Hello everybody!

I have been bike commuting for many years, and since I’m getting older, I’m getting sick of lubing my chain, adjusting my derailleur etc, so I’m seriously thinking about getting a bike with a belt drive and a gear hub.

i want zero maintenance.

The problem is that there are not many bikes like this sold at a reasonable price.

So here is what I found:

Alternative solutions:

  • Veer drive conversion kit

    • price: 540€, but I need to add at least a shimano hub (200 €) and someone to mount everything!

  • a bike with internal gear hub and a proper chain guard (thanks to @AchtungDrempels@lemmy.world)

    • since the chain guard protects the chain from rain and dirt, the lube should last much longer

If you know other companies and models that sell belt drive bikes below 2000 $/€ let me know, I will add them to this list. Bonus point if they are available in Europe!

Thank you!

  • Thorry84@feddit.nl
    4·
    6 months ago

    I’ve been using a Gazelle Cityzen C8 (non e-bike version) since 2018, it has a belt drive, hydraulic disc brakes and completely enclosed gears. Except for cleaning and topping up / replacing the tyres it has 0 maintenance. I’m not sure of Gazelles current line-up, like a lot of brands they’ve gone pretty heavily in the e-bike direction, but I’m sure they still have some good belt models. I chose the Cityzen C8 because it lacks any kind of suspension, my previous bike had suspension beneath the seat and in the front and I hated it. It gave me a disconnected and unstable feeling, I like to feel what the tyres are doing.

    I bought mine on the internet, but Gazelle is well available in shops in Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France and according to their site many other countries although I’ve only ever seen them in the countries I mentioned. I paid around 1000 euro, but these days that probably translates to around 1500 given inflation. Looking at their site they still have a good lineup for around 1200-1500 euro.

    • lgspOP
      1·
      5 months ago

      Ok great! The Italian website only shows ebikes, but the Netherlander one actually have belt drives one, and this one is still 1099, which is pretty great. Plus the company is well know and for sure not low quality 🙂

      https://www.gazelle.nl/esprit-belt

      • Thorry84@feddit.nl
        2·
        6 months ago

        Yeah it’s a very good brand for sure.

        The Esprit is kind of a budget model, something like the Chamonix S8 is probably more in line of what my old bike used to be. It’s around 1400 euro which is a bit more expensive and it also has suspension for some reason.

        Maybe there’s a dealer near you where you can try out some of these bikes. But if you live in Italy it may be kinda hard.

        • lgspOP
          2·
          5 months ago

          The Esprit is kind of a budget model

          I looked at the specifications and it looks very good to me: nexus 7 speed hub, aluminum frame, disc brakes… Ok I have to admit tha I’m used to much lower level coponents 😁

          • Thorry84@feddit.nl
            2·
            6 months ago

            True, within their line-up it’s lower end, but it’s still pretty high end stuff. Probably a fine bike for thousands of miles without issues.