Thorn Nomad Mark 2 frame conversion to Gates Belt Drive

[teifun]

Hi All,

would i be disturbing anybody's peace of mind if i said i sent my Nomad out to to a frame builder (Jeremy at Sycip Cycles) to get its chainstay broken so i can run it as a belted Rohloff?

have any of you seen this done to a Nomad before?

i haven't detected too much belt love in these here parts is why i ask.

(I haven't gotten it back from Jeremy yet but i'm real excited based on the belted Rohloff setup i have already on my 26" Swobo Folsom frame)

much obliged!

[Danneaux]

Not disturbed at all for my part. Just interested and eager to hear initial impressions and long-term experience.

Your Thorn frame warranty for following repairs to related areas is likely shot, but I figure anyone can assess the risks and then decide. Not too unlike the decision to mount a kickstand against advisement.

Please let us know details and results -- preferably with photos -- when you get it back.

Best,

Dan.

[bobs]

Have a look at this.


http://cyclemonkeylab.blogspot.se/search/label/Surly

[George Hetrick]

I, too, would love to hear how this turns out.

[teifun]

Neil's belted Rohloff builds at Cycle Monkey have been quite the inspiration for me and i'm so glad to have him so close to me here in the Bay Area.

[mickeg]

When you already have a belt drive bike, that makes you an educated buyer so you know what you are getting.  Thus, I suspect you will be quite happy with it.

I met a couple in Iceland last summer, both had Rohloffs, one of which was belt.  The first thing he said when I commented on the belt was that they were carrying a spare belt because nobody in the entire country sold the belts.

I will stay with chains for one simple reason.  I use a 44T chainring for general use biking near home, but switch to a 36T chainring for bike touring to get the lower gearing for hills.  It would be a lot more work to change gear ratios with a belt.

I met one other belt user in Iceland last summer, he commented that he thought his belt was a bit slower, his friends that had chains seemed to be a little faster on the road.  The way he said it, I suspected that he had biked with them enough in the past with chaindrive that he knew who was how fast.

Of the two belt owners I talked to, I do not recall which was which but one of them had the newer belt style and the other the older style belts.  One comment was that with one of the belt styles, the chainline (is it chainline  or beltline?) had to be perfect whereas with a chain some error was ok.  I built up my bike with a chainline error of about 5mm.  I do not know if that would be acceptable with a belt.

[Paul S]

My Mind is at peace with a Rohloff Hub, Single Ring, Nomad frame & a chain.
My philosophy, if it isn't bust don't fix it but we are all different. 

[Andre Jute]

Since I cycle in street clothes, in the summer light-colored khakis, my driveline must be perfectly clean. Somewhat perversely, I also developed my bike to require near-zero servicing (a few minutes a year is all it takes) and the absolute minimum of cleaning. A chain isn't clean from the box until you chuck it, and a belt is clean only when it is brand new. Also, the life of a Gates Drive belt is 5000 miles, which I consider a high-maintenance number for a replacement that requires dismantling the frame. Also, my understanding is that the Gates Drive belt had better run perfectly parallel to the bike's centerline between "chainring" and sprocket. My bike's chainline is straight to within half a millimeter, simply from a general preference for doing things precisely and correctly, and I can tell you that was a hew-yuge pain to set up. But, if you prefer a roadie's narrow tread (these days in poncey boutique-speak the "Q-factor"), a straight beltline may be impossible.

I therefore prefer a chain with a Hebie Chainglider, which I give a swipe whenever the bike gets wet with a towel kept in my toolbox table. Drying the bike when it gets wet also takes care of cleaning it. Since even the tiniest lanes around here are tarmac, that towel hasn't needed washing since my bike was new nine years ago. (Also, I don't by handing her the towel to wash want to remind my wife that I grabbed a Porthault towel for my bike...) Many posters here like the Chainglider for extending chain life quite a bit, but to me that is secondary (I'm a masher who thinks 4500km from a chain is just wonderful): the main thing is its cleanliness.

