The 27.5" Huffy Venue belt drive bikes

[Nagant]

I noticed these on Walmarts website and month or two ago and I don't remember them being posted here yet. Sort of surprised to see belt drive on a department store bike. The way the chain stays extend to the down tube is sort of odd looking to me. The color seems to be about the only difference between the mens and womens versions.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/27.5-Huffy-Men-s-Venue-Bike/41423233

http://www.walmart.com/ip/41423232

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Not a fan of those chain stays at all, I guess they did that so there would not need to be a break in the frame for the belt to be removed, but there might be some good parts there if they are cheap enough!

Luke.

 

[Nagant]

I'm with you Luke on those chain stays. When I first glanced at the picture a few months ago I thought they were some weird belt guard mounted way high.
Agreed that at a much cheaper second hand or scratch and dent price it could make an interesting parts source or wild rebuild. I'd like to see one of the belts for these. Hopefully it's better than a Chinese rubber band.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

The chainstay is a good idea, I like it.

 

[Bicycle808]

Elevated chainstays were getting traction in the late 80's/early 90s on MTBs b/c it was a solution to help reduce chainsuck. When Gates drive belts started getting popular a few years back, I immediately thought back to bikes like the Nishiki Alien and the Yeti Ultimate.

I figured the elevated chainstays would be one way to avoid the break-away stays required for a belt drive on most bikes, but figured that it wouldn't catch on, as many folks find the elevated stays to be inelegant. But here's Huffy, rockin' the elevated stays on a new bike. Interesting. I wonder who makes the belt for them.... b/c that's way too cheap to be Gates, I'm thinking.......

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

The Wallyworld Huffy elevated chainstays are meaningless. They are for looks only. Elevated chainstay MTB's like the above Nishiki and the current FS Santa Cruz Heckler are purpose-driven designs made to eliminate the chain slap/suck on the lower right chainstay. Belt drive bikes have no chain slap, so the elevated stays on this particular bike are non functional but very pretty. They may attract un-educated buyers more easily.

 

[kgmcpheeters]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the elevated stays so you don't have to have provisions to split the frame for belt install/removal?

 

[gowjobs]

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't the elevated stays so you don't have to have provisions to split the frame for belt install/removal?

Yes.

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Yes, you are right. I was wrong. Belts cannot be split to allow removal from the frame, so therefor the elevated stays. Perhaps I need to get one to speak on it!! :banghead:

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Are there "splittable" belts available? I really like the idea of a belt drive system with an internal gear hub in back. I hear they run really quiet, and don't stretch. 100-yr old+ chains and the associated sprockets and shifters are still on top, but they don't seem to have changed much in design. Anyone ratted a regular frame with a belt?

 

[kgmcpheeters]

I'd be interested to hear/see as well. I know you've got to cut your frame, but they make some good/secure looking solutions to put it back together. but yeah, all just speculative at this point. Would love to hear from someone whose done it...

 

[Raoul Dude]

Elevated chainstays were getting traction in the late 80's/early 90s on MTBs b/c it was a solution to help reduce chainsuck. When Gates drive belts started getting popular a few years back, I immediately thought back to bikes like the Nishiki Alien and the Yeti Ultimate.

This spring, I've been working on turning my first mountain bike into a "gravel grinder" of sorts:



This frame style turns a lot of heads today (at least around here), but if I recall correctly, the style fell out of favor back in the day because they were heavier than a "normal" diamond-shaped frame and because they flexed more. I don't know much about frame building, but whenever I hear that I think "couldn't both of those have been overcome with larger-diameter aluminum tubing?"

I also saw a similar thread on a mountain biking forum where someone was extolling the virtues of not having to break the chain to remove it for cleaning...which only worked IF the bike also had a rear derailleur that made that possible.

 

[SILVERKINGPC]

Cool old MTB you have there. What is the make? Not sure if it was flexy, but certainly heavier. If the bike is steel, it should never break. Oversize Aluminum will. How about an 8-speed internal hub with belt drive on your gravel buster?

 

[Raoul Dude]

Cool old MTB you have there. What is the make? Not sure if it was flexy, but certainly heavier. If the bike is steel, it should never break. Oversize Aluminum will. How about an 8-speed internal hub with belt drive on your gravel buster?

Thanks! It's a Titan Cycle Products "Mountain High Country Road" -- they're apparently not all that common, but there's a frame on eBay right now and a complete bike on craigslist's "northwest/merrimack" which looks to be near Boston. Both of those listings call it a "Nishiki Alien clone" but I'm fairly sure Yakota made some similar frames as well.

I hadn't thought about a belt drive until now, but since the entire bike has been getting restored/upgraded the past couple of years, I might have to look into it!

 

[Bicycle808]

The Nishiki Alien is probably the most ubiquitous high-stay bike from that era, but the Yeti Ultimate probably made the most headlines and got the most buzz.... there were plenty of similar frames out there at the time, as well...

 

[Bicycle808]

PS gonna be hard to maintain tension on the belt with those drop-outs....

 

[Raoul Dude]

PS gonna be hard to maintain tension on the belt with those drop-outs....

On which bike(s)? I can't tell much from the only picture I've seen of that Huffy so far, but I suspect you might be right about that one too!

You ARE right that it WOULD be hard to do with the vertical drop-outs on my bike, and I'm already having enough trouble with the extra drive-train tensioner on my tandem project bike!

 

[Bicycle808]

On which bike(s)? I can't tell much from the only picture I've seen of that Huffy so far, but I suspect you might be right about that one too!

You ARE right that it WOULD be hard to do with the vertical drop-outs on my bike, and I'm already having enough trouble with the extra drive-train tensioner on my tandem project bike!

Yeah, i was referring to your badazz vintage mtb... the new Huffy bikes at the top seem to have a little bit of horizontal adjustment to the dropouts....