---
title: "Belt Drive Ride"
url: https://bikefriday.com/belt-drive-ride/
type: post
date: 2013-03-18
modified: 2019-09-12
markdown_url: https://bikefriday.com/belt-drive-ride.md
author: "BF Admin"
---

# Belt Drive Ride

 Like so many individuals, my New Year's Resolution focused on my belt.

Some folks figure a New Year is a good time to start losing some of the weight around their waist, while others look to save money. You can call those various attempts at Tightening a Belt.

My Belt didn't need tightening. Or greasing, for that matter.

I dedicated the start of 2013 to the Gates Carbon Belt Drive system.

OK, so I didn't exactly plan it that way. But with the launching of our **[Bike Friday Silk](http://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/silk)**, and its attention to the Gates Carbon Belt system, I didn't have much choice.

My job is to get photos, write copy, write blogs, etc. That means it's my JOB to get out on the Silk.

I did that big time in January. Commuted exclusively on Gates Belt Drive.

I can say that because when I wasn't stealing a Silk out of the showroom hoping to find that perfect photo for our upcoming catalog, I snatched up a **Carbon Drive *tikit*** when no one was looking. Belt Drive all the way.

Aside from my instant love of Belt Drive, I focused on digging deeper.

In essence, the question is WHY?

Why is this a profoundly different feel?

I harken back to my baptism in [the way of the Fixed Gear](http://www.bikefriday.com/blog/?p=68). Something about the Gates Carbon Belt that connects one to the bike, much like the sensation I feel on a fixed gear.

While some folks raise their eyebrows when I mention such talk, I think back to the New York Bike Expo last year.

Back when our only Gates Carbon Belt offering was the *tikit*, a tried and true NYC Bike Messenger hopped on one for a test ride.

She came back with a smile. I asked what she thought of the ride.

"Intimate," she said, pausing while her partner nodded in agreement. "I've never felt intimate on a bicycle before. But that felt intimate."

If you haven't given a Gates Belt Drive a spin, do so.  And tell us what you think.