Belt Assessment - Initial Impression

I've pedaled a whopping 103 miles since completing the belt conversion.  After such a short period, opinion beyond an initial assessment would be disingenuous at best, but I am already loving me some Gates Carbon Drive belt drive.  Glass smooth, graveyard quite, and Clorox clean. It looks awesome too, for those who value aesthetics.  Of course, once the shine wears off a bit, will it remain as smooth and as quiet and as pretty?  Also, will it prove itself as durable and low maintenance as claimed?  Time will tell and I will revisit my assessment at various times, hopefully after 1,000+ miles and again several thousand miles after that.

For now, my pant legs love me again, as do my chainstays, cranks and everything else subjected to the chain lube gunk-zone.  That beautiful Pumpkin Orange color shines again after removing all that black splatter, and hopefully will remain so ... given my intense dislike for cleaning.  My pre-ride activities now include a push on the belt, similar to squeezing the tires.

As for ride quality, there's little to no difference except the chain made some noise before it was removed (needed lubing badly).  In general, I was pretty happy with the chain, sans the maintenance and gunk, so no discernible difference is a good thing.  The 50/20 gear ratio is slightly higher than the 38/16 it replaced, but even that isn't readily noticeable.  We're talking only a few gear inch difference in most gears.  It added about one gear inch at the lowest gear and about five on the top end.  The range now stands at 18.8 to 99.0.

It's easy to imagine extra tension from the belt wearing out the bottom bracket bearings faster.  How much faster, if at all?  I won't be able to tell as I don't have a baseline reference.  The original Shimano BB-93 still performs as new.  When it does finally decide to call it quits, I won't know how much the chain or the belt contributed to its demise.  I purposely bought another BB-93 for when a change comes due.  I could then compare its life to the current one and extrapolate an answer, but that will be two bottom bracket failures away.

The very day after completing the belt conversion, I got a bit of confirmation on my Rohloff/belt decision. While leaving work, I intersected with another cyclist who decided to kick it in the ass up a gentle incline right in front of me.  I watched him as he stood up on the pedals ... then, CRUNCH.  His chain had jumped teeth so badly the chain came off and wedged in his cranks.  After witnessing his impression of a Chinese acrobat in fast forward, I mentally kissed my Rohloff and shiny new Gates belt ... then stopped to assist.   Actual photo ...