yhup. the same problem 15 mm bolt thru had. all they did was got some big companys like dt and shimano. now its in production. its debatable wether it will catch on. but belt drive has orange developing and testing it. i think it will pull through. i for one will be purchasing. and my point about spring loaded chain tensioners check them out
Axles are differnt because theres two sizes already so you wouldn't have to change the whole industry to have a big enough effect to keep production (I think the 15 will come to replace the 9) I can see belts taking part of the industry over but not all of it.
just made me think: hub gears wudnt work with 12mm thru axles on the back. i think it will get the jump bike market more than anything. and maybe the slopestyle too. but dh with 12mm would only work with gear boxs. good point. (y)
Click the link above for a good discussion of the pros and cons of belt drive. I think bikes will basically follow motorcycles in that on-road applications for the masses will get belts for the ease of maintenance, high performance and off-road applications will stick with chains for the ease of performance tuning and issues associated with running in a dirty environment. They already have a fair number of belt drive bikes in Japan and I'm sure other parts of the world as well.
any news on the belt drives?? I saw it in bike magazine - i think it was - looks like a sweet deal.. yeah my Buell firebolt was belt driven, had no problems with it on the motorcycle