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Hey All!

Given the burgeoning interest in eBikes and electrification of "manual" bikes, now seems a good time to collect past posts into one repostory and create a place for new posts on a dedicated board.

Accordingly, I've created this as a "Child Board" under the Technical > Transmission category, similar to the Child Board on Belt Drive.

This is going to be a task, so please bear with me while I sieve through old topics and posts to populate this new board. I'll move the dedicated topics first as I find them and you can feel free to start new topics as you wish while I work on this. After awhile, I'll go back and delete the redirect notices for moved posts so the post structure looks nice and tidy again.

Some relevant posts are tagged onto other topics, so to preserve Board structure, I'll leave them be. To find them, use the Forum's search function. The following terms are most likely to bear fruit...

Bafang
Bosch
Coulomb
Controller
Display
eBike
e-Bike
Electric
Motor
Pendix
Sensor
Watts

Best, Dan.

Danneaux, Thorn Cycles Forum Administrator
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Belt Drive / Re: New "Child Board" for Belt-drive related topics
« Last post by Tiberius on Today at 04:33:35 PM »
Thank you - Very much appreciated.
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Belt Drive / Re: New "Child Board" for Belt-drive related topics
« Last post by Danneaux on Today at 01:25:29 PM »
Appreciated, Andy; thanks!

Best, Dan.
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Belt Drive / Re: New "Child Board" for Belt-drive related topics
« Last post by Andyb1 on Today at 09:02:33 AM »
Thanks Dan, great work. 👍
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Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by Andyb1 on Today at 09:00:57 AM »
How long do the sprockets last on belt drive systems?
Do you change them at every belt change, every second belt change….or never?
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Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by Tiberius on Today at 08:17:13 AM »
I just watched a youtube video.  And at the end of it, it of course displays some other video suggestions which I usually ignore.  But the title of this one intrigued me, so I started to watch it, and watched the whole thing. 

Short summary is that belts are great for commuters, but a spare belt that is not stored and handled properly can fail when you are in the worst place for a failure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx5nN3kyx5k

Re carrying/storing a spare belt - Gates say.....https://youtu.be/VgM-qeHGK_4?si=juJL4eavETswXT8s

Once you've done that a couple of times, you can do it in your sleep. Mine lives in a plastic container tucked away in a frame bag. It weighs nothing and it's out of harm's way.

I've only covered roughly 6,000 Km on my belt drive bike but so far I'm inclined to agree with 'WorldTourer' I don't do anything special to clean or tension the belt. I live on the coast and the bike gets absolutely blathered in mud, sand and sea water. The belt doesn't squeak, creak, slip or do anything out of the ordinary. The truth is that, apart from removing the rear wheel to fix the odd puncture, I haven't touched the belt. The bike gets washed down and that's it - I have yet to mess with the tension of the belt. I did have a play with the Gates belt tension app when I first got the bike, but I (rightly or wrongly) soon dismissed it as unreliable. When I re-fit a wheel I simply give the belt a 'twang' and off I go. No mess, no drama, it's all so simple.

In my case I believe that I overthought belt drives - far too much 'what if' went through my mind. I'm very much old school and I thought that I wouldn't be able to leave the belt transmission alone, but I was wrong. It works, I don't notice it, I just leave it alone. I do carry a spare belt but I don't expect to fit it for a long long time.

I bought this (Pinion) bike as I wanted a bike that was as maintenance free as possible, and that is what I've got If my 'fit and forget' situation changes I will pop back and let you know.
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Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by WorldTourer on Today at 01:20:22 AM »
And belts need to be kept clean to ensure optimum performance.

Few long-haul riders on belts are making much effort to keep their belts clean. If there is noise or if the belt visibly looks filthy, then you pour some water over it or (maybe) scrub it with an old toothbrush. Otherwise, you just ride it as it is and less than optimum performance isn’t something noticed. Winter riding would obviously be a special case.
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Belt Drive / Re: Belt drive article from Thorn Blog
« Last post by JohnR on February 24, 2026, 05:30:11 PM »
A big minus of the belt drive system is the cost of changing the overall gearing ratio which needs replacement of two of the three drivetrain components.

And belts need to be kept clean to ensure optimum performance. I had a belt drive bike some years ago and rode it through a winter. I spent a lot of time trying, unsuccessfully, to identify the source of creaks. When spring arrived I gave the bike, including the belt, a good clean. The creaks disappeared.
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General Technical / Sherpa dimensions?
« Last post by steveparry on February 24, 2026, 03:12:32 PM »
I have a Sherpa Mark 1 - I think see photos in the For sale section. I know it's a 535L. Does that signify the frame dimension ie one of the tubes is 535mm long? Also does anyone have a link to an old catalogue that describes this bike? I guess the mark 1 was made around 2005 - 2010? Thanks.
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Bikes For Sale / Re: Sherpa Wanted
« Last post by steveparry on February 24, 2026, 02:37:31 PM »
See my ad just reposted above.
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