At the price of a new belt, I am not very interested. Even if the belt lasts a long time, still not interested.
I expect that derailleur bikes will continue to be the predominant type of bike out there. Thus, I expect bike shops to stock plenty of chains and no belts unless that shop sells a IGH bike, then they probably would only stock one belt in the right size for that bike.
And a lot of expendable bike parts are sold in hardware stores and discount stores that serve the lower cost bike market, I don't see that as a market for belt drives either.
Will we see more belts on bikes? Yes. But almost all the IGH bikes I see in my community are commuters that want lower maintenance. These probably are the bikes where the belts will gain market share. And I would expect only the larger shops that are set up to work on belt drive bikes with a competent mechanic would stock them.
Even if more Rohloff touring bikes are sold in the future with belts, that is a very small market. I have only seen two Rohloff touring bikes, mine and one other that I saw last spring in a campground. In my part of the world, derailleur touring bikes far outnumber IGH touring bikes. And there are two kinds of bike tourists, those that have the skill to fix anything on their bike and do not mind spending a little quality time to do maintenance, and those that rely on others to do their maintenance. I see this second group that pays others to do their maintenance as the ones that are more likely buyers of a belt driven bike, but it is my observation that this second group is a very small minority.
Those are my thoughts. I am sure that some will disagree but we are all free to have our own opinions.
Everything I have seen on belts is based on longevity by a careful belt user. But I wonder what the experience of the more typical user will be like when they gain market share?
