Belt drive vs chain drive

ESK8 Mechanics
21

100g more or less In my oppinion it doesnt matter much to almost anyone

22

Except that belts could be a bit safer because of the belt slippage in some scenarios than chains

23

Iā€™m using chain because my board is half assed and I couldnā€™t get belt pulleys to line up, but the chain and sprockets allows a lot of play and wiggle room

24

Yeah the noise kills it for me. So far I have logged nearly 1000 miles without breaking a belt on our idler drive with loose belts so for me there isnā€™t to much of a draw to switch to chains. Changing pulleys is actually easier on pulley drive and you do not need to check the tension constantly if you are using the loose idler technique we have implemented in our design. The trick is taking up just enough slack so you donā€™t pop the belt teeth during hard braking, no more no less.

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25

Stoked with chain drive from @okp. My main priority was to eliminate belt slip both heavy acceleration and of course and not least under braking. Yes itā€™s noisy. But the noise seems to drop a lot after they wear in a little (30-50km). The stainless chain and sprocket provided by Unik look fantastic and should actually work harden over time. As for getting your hands dirtyā€¦? Just drip or spray the lube on. No need to touch it with your precious manicured soft hands. Icky! Anyway they are confidence inspiring. At 110kg and with little mechanical sympathy these are great. Full throttle low speed steep incline hard pack dirt all my weight pulling all the amps and turning it into wheel spin not belt slipā€¦ Bliss. 25% decline wheels locked up and tyres skidding yep reaching the limit of traction not limited by the drive train. Finally. So many thanks to okp working perfectly.

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26

thanks mate ! Iā€™m proud that your are enjoying it ! On my side, I tried the chain drive but it does not fit my riding style (Iā€™m 72kg, and ride in urban/dirt) where I need very limited noise and lightweight so I quickly came back to the belts.

Iā€™m going to produce some even lighter models soon, probably early march and will send you two free of charge for testing and feedback !

4 Likes
27

Thanks that would be great. I will use it in the next one for sure.

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