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Denver firm transforming bicycles with belts |
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Monday, November 14, 2011 06:16 |
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Photo by Hyoung Chang, The Denver Post
By JASON BLEVINS, THE DENVER POST
The Denver-based Gates Corp.'s innovative belts changed car engines decades ago. Today, the century-old company's carbon-fiber belts are transforming bikes.
Like disc brakes and full suspension—technology that revolutionized biking—Gates' 3-year-old Carbon Drive belt system could eliminate the venerable bicycle chain.
"This is equally as game-changing," says Gates business development manager Frank Scurlock as he rolls out a bike sporting the unique belt system.
Gates is hoping its carbon-fiber belt system will similarly recast bike anatomy. And for a company that bills itself as "the world's most trusted name in belts, hose and hydraulics," the bike belt can reintroduce consumers to an industrial brand that has spent several decades tucking its inventive designs deep inside factories and engines.
The advantages of the Carbon Drive system—which costs about $200 more than a traditional chain setup—are similar to the benefits of belts in car engines: near-instant engagement versus the subtle lag of a chain, hassle-free, longer life span, much lighter than a chain and virtually silent operation.
More and more bike makers—68 brands with 150 models by next year—are joining Gates in the quiet, chainless revolution.
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