It's not quite official yet, but news has reached us that German company Rohloff will probably support the Santos belt drive system. It should be announced at the Eurobike trade show in Germany in less than two weeks' time. This will be the first time that Rohloff have officially sanctioned a belt drive system for use with their hub gear.
The Santos belt drive system is already being trialled by round-the-world record hunter James Bowthorpe, who is riding a Travelmaster equipped with a Rohloff Speedhub. Bowthorpe – who is on track to break the record set by Britain's Mark Beaumont – will complete 18,000 miles by the time he finishes his circumnavigation of the globe. When BikeRadar caught up with James last week, he said he'd changed the belt just once in 13,000 miles.
The Rohloff-Santos belt drive option will be available throughout Santos's Travelmaster, MTB, Trekking, Tandem and SUB ranges.
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