Recommendations for Belt-Drive Commuter Bike

[pfunkallstar]

I’ve been scrapping together my pennies for a while now and would like to cash in that forty-pound jug of change for a sweet belt-drive commuter. Does anyone have any recommendations for a moderately-priced belt-drive? I’m thinking in the ~$1,000 range…

It can be pretty vanilla – I’ll put on the leopard-print bar tape later.

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[jrenaut]

Do you know Dave? @darsal on Twitter, he’s not on the forum much these days. He has a pretty sweet belt drive. Not sure about cost. I think it’s a Spot?

[chris_s]

The Novara Arkham is a 3-speed belt drive commuter from REI. Comes with fenders and rack, even.

Somebody on the forum has a Gotham (the next step up) and was quite pleased with it last I saw.

[Sunyata]

I have a Raleigh Misceo 4.0 that is a belt drive and I LOVE this bike. Retail pricing is a bit above the ~$1,000 that you are looking to spend (honestly, all belt drives are going to be above that price point new).

Unfortunately, Raleigh no longer makes the version that I have (11 speed Alfine hub), but the 2015 version has an i8. It looks like the retail pricing on it is ~$1300, which is about $300 cheaper than the 11 speed retail pricing last year.

Raleigh also updated their Cadent to have a belt drive with the 8 speed hub. It looks like it retails at the same price as the Misceo i8, but is about 4 pounds lighter.

You can also check out the Spot Brand bikes, but they are a lot more expensive ($1600+). Marin also makes a nice belt drive commuter, but I am not sure about the costs on that one.

Joe Bike has a lot of good information on belt drive commuter bikes. I would highly suggest reading through some of their website:
http://www.joe-bike.com/bikes/commuter-bikes/

If you wanted to check out my Raleigh, let me know.

[chris_s]

If you end up looking at bikes above your $1000 intended price point, be sure to look at Breezer’s 2 Beltway models. Papillon cycles on Columbia Pike in Arlington stocks Breezer.

[Author]

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