Momentum Magazine is a beautifully photographed publication that covers the fashionable, and functional, side of urban cycling. The may issue features two gorgeous bikes with Gates Carbon Drive.

Momentum calls the Schindelhauer Ludwig XIV, pictured above and below, “the type of bike that you notice in the bike lane.” We agree. It was voted Best City Bike at last year’s prestigious Eurobike awards.

Momentum also featured the Mezzaluna Mixte by Muse Cycles. This bike won Best City Bicycle award at the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

Carbon Drive, it seems, has become the favored application for beautiful, and practical, city bikes.

Tommy Breeze has bicycling in his DNA. His father is the legendary Joe Breeze, one of the founders of both mountain biking and the modern American commuter bike. Tommy has been riding a bike with Gates Carbon Drive for two years and loving it. “I mainly use it for riding to school and other errands around town, mostly within a four-mile radius,” he says of the Spot frame with the Gates CenterTrack system. “I’ve also taken it on longer ventures into San Francisco a couple times (about 40 miles round trip). It easily has 2,000 miles on it, probably closer to 2,500.”

The bike is fitted with full Shimano Alfine components, a generator-powered headlight and taillight, a neon green running light for added visibility, a steel rack, fenders, and kickstand. It also has aero bars–perhaps for when Tommy is running late for class. Tommy is a high school senior in Fairfax, Calif., where he races for the Drake team in the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League. Tommy plans to attend college in the fall in Washington State. “I’ll definitely be bringing it to college as my commuter bike,” he says. Hopefully Tommy won’t need those aero bars too often.

Tommy Breeze at Stafford Lake, NorCal High School Mtn Bike League Championship Race, May 6, 2012

Building on the success of its singlespeed cyclocross team, Gates Carbon Drive has created a singlespeed belt-drive mountain bike team. Team Gates Carbon Drive MTB will compete primarily in Colorado, with plans to attack the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series, the Winter Park Race series, the Breckenridge 100 and the USAC Mountain Bike 24-Hour National Championships, among others.

The goal of the new team is to increase awareness in the singlespeed race community about the advantages of Carbon Drive, which is lighter than a chain drive, requires no greasy lube and sheds dirt and mud like a bad habit. The team will race on the Rocker (pictured above), a race-proven belt drive singlespeed from Spot Brand equipped with the CenterTrack system from Gates. Other component highlights include:

Crank Brothers: Cobalt 3 bars, stems and posts, and the Iodine 3 saddle. The stem and post have gorilla-like clamping force and the saddle has replaceable rails if you are ripping too hard.  It is a light but durable parts mix perfect for a no-fuss singlespeeding.

TRP: Dash Carbon brakes. Tool-free reach and power adjustment knobs turn easily when your hands are tired, have great power modulation, and an ergonomically comfortable blade.

Lazer: The Nirvana helmet offers great ventilation and comfort thanks to the Rollsys rolling cyclinder on top that dials in the level of snugness.

Primal: Super-comfortable, stylish and highly technical custom race kits featuring the Mens Race Cut Raglan jersey and Evo Corsa Bib shorts.

The team roster features Jesse Swift,  Brian Hutchison, Taylor Nye,  Mitch Westall, Garrett Davis and Tim Lucking–all members of the Gates CX team. Other members of the Gates CX team are also racing on belt drive mountain bikes for other teams. Cristina Begy is riding for REEB on their new belted 29er. Derek Strong is on a belted Rocker for the Golden Bike Shop team.

The MTB season is young but the team is already off to a fast start with two victories. The first win came in the 18 Hours of Fruita, where Jesse Swift was part of the winning four-person squad. Swift and Derek Strong raced their SS Spots on a team with two geared riders. Here is the race report from Swift:

“By morning we had moved into second place. Throughout the early morning we hustled as a team and continued to ride two laps at a time, eventually moving into first. The team that was chasing us ended up having some bad luck with a drive train and blew up a derailleur. In the end out team ended up winning by one lap. The bike was awesome. I raced a 46×24 and the gearing was optimal. The Carbon Drive worked flawlessly and my fastest lap was  29:46 compared to the fastest geared guy at 28:57. Summer is going to be fun!”

Mitch Westall won his first race in the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series, competing in the half marathon SS class of the Ridgeline Rampage in Castle Rock, Colo.

“From the gun it was spin time,” says Westall. “Into the single track I was third, 15 minutes later second, then first. I kept up a high pace and did my best to keep the rubber side down, hard to do given that the course was really fast, winding and hard packed.  One section featured a super-steep climb with about 300 vertical gain.  I could barely get the wheels to turn, I thought about getting off and walking, but riding it versus walking gave me a gap. The bike worked great, the belt drive was flawless. Spot with Carbon Drive is a smooth, sweet ride.”

Mountain Flyer spent part of the winter and spring on a REEB 29er with Gates Carbon Drive, and the magazine has just published a nice write up of the bike. REEB is the house bike brand of noted beer maker Oskar Blues, a favorite beverage at Gates Carbon Drive events and a prolific supporter of bike racing. Here’s what Mountain Flyer writer Jordan Carr wrote about the REEB:

Oskar Blues has created a distinctive trail rig with the REEB. Trail-oriented geometry and components mated with the simplicity of a belt-driven singlespeed produce a unique ride experience that quickly became a favorite go-to rig at the office. Caked with early-season mud, the belt-drive system worked flawlessly day after day. The trail-geometry paired with the absence of gears, pivots and linkage offered the convenience of that quick lunchtime romp, without sacrificing the fun.

“We wanted to build a simple bike that was fun to ride on the steep, gnarly terrain that we ride in our backyard around Lyons, Colorado,” Chad Melis of REEB and Oskar Blues told Mountain Flyer. “Most singlespeeds on the market are based around tame XC riding, and we wanted something different.”

Read all about it here: http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/reeb-cycles