Booda Bike belt-drive winterbike

[IVS]

BOODA BIKE belt-drive gravelbike
Current weight: 12.0 kg

Frameset: Booda Bike GH frameset – L

Seat: SQlab 612 Ergowave R 14cm – 165 g
Seatpost: Elita One 27.2 zero-offset – 132 g
Bar: Pro Discover 12° flare 40 cm
Bartape: Pro Sport Control

Groupset: Ultegra Di2 8070 shifters + brakes combined with MU-UR510 motor-unit and Alfine Di2 SG-S7051-11 gearhub
Discs: MT-RT800 160mm front + rear
Drivetrain: Gatex CDX s550 crankset + 42T front sprocket + 22T rear sprocket
Wheels: Possible aluminium 32 19mm inner width rims with Alfine hub rear and Shutter Precision PL 7 dynamo front hub
Tires: Schwalbe G-One Speed 35mm tubeless + Effetto Mariposa Caffelatex
Lighting: Supernova E3 Pure 3 headlight + taillight
Mudguards: Possible aluminium mudguards

Let me share the story of my belt-drive gravelbike that I use as my daily commuter. This is far from a weight weenie build, as the weight above gives away. However, as I could not find much information on such a setup online myself I think it is nice to document. I live in the Netherlands and do a 25km one-way commute 3-5 times a week. As you are likely aware, the Netherlands sees regular rain. I used my old gravelbike as bad-weather commuter, but was looking for something that needs less maintenance. It is not that so much maintenance was needed, but as I live in an apartment and store my bike in a separate storage room on the ground floor I was looking for a bike that I can store there when I get home and get out again when I leave in the morning, without needing to clean the chain, lube the chain, or clean the salty road debris from the chain. Therefore, my goal was to build-up a belt-drive internal gear hub drop-bar bike, preferably also with hydraulic disc brakes.

This combination is pretty rare. A Rohloff hub would work, but is overkill for my purpose. An Alfine hub seemed enough for me, but a regular Alfine hub and drop-bar hydraulic shifters is a no. Therefore, I decided to go on the Di2 tour. The nice thing of Di2 is that the hub can be combined with regular Ultegra Di2 shifters and hydraulic brakes. As in winter my commuting is in the dark, I also went for a dynamo hub and lighting. The frameset I chose is from a small Hungarian manufacturer, called Booda Bikes. It is a steel frameset, with internal cablerouting of the brake, dynamo and shift cables through the entire triangle and therefore easy to convert to Di2. I like the eccentric bottom bracket, as it gives a clean look and makes unforeseen roadside repairs of the rear tire easy, as the belt tension does not have to be adjusted.

I have only done some short rides (in snowy and slippery Netherlands), but my first experiences are positive. The belt is nice and quiet, the Alfine hub shifts smoothly. Cannot comment on the durability of the belt yet, but looking forward to further use.

[spokenwords]

This is great. A well done, purpose built tool, for a specific need. Wish I, and most everyone else, had one tbh.
Please update when you have any feedback on the belt drive. Used to see them here and there 10 to 15 years ago but not so much now.

[Slagter]

This is so clever made. And I understand completely the need for a non-maintenance bad weather bike. I love how you combined dropbar with belt, discs and internal gears. This is the way to do it.

I have thought of a similar project, since I need a bike to do training on those winterdays, where it comes down hard, and I need to do a quick 90-100 min. workout. I would mount some watt pedals, and do som quick intervals on it before getting too cold from the rain. I refuse to ride indoors. This would be a bike, that is made for the most rainy days and still wouldn't call for any maintenance.

May I ask how much you paid for the whole bike?

[IVS]

Cheers, thanks. I kept the cost down slightly by buying used parts where possible. Total costs were roughly 3000 euros.

[Slagter]

Cheers, thanks. I kept the cost down slightly by buying used parts where possible. Total costs were roughly 3000 euros.

That is not cheap. But definitely worth it. Good luck with it.

[jesper2913]

BOODA BIKE belt-drive gravelbike

Interesting project. How does it work with electronic shifting on internal gears? Do you shift while pedaling (like with external gears)? Or do you have to stop pedaling, shift, and start pedaling again?

And what about friction loss? Is there a bigger amount of friction loss with internal gears vs. external gears?

I guess what I am aiming at is, would this bike be competitive among regular bikes with external gears? Or would you be restricted by the system?

[Nixster]

In general internal/planetary gears will shift smoother and more reliably than a derailleur, which is a pretty dubious solution from an engineering point of view but is considerably lighter.
Planetary systems do have higher friction losses but frankly with a belt drive that ship is way over the horizon already.

[fatpinarellorider]

Love the belt drive, perhaps it is the future. In theory.

In practice though, I looked up that hub, 1665gram weight for the hub alone!

[IVS]

BOODA BIKE belt-drive gravelbike

Interesting project. How does it work with electronic shifting on internal gears? Do you shift while pedaling (like with external gears)? Or do you have to stop pedaling, shift, and start pedaling again?

And what about friction loss? Is there a bigger amount of friction loss with internal gears vs. external gears?

I guess what I am aiming at is, would this bike be competitive among regular bikes with external gears? Or would you be restricted by the system?

Sorry for the delayed response. I have been out of the country for a while.

In my experience, that now lasts a little over 1000 km, shifting is slightly different compared to external gear. I don't shift under strong pedalling load. I let the crankarms 'roll' when shifting, but decrease the force transmission. Shifting under high load is not recommended with these internal gears. I also notice that some shifts are super smooth and quick, but others are a bit more clunky. Especially shifting into gear 7 can be a bit clunky, as there is a rolling clutch involved in this shift. Overall, however, the shifting is super easy and I got used to it very quickly.

Regarding friction losses I am quite sure that tests revealed that there are more losses with such a system than with external gears. Also the belt is not as efficient as a chain. I wouldn't race such a setup. Not only because of friction losses, but also the higher weight and the slightly more hassle to remove the rear wheel if needed. However, for my use as commuter-deluxe I think this bike is amazing. I really enjoy riding it. The silence and easy-of-use in the rainy Dutch spring is great.

[usr]

Lovely! Would be amazing if some company with expertise in low margin direct to customer would offer a build like that. There are plenty of options in the market, but they are all deep in the "boutique" segment. A bike that's decidedly neither built for crossing the Andes (but gets repurposed for the commute) nor built for people who usually don't ride bikes (but who want something that looks a bit drop-bar-y). Planetx London Road, but with an even cleaner focus.

If I was the product manager of that hypothetical thing, I'd consider breaking market conventions by provocatively offering the bike at one price point only.