belt drives

While sifting thru eBay for Commando items I noticed a new old stock Belt drive for sale at a very low price. It uses the Gates T10 belt. When I look thru Gates literature it shows the T10 as a low strength timing belt also suited to conveyor belt operation, not suitable for "power Transmission"
The next stronger belt type is the AT10, this has been used on Hayward Belt drives and also appears to be the belt profile for the RGM belt drive.
It is rated about 50% higher than the T10 for ultimate tensile, but still not recommended for "power transmission"
For that, in the Gates line, one needs to go to the HTD belt type , the strongest of which is the newer Polychain carbon.
I believe Matt at CNW is using this belt with his beltdrive.

I have read of premature belt failures, particularly on race bikes. I wonder how many of these failures are with Beltdrives which use these older style lower rated belts which were never intended for power transmission?

Glen

Hi Glen,
The AT10 has been very reliable for me. I have seen two A10 belts fail at low milages.

Dave

Good to know Dave. It seems that even though the at10 is not rated for power transmission it is getting used for that and is standing up well for most.
I'm not finding record of the t10 in primary use, it is one big rung down the tensile ladder from the At10.

Glen

Glen, I used AT10 on my 906cc Nourish racer with no issues at all.

I use an at10 in my injected bike.

Best I have got out of one was 70,000 miles.

I found a similar issue with the Optibelt Omega range for the race bike.
I broke a belt with my Maney system on the race bike after a stone went through the front pulley.
After researching their range, data shows that the belts I am using are designed for static load systems, IE big fans (or similar)being run with electric motors with soft starts and then at a static speed and load.
Their data shows that they have belts available that are rated for power transmission and high torque, IE motorcycle use, where the load comes on and off frequently.
Needless to say they are twice the price as the static load items.
These are 40mm wide belts that I use although available in different widths.
Regards Mike

Hi Mike

Twice the price and likely a different tooth profile or pitch, or both. I was hoping this new old stock t10 beltdrive could be upgraded by simply changing to the AT10 belt, both being 10mm pitch, however the tooth profile is not the same for both belts. The T10 pulleys will only work with the T10 belts.

Glen

Yes 8M tooth profile, funny though , both belt drive systems came from Maney, the road bike is a 30mm x 8M x 912 Long and the race bike is 40mm x 8m x 920 long, so a slight difference in length.
Regards Mike