Veer belt drive.

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lune ranger
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Veer belt drive.

Post by lune ranger »

I’ve long wanted to convert my Rohloff to belt drive. The pandemic and the wonderful chance to work almost continuous 12hour shifts since Christmas has bumped up my funds so I’m going to go for it.
My original thought was to get a seat stay splitter fitted +/- a paint job and then run with a Gates belt and cogs.
Looking into I saw this:

https://www.veercycle.com/

It’s a splittable belt drive system that would go away with the expensive job of altering my frame.
Looks ideal but it’s not as tested as Gates as far as I can tell. Cog choice is also limited, I won’t be able to run as small a get as I presently do - I’d probably miss the crawler gear for climbing.
Has anyone used one? Or does anyone a bit more engineering minded have any wild assumptions to make about the system. Is a split then riveted timing belt a sub standard idea in general?
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Richpips
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by Richpips »

Worth noting is that for Gates to approve a split stay they need to be pretty rigid otherwise there are belt issues.
lune ranger
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by lune ranger »

Yeah, noted. It’ll be on Fargo, I’ll take the risk. Gates don’t need to know it’s an old Fargo. It’s not exactly a light flexible frame. A snubber is recommended for Rohloff anyway.
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stevenshand
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by stevenshand »

lune ranger wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:06 am I’ve long wanted to convert my Rohloff to belt drive. The pandemic and the wonderful chance to work almost continuous 12hour shifts since Christmas has bumped up my funds so I’m going to go for it.
My original thought was to get a seat stay splitter fitted +/- a paint job and then run with a Gates belt and cogs.
Looking into I saw this:

https://www.veercycle.com/

It’s a splittable belt drive system that would go away with the expensive job of altering my frame.
Looks ideal but it’s not as tested as Gates as far as I can tell. Cog choice is also limited, I won’t be able to run as small a get as I presently do - I’d probably miss the crawler gear for climbing.
Has anyone used one? Or does anyone a bit more engineering minded have any wild assumptions to make about the system. Is a split then riveted timing belt a sub standard idea in general?
I've used one. Not for any length of time mind you but I was not impressed. I was underwhelmed by the quality of the materials and the finish. This may or may not have impacted the life/performance of the belt, I don't know.

I didn't like the fact that once the belt was on, that was it, it couldn't be split again so any chance of switching ratios was gone. You say you'll miss the crawler gear? When I looked, the only option was a 30T which meant a stupid big chainring to get sensible gearing. Has that changed now?
Richpips wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 12:25 am Worth noting is that for Gates to approve a split stay they need to be pretty rigid otherwise there are belt issues.


Just to note that it was never Gates that wanted to approve frame designs, it was Rohloff (if using a belt).
lune ranger
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by lune ranger »

Thanks Stephen.
They only do the equivalent of 40t/19t chainring/sprocket so the smallest gear would be larger than I want, running 36t/19t at the moment and sometimes wish for lower.
One major concern is like you pointed out - once it’s fitted it has to stay put and I guess the belt would be vulnerable to damage with the wheel dismounted and the belt hanging during transport etc,
Rohloff are more than a bit conservative when it comes to risk aren’t they? I imagine the Fargo would be stiff enough for the purpose - my power output hasn’t bent any frames in the past - I’m not exactly Chris Hoy from a standing start :lol:
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jameso
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by jameso »

Just to note that it was never Gates that wanted to approve frame designs, it was Rohloff (if using a belt).
That's interesting, as in the alignment and stiffness is more about the hub than the needs of the belt? Currently working through frame alignment for a belt and struggling with how fractions of a degree on a frame align looks alongside adjustable dropouts that can be set further off from the BB or the centre line than that (I know.. the answer should be "EBB"...)
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stevenshand
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by stevenshand »

jameso wrote: Sat Jan 30, 2021 2:37 pm
Just to note that it was never Gates that wanted to approve frame designs, it was Rohloff (if using a belt).
That's interesting, as in the alignment and stiffness is more about the hub than the needs of the belt?
Yeah, I maybe worded that wrong. Rohloff were (are?) just really precious about the system as a whole. They'd seen people retrofit the system (Rohloff/Gates) onto bikes that were never really designed for it and witnessed a fair amount of negativity. This reflected poorly on Rohloff and they wanted to make sure anyone using the hub and belt as a system were going about it in the correct manner. Anyone was able to buy the Gates parts (chainring and belt) but the rear Rohloff sprocket was only available to those that passed the test. The test was created by managed by Gates but (AFAIK) no one else used it as a qualifier to buy parts. There was never any suggestion that using a belt impacted the hub in an adverse way other than the usual issues around running too low a gear.

The test was actually a really useful tool. As we know, the chainline/beltline is crucial when using the Gates system and while it's relatively easy to get a chainline that's accurate when static, its what happens to the rear end when the rider's out of the saddle pedalling a fully loaded tourer up a mountain that causes the issue. All of a sudden, your millimetre perfect chainline is 5mm out and the belt wants to climb off the chainring. As well as rear end deflection, the test also covers adequate belt tensioning and wheel removal procedures.
Fat tyre kicker
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by Fat tyre kicker »

Lune ranger, it may be also worth waiting for MrClimber to comment on
This thread, he ran a gates system a few years ago and took it off as he
Had a few problems with it......
jameso
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Re: Veer belt drive.

Post by jameso »

Thanks Steven, interesting. No experience with Rohloff as OE kit personally.
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