2013 Genesis Fortitude Singlespeed

[rigidftw]

... but I built a new frame for it then went singlespeed

Got any photos of that? How did you make the frame?

 

[klunkrider]

These must have been from before I built a fork to go with it.


The frame actually used the front triangle of a frame I'd built a couple years earlier. Originally it'd been a fixed wheel gravel bike so was 120mm spaced, no provision for a rear brake. I just chopped the rear end off a and built it a new one.

Original build and during the modification.

 

[rigidftw]

Nicely done!
Very impressive.

I‘d like to ask for how long you used the belt drive, but since the hub died a premature death it probably was not more than a chain would have lasted, right?

 

[klunkrider]

Nicely done!
Very impressive.

I‘d like to ask for how long you used the belt drive, but since the hub died a premature death it probably was not more than a chain would have lasted, right?

Yeah I didn’t use it all that long. I think the original Cube lasted around 9 months then I built the replacement frame and had only for around the same time and then shifted it along.

Fwiw I liked the belt, a lot.

I think the reason I decided to go back to a chain was just the expense of parts. I’m a perpetual tinkerer and changing a pulley is easily 10x the cost of changing a cog or chainring, especially those 3 lobe hub gear sprockets, they are buttons. Changing a belt is a similar story but of course with a chain you could just add/remove a link or two and not need a whole new one.

 

[rigidftw]

Yeah I didn’t use it all that long. I think the original Cube lasted around 9 months then I built the replacement frame and had only for around the same time and then shifted it along.

Fwiw I liked the belt, a lot.

I think the reason I decided to go back to a chain was just the expense of parts. I’m a perpetual tinkerer and changing a pulley is easily 10x the cost of changing a cog or chainring, especially those 3 lobe hub gear sprockets, they are buttons. Changing a belt is a similar story but of course with a chain you could just add/remove a link or two and not need a whole new one.

I can relate.

The black framed bike could have been my forever-bike and it was flawless. But I did not ride it at all that much, as it wasn't that practical and I kept tinkering with my other bikes.
Now with the green frame I can ride it every day. And I don't need to worry about a rusty chain this winter. The salt on the streets last winter was way more aggressive than the years before.

As for the premature death of your hub: Did you make an effort to orientate the pulleys concentrically to the axles? There's that trick how fixed-gear riders make sure the chain tension is even by putting load on the cranks and tightening the chainring bolts one after the other.
This is more or less just a way to clock the chainring to try to make sure the chainring runs concentrically to the BB. I did this with both the front and rear pulley and the belt tension seems to be fairly even.