Difference between revisions of "Drive Belt/Damage"

Latest revision as of 06:10, 13 January 2020

Bumps

Belts are most commonly damaged by using the throttle in the moment that a wheel becomes airborne, over a bump at speed, say.

If the wheel spins up momentum in the air, regaining traction on landing will jerk the belt, causing a loss of belt teeth or the belt may snap entirely.

Debris

Gravel, road debris, or sand can damage or snap the belt if caught between the belt and the sprocket.

Sand seems to be the most sure to destroy a belt; gravel has a lower probability given some basic design protections that should scatter gravel out of or away from the sprocket.

Teeth loss tolerance

Missing belt teeth can be tolerated briefly until a replacement can be made by riding at low torques (easy acceleration, not too high sustained speeds).

The front sprocket has up to 28 total teeth, and only half of those can be in contact with the belt at any given moment, so a continuous sequence of stripped belt teeth might continue up to perhaps 12 but any length of missing teeth is riskier as it gets longer.

The teeth and inner surface of the belt can melt into the front sprocket if the sprocket slides where there are not teeth

If the front sprocket slides, the front sprocket will go fast and it will take out additional teeth as the wheel catches up

Eventually you will have to remove material from the front sprocket or replace it. And eventually the belt will break and you will be unable to climb a San Francisco hill (does this sound oddly specific?)

Scraping out the material with metal can damage the sprocket. Avoid it. A hardwood dowel or a polycarbonate rod, sharpened, is better. Acrylic is too weak.