives (I need to look further into this, not sure if Ikea cheaped out or not), it should actually stand up to time better than a chain would. Belts are simply carbon cord embedded in a molded casing of nylon and polyurethane, and, more importantly, do not have any moving parts or linkages. It's just a belt! So you don't have to worry about the metal pitting over time or road salt settling in and destroying your drivetrain like you would with a traditional metal chain. This is more important to the European market where bicycle riders my not have cars, but owning a bike that you aren't afraid of taking out in the rain is another benefit of the belt. My biggest concern though is that like all parts, the belt will fail eventually. A quick look online shows that new belts cost around $250, over half of the retail price of this bike!

dsr_ 10y ago
...which is presumably why there's a 10 year warranty on the belt.
- legodt 10y ago
  Nice, good looking out. I assume Ikea isn't about to staff a mechanic for a low-occurance problem for a single product, so I wonder how they will handle warranty for the labor of replacing it.
  - ch4s3 10y ago
    probably contracts with local bike shops
yupyupp 10y ago
Someone mentioned it is a "conti-drive system". Which iirc is one of Continental's belts. Continental is well regarded in the cycling community for making high quality quality kevlar-core tires that withstand a lot of abuse (gator skins) so I'd imagine their belts are fairly good as well.
peterwwillis 10y ago
For a city bike, you could get a chain drive fixie which barely wears at all and only requires some oil every few months, can be repaired easily and is very cheap. Belts last about as long or less as a fixie chain drive with regular oiling. Belt with two internal gears lasts much longer than a mountain bike 18 speed chain drive, but then you're comparing apples and oranges. This is a bike designed for the Apple user, basically, except that it seems inexpensive, which is nice. If you never want to think about how a bike works, this seems fine. But my original point was to learn how to maintain a bike.

by legodt 10y ago

dsr_ 10y ago

...which is presumably why there's a 10 year warranty on the belt.

legodt 10y ago
Nice, good looking out. I assume Ikea isn't about to staff a mechanic for a low-occurance problem for a single product, so I wonder how they will handle warranty for the labor of replacing it.
- ch4s3 10y ago
  probably contracts with local bike shops

yupyupp 10y ago

Someone mentioned it is a "conti-drive system". Which iirc is one of Continental's belts. Continental is well regarded in the cycling community for making high quality quality kevlar-core tires that withstand a lot of abuse (gator skins) so I'd imagine their belts are fairly good as well.

peterwwillis 10y ago

For a city bike, you could get a chain drive fixie which barely wears at all and only requires some oil every few months, can be repaired easily and is very cheap. Belts last about as long or less as a fixie chain drive with regular oiling. Belt with two internal gears lasts much longer than a mountain bike 18 speed chain drive, but then you're comparing apples and oranges. This is a bike designed for the Apple user, basically, except that it seems inexpensive, which is nice. If you never want to think about how a bike works, this seems fine. But my original point was to learn how to maintain a bike.