Belt-driven bicycle

A belt-driven bicycle is a chainless bicycle that uses a toothed synchronous belt to transmit power from the pedals to the wheel. The belts are typically made by the same manufacturing companies that produce timing belts for automobiles, machinery, and other synchronous belt-drive applications.

The application of belt drives to bicycles is growing, especially in the commuter bicycle market, due to the low maintenance and lubrication-free benefits. Belt drives are also available for stationary and fitness bicycles.

A belt drive for a bicycle was patented in the United States on April 8, 1890 by Charles D. Rice, Patent # 425,390. No evidence has been found that it was ever used, but some motorcycles used leather belts in the early 1900s. The Bridgestone Picnica belt-drive bicycle was introduced in the early 1980s. It used a tooth-belt drive like auto timing belts and Harley-Davidson drive belts, along with a novel two-part chainring that increased belt tension with increasing load. The Picnica was a folding bicycle, and part of the appeal of the belt drive was cleanliness. The Picnica was a small-wheel bicycle, so belt tension may have been less than on a bicycle with standard-size wheels. It was apparently successful, but was offered mainly in Japan.

Bridgestone offered belt-drive bicycles in the USA until they left the market about 1994. Since their innovation, they have continuously offered belt-drive bicycles in Japan including their best-selling Albelt model.

In 1984 and 1985, Mark Sanders, a designer who had earned his degree in mechanical engineering from Imperial College, London, designed a folding bicycle as part of his graduate studies in an Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) program. The program was run jointly by Imperial College and the Royal College of Art in London. He collaborated with a design engineer from Gates Corporation to outfit his bicycle with a belt, rather than a chain.

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