So there I was riding up a good climb when...Pop! Not sure if it was the sound of the belt on my Spot, my knee whacking the bike, or the bar coming around and jabbing me in the ribs. I've never broke a chain before, so at least it was a new experience on the bike. Luckily I was only a couple miles from the car, and some of it was downhill.

All an all I'm a bit surprised. I only have few hundred miles on the bike. It took me quite a while to get the "belt line" dialed in, so I'm hoping that didn't cause early failure. I have been mashing up some big hills on it lately, so my guess is that the belt doesn't like out of the saddle mashing as much as smooth, constant spinning.

In the mean time, I put a chain on and rode yesterday at Laguna Mountain prior to the SDMBA trail work (built some cool log rides). Not quite as smooth as the belt, but better than nothing until I find a new belt.

So I'll keep you posted on how easy it is to get a replacement belt.

Just call Spot directly, they are super cool. I ordered a replacement belt and a larger front "belt ring" no tax, minimal shipping got it in 3 days. I think the belt was $60.

That is crazy, I have never seen one snap. They should run several thousand miles, maybe yours was defective in some way. Hammering the hills should not have done that, that belt technology was designed for cars that put much more force on them then us humans.

Good luck

Ive never seen a belt drive on a bike, looks light. Is that for SS only? Intriguing

Yeah, it's only SS. Unless you run it with a Rohloff.

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Long Live Long Rides
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I planned to call Spot first, but thanks for the info.

I had previously heard off people breaking them. I figured they were the same kind of folks that break chain (sprinter type monsters), not 150 pounders hill climbers like me.

Yes, it is a light set up. Doing the left hand, right hand scale (very accurate )

Belt << Chain
Belt Ring about = Chain Ring
Belt Cog < Chain Cog (probably some Ti ones out there that are close)

Yeah, it's only SS. Unless you run it with a Rohloff.[/quote]

They make cogs that adapt to the Shimano Internal hubs (Nexus) also.

Your rides?

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A mountain biker who doesn't ride road has no legs
A road biker who doesn't ride mountain has no soul

That's the one. Now I can put a face to a face.

So I talked to the folks at Spot and I have a new belt on it's way.

Interesting notes, I run a King Single Speed hub and they actually don't recommend it (for now). Because the way the lock ring attaches to the hub (threads external on the SS hub vice internal on a normal freehub body), it doesn't allow for as much outward adjustment as one would like. I can vouch for this on the set-up.

The belt cog has a flange on one side designed to be on the inside (see pics, offset like a car rim) (front "cog" ring has flange to the outside). Spot is designing a stand-alone flange that that doubles as a spacer, so you can flip the rear cog to gain so more adjustment to the outside.

Hopefully this belt will outlast the first.

Did you have any trouble getting the cog off? When I changed wheels I never considered that my normal chain whip would not work since there are no cogs to grab onto. I scratched my head for 2 days trying to figure it out until I went to home depot and got a strap wrench. Once I used that it took about 3 seconds to get the lock ring off. (I also didn't check their web site for guidance either like I should have as they have clear instructions posted).

Spot sells a "strap wrench", but like you I made due with what I had in the garage.

All and all I like the feel of the belt better than the chain (plus the cool factor), but working on it is a pain.

Agree and agree.