Finally fresh on the (laboratory) table from Germany - the Conti Drive System (CDS) is ready for series production and is being delivered. Early adopter Andreas Kirschner from Rennstahl/Falkenjagd equips the MTB 853 with it on request: The nine gears of the Pinion P1.9XR on the test bike are transmitted by a toothed, black polyurethane toothed belt, which is absolutely tension-proof thanks to aramid fibre strands running lengthways. The belt itself is 8 mm wide and significantly narrower than a Gates belt drive (12 mm). At the crank and rear wheel, the belt runs over toothed pulleys made of low-wear stainless steel, whose tooth tips protrude slightly at the front on the outside, at the rear on the inside, to secure the belt in this direction. Basically, this works like the continuous flanged pulley on the Gates CDC system. The system is therefore 12 mm wide. Hard impacts may damage these tooth tips. If you pull the belt off to the side, it centres itself within the next sprocket revolution. It is almost impossible to imagine the belt running off during normal riding. The low tension required by the belt makes it easier to remove the rear wheel. To prevent it from skipping, the teeth are larger and more tapered than those of Gates. The sprocket webs also have a small transverse edge on which the tooth can bite firmly. This should slightly increase system friction. When riding, the slightly softer but defined acceleration and the completely quiet running feel just as unobtrusive as you would expect from Gates. You don't feel any stretch. So the competition between the systems is on.
Less exciting:
The ContiTech belt runs safely with very low tension. The absence of gauges and test tools makes handling uncomplicated. In addition, the Conti belt does not bend imperfect rear triangles.
The article was published in Trekkingbike issue 4/2015. You can read the entire issue in the Trekkingbike app (iTunes and Google Play) or order the issue in the DK shop.
