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Comment by owenversteeg | Hacker News Reader

I live in the Netherlands and have traveled Europe very extensively and I have never seen one single belt driven bike... I have a feeling that it'll be a long time before Europe widely adopts them :)

Does look very cool, though.

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+1. I've owned one in Europe for 11 years, and during that time never met anyone else who had one and very rarely even anyone who had heard of them.

But a Rohloff + a carbon fibre belt is an absolutely dreamy combination for anybody who prioritizies reliability. I'd buy a new one in a heartbeat if my current bike got stolen.

I’m Dutch and have a belt drive on my e-bike. They are mostly used on high-end (read: expensive) bikes.

Great system though, completely silent.

Oh, but you can see those from time to time Belgium. Largely adopted? No, not at all.

Cube has one https://www.cube.eu/en/2020/bikes/urban/hyde/cube-hyde-pro-b... , I bought the 2018 model it's really nice and convenient to drive. Going back to traditional chain once you drove one of these may be similar to automatic vs manual gear shift in a car, why would you? Note: I'm a casual cyclist.

Nicolai make some nice ones

Nice one, thank you. Love the 2021 models colours.

I've seen quite a few of those here in Toronto. One owner I've spoken to actually said that it has noticeably higher friction. I did not try those bikes myself so can not really confirm/deny.

It has higher friction at low speeds, but has better power transfer than a chain once up to speed.

"Largely adopted" also avid cyclist both in the city and in the countryside, and I don't recall seeing one of these ever

I've seen many, but only in shops. On the road they just don't look that much different, they are the kind of bicycle that doesn't draw any attention and you surely won't see any parked because they are way out of street parking price range anyways (particularly in the Netherlands were most bikes don't even cost as much as the belt itself because returning home on foot isn't much fun)

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