ECVT/MGU: The Great Belt vs. Chain Debate

[slickrock]

Starting a separate thread on the chain vs. belt debate, as the topic has been cropping up a lot on other threads now.

Now that ECVT's have have been the talk of the town and we are clearly starting to envision a future without derailleurs, a significant Y in the trail is to embrace the new ebikes with either belt drivetrains or chain drivetrains. Before MGUs and ECVTs the choice was like the Ford Motor company slogan "you can choose any color you want so long as it's black"; no choice - it has to be a chain.

This choice between belt vs. chain has always existed, but stake were a limited market in which this choice has up till recently been quite small or has simply not applied to our EMTB space: bikes with IGH hubs (e.g. city bikes), downhill gearbox MTBs, esoteric bikes (e.g. Cavalerie), and those few Pinion MGU converts happily riding their new breed of EMTBs.

But now we must chose as the derailleur-less EMTB market will soon explode . We must influence the product managers as to what system we prefer or think what we prefer. Let the debate begin.

Edit: Areas of discussion:

• Aesthetics
• Exclusivity
• Reliability
• Maintenance
• Efficiency
• Noise
• Weight
• Performance
• Implications for bike rear suspension design
• Chain tensioner consequences
• Cost
• Choice driven by Locales/Weather/Terrain

 

[DylanJM]

Chain all the way for me. With a chain driven ECVT you will still save a decent amount of maintenance over a conventional drive train. Cleaning and re lubing essentially a single speed chain drive will be very little hassle.

 

[slickrock]

Chain all the way for me. With a chain driven ECVT you will still save a decent amount of maintenance over a conventional drive train. Cleaning and re lubing essentially a single speed chain drive will be very little hassle.

In a way, chains have been getting a bad rap because of what they have evolved into: thin, finicky, and fragile versions of their prior selves. Namely, because the industry has pushed rear cassettes to 12 cogs to take on what a front chainring used to do - provide the extra gear steps and range for MTB riders. Already this is overkill for EMTB. A good, old-fashion, single-speed chain, is really all that is needed for MGU/ECVT will be more durable and reliable like the Schwinn chains of yesteryear, except with a tensioner.

 

[Onetime]

I’ll take the belt. Reese Wilson and several others have proven them to be durable enough on the World Cup DH series for the last few years.

 

[irie]

But now we must chose as the derailleur-less EMTB market will soon explode .

Loving opinion stated as fact.

 

[Brawwp]

I’m on the mgu train, but for sure gonna wait for the issues to show when they first drop and the hype dies a little. I think time will just tell which is better. I’m not one to freak out if my bike breaks and I can’t ride a week or two.

So imo I’ll just go with whatever bike is attached that I think is better (hopefully crestline). I also trust troydon would make the right call on what is best on his frame. We know belts have had failures and so have chains. Unless we find belts to be failing at a much greater rate when they drop then I’m fine with it.

 

[slickrock]

Loving opinion stated as fact.

To be facts, they must have already occurred. Rather, this is prediction with high precision (based on my Bayesian model, which of course could be wrong). Also, what I meant by "explode" is reference to where it is now, at probably less than 0.2% of all EMTBs out there.

I’m on the mgu train, but for sure gonna wait for the issues to show when they first drop and the hype dies a little. I think time will just tell which is better. I’m not one to freak out if my bike breaks and I can’t ride a week or two.

So imo I’ll just go with whatever bike is attached that I think is better (hopefully crestline). I also trust troydon would make the right call on what is best on his frame. We know belts have had failures and so have chains. Unless we find belts to be failing at a much greater rate when they drop then I’m fine with it.

Agreed, that the bike design has a much bigger influence on chain vs. belt debate. It's doubtful that a bike brand would offer an option to choose belt or chain for a particular model of bike, like in an Orbea bike configurator. Either the bike design will force this decision or the other way around. Bike companies and their designers will probably take sides on this debate, and that could factor into the choice more than anything.

 

[irie]

To be facts, they must have already occurred. Rather, this is prediction with high precision (based on my Bayesian model, which of course could be wrong). Also, what I meant by "explode" is reference to where it is now, at probably less than 0.2% of all EMTBs out there.

Agreed, that the bike design has a much bigger influence on chain vs. belt debate. It's doubtful that a bike brand would offer an option to choose belt or chain for a particular model of bike, like in an Orbea bike configurator. Either the bike design will force this decision or the other way around. Bike companies and their designers will probably take sides on this debat, and that could factor into the choice more than anything.

Impressive prescience.