Nov 26th — the earliest I’ve ever put winter tires on my bike, by almost a month. This is my first winter with disc brakes and a belt driven internal hub. This bike started as a maintenance nightmare, but I’ve got my hopes up that I’ve worked all the kinks out.
http://www.scott-sports.com/global/en/products/227828009/bike-sub-10-xl/
Huh. Winter tires. Would probably be nice here in Boston. I bike to work year round.
How’s the belt drive? After last winter I went to disc and hub, but not a belt.
Mike Pomraning – the first belt was crap, but after upgrades I love it. But ask me again in the spring!
The long version:
The bike came with a belt that was friction-aligned (Gates CDC) with a flimsy cog. I cracked the cog and the belt kept slipping off. Unrelated, I also broke an internal gear in the hub. Rather than just replace the cog (the hub was warrantied), I upgraded the whole drivetrain to use the CDX belt which has a center track to keep it aligned. CDX also has a much sturdier cog. I went for a larger chainring to improve my gear ratio, and that made a huge difference in my enjoyment of the bike. So far so good. The belt is very quiet and seems just as stiff as a normal chain.
If Scott shipped this bike with the CDX in the first place, I’d be recommending it enthusiastically to everyone. But as is, it’s overpriced and underspecced. I wish belts were more popular so the prices would come down, but I hear that Trek is backing out of the belt-drive market so it may get worse instead.