I too look forward to reports of your experience with the Gates Drive and the split frame.

Congratulations for taking one for the team here, as I don't think anyone else on the forum has yet taken the plunge on the Gates Drive.

[energyman]

Six of one and half a dozen of the other comes to mind.
Hope Rohloff have approved the mod, I suspect Thorn won't

[bobs]

Rohloff have, not sure about Thorn. Suspect not given a cut into the frame.

[Tiberius]

Hope Rohloff have approved the mod, I suspect Thorn won't

Who cares ??.....Where would we be if we followed EVERY rule/regulation and sought approval on everything we did. This is an exciting little project....doing something a little bit different...I love this stuff..

teifun....Crack on, please keep us informed on progress....

[jags]

i'd cut the belt before i cut the frame 

anto

[Paul S]

Hope Rohloff have approved the mod, I suspect Thorn won't

Who cares

Its a very expensive experiment but fair play to the chap for having a go. 

[Pavel]

Hope Rohloff have approved the mod, I suspect Thorn won't

Who cares ??.....Where would we be if we followed EVERY rule/regulation and sought approval on everything we did. This is an exciting little project....doing something a little bit different...I love this stuff..

teifun....Crack on, please keep us informed on progress....

LOVE that reply.  Reply of the year in my book.  We sure have a lot of conservative bores here. I'm surprised that some have had the nerve to embrace the safety bicycle, in lieu of the penny farthing, seeing that it's not even a two hundred year concept, and you know ... it could fail at some point.

I want a gates drive so badly I can't stand it.  Sick to death of chain rusting, stretching, and making my legs filthy.  Sick of carrying lube. Perhaps always replacing and maintaining chains is some peoples idea of fun, but not mine.  Lets get with the 20th century before the 21'st is out.

If a belt is good enough for my 725 pound harley and it's huge torque, I'm pretty confident that it will serve just fine on my 70 pound fully loaded bicycle, power by my 1/10th horsepower, tired ol' legs.

Keep us in the Loop about progress.  I've already set it up to have my RST sent in for free testing, though my natural laziness has gotten the better of that situation. If the RST isn't rigid enough for the surgery, then there may be a nice red RST for sale and I'll get a frame better suited for civilized travel. 

I've only met three long distance tourists that made the jump. You could tell that they had heard all my concerns a thousand times before, while they patiently explained that the fears are unfounded.  Likely spread by those who have never used the new technology.

[Paul S]

Hope Rohloff have approved the mod, I suspect Thorn won't

Who cares ??.....Where would we be if we followed EVERY rule/regulation and sought approval on everything we did. This is an exciting little project....doing something a little bit different...I love this stuff..
teifun....Crack on, please keep us informed on progress....

LOVE that reply.  Reply of the year in my book.  We sure have a lot of conservative bores here. I'm surprised that some have had the nerve to embrace the safety bicycle, in lieu of the penny farthing, seeing that it's not even a two hundred year concept, and you know ... it could fail at some point.
I want a gates drive so badly I can't stand it.  Sick to death of chain rusting, stretching, and making my legs filthy.  Sick of carrying lube. Perhaps always replacing and maintaining chains is some peoples idea of fun, but not mine.  Lets get with the 20th century before the 21'st is out.
If a belt is good enough for my 725 pound harley and it's huge torque, I'm pretty confident that it will serve just fine on my 70 pound fully loaded bicycle, power by my 1/10th horsepower, tired ol' legs.
Keep us in the Loop about progress.  I've already set it up to have my RST sent in for free testing, though my natural laziness has gotten the better of that situation. If the RST isn't rigid enough for the surgery, then there may be a nice red RST for sale and I'll get a frame better suited for civilized travel. 
I've only met three long distance tourists that made the jump. You could tell that they had heard all my concerns a thousand times before, while they patiently explained that the fears are unfounded.  Likely spread by those who have never used the new technology.

 

Each to their own.