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[SebfromBE]

Hi all,

Here is the setup. I have a S 2017, still with the more skinny belt. The belt broke once at 4000km. It broke (well actually it lost teeth) recently a second time at 12800km. I went to the dealer (again) for the exchange and asked whether it was common to have some frequent broken belt. He actually commented that tension was likely too high, which caused the teeth braking issue.

I told him I use the Gates tension app on my phone, which meausres vibration frequency of the belt when you knock it with your finger. I check it on regular basis and set it to the low side of the range (~ 90Hz according to Zero manual).

He actually told me this is not working properly, and he showed me how he set it up now. And what is clear is that it is indeed much less tension than what I used. Now the resonant frequency is likely closer to 20Hz or so...

Anybody has experience with this? I am quite happy to follow the mechanic's advice, they are with Zero since the early days so have surely seen their share. But I would argue then that the following the Zero manual is a recipe for disaster! So people should be aware of the risk!

Any thought?

Seb

[AntPman]

I thought 2017 models where the first of the new wider belts?  I just got a dealer demo 2017 DS and was wondering about the tension settings myself.  Never had a belt driven bike before so I am concerned about how tight the belt seems.  Mine is at around 60 Hz using the app.  Did the dealer have a special way of setting the lower belt tension or was it trail and error until it was at the tension they believed it should be?  I only put about 100 miles on mine so far but still want to make sure the belt is setup right.

[alko]

I thought 2017 models where the first of the new wider belts?  I just got a dealer demo 2017 DS and was wondering about the tension settings myself.  Never had a belt driven bike before so I am concerned about how tight the belt seems.  Mine is at around 60 Hz using the app.  Did the dealer have a special way of setting the lower belt tension or was it trail and error until it was at the tension they believed it should be?  I only put about 100 miles on mine so far but still want to make sure the belt is setup right.

If you look at your 2017 owners manual, it shows one belt tension setting for the S model and another setting for all other models. This is because for whatever reason, Zero left the skinny belt on the S model.

[alko]

Hi all,

Here is the setup. I have a S 2017, still with the more skinny belt. The belt broke once at 4000km. It broke (well actually it lost teeth) recently a second time at 12800km. I went to the dealer (again) for the exchange and asked whether it was common to have some frequent broken belt. He actually commented that tension was likely too high, which caused the teeth braking issue.

I told him I use the Gates tension app on my phone, which meausres vibration frequency of the belt when you knock it with your finger. I check it on regular basis and set it to the low side of the range (~ 90Hz according to Zero manual).

He actually told me this is not working properly, and he showed me how he set it up now. And what is clear is that it is indeed much less tension than what I used. Now the resonant frequency is likely closer to 20Hz or so...

Anybody has experience with this? I am quite happy to follow the mechanic's advice, they are with Zero since the early days so have surely seen their share. But I would argue then that the following the Zero manual is a recipe for disaster! So people should be aware of the risk!

Any thought?

Seb

How did he check the tension?

[SebfromBE]

Hi,

It looked very much to me like it checked the tension with his finger :-) => So he is basically doing from experience!

This time I will trust him since of the previous bad experience with higher tension, but it still feels strange that using the recommended values from the manual go to 'over-tension'.

I also agreed with him that I will come back from time to time so he can check/agree that it is still fine (this is mostly in case I break it early again, they cannot come up with the argument that I did put more tension on it). This is ok since the dealer is a 1km detour from my way to work.

Indeed the S 2017 was the last one model with the skinny belt. I believe the wider belt (DS 2017) have a larger accepted tension range. The range on the skinny belt is ridiculous anyway (like +-10kg or something like that).

Anyhow, if somebody has an experience with a long lasting belt and the conversion to either Gates frequency reading or gut feeling, I am interested!

[JaimeC]

I use this:  http://tinyurl.com/y3pnhrk6

[Curt]

I use this:  http://tinyurl.com/y3pnhrk6

This. Please buy one of these and use it properly to get correct tension readings. Do not use your finger. Do not use a crappy experimental audio app.

Set tension near the lower end of the range in the manual. Adjust both sides to center the belt on the pully. Do not use lube of any kind.

Broken belts cost a lot of time, money and inconvenience. Maladjustment can cause bearing damage, and more importantly, it is a rather large safety issue to pop a belt at a bad time. I'm surprised so many are so cavalier about it.

[gyrocyclist]

I use this:  http://tinyurl.com/y3pnhrk6

This. Please buy one of these and use it properly to get correct tension readings. Do not use your finger. Do not use a crappy experimental audio app.

Set tension near the lower end of the range in the manual. Adjust both sides to center the belt on the pully. Do not use lube of any kind.

Broken belts cost a lot of time, money and inconvenience. Maladjustment can cause bearing damage, and more importantly, it is a rather large safety issue to pop a belt at a bad time. I'm surprised so many are so cavalier about it.

Suggest you use both the audio app and the Gates mechanical tensioner, if you're checking it yourself. Remember to move the wheel and make several different readings. I somewhat disagree about use of a finger. *If* you're an exceptional mechanic with thousands of hours of experience, finger is OK. For the rest of us, *no fingers!*

[NetPro]

What I have been wondering is which of the 2 systems is more reliable:
The phone app measuring sound response or the spring actuated Gates 91132 Belt Tension Tester (or 91107 depending of the belt's width).
I don't know which way to go here: the app looks more sophisticated but there are so many variables such as cell phone microphone variations, ambient noise, location's acoustics, distance from belt, etc.

[alko]

I use the app. I figure it's close enough. Hope so anyway. But the tool is cheap, so maybe best to use both.

[Doug S]

...the app looks more sophisticated but there are so many variables such as cell phone microphone variations, ambient noise, location's acoustics, distance from belt, etc.

I don't think any of those things could really have any effect. It's not looking for volume or sound quality or anything, it's just looking for the pitch of the belt as it vibrates. As long as the sound is loud enough to detect the pitch, the microphone can't really make any difference. It certainly can't change the pitch of the tone.

I do wonder which is the more meaningful measurement for a belt's condition, though. Tension as measured directly or whatever combination of belt parameters results in a particular tone when snapped. Since Gates is a major supplier of belts for all sorts of industries, and this is their app, I'd imagine it does a pretty good job of evaluating a belt's condition.

[Richard230]

I have never used the app, just the tool.  About the only thing I use my cell phone for is to check on my battery condition once a month using the Zero app.  When I do that I usually recharge my phone then, too. The rest of the time my cell phone sits on my dresser shelf where I forget to bring it with me on every ride.    If I want to make a phone call, I use my Snoopy push button landline phone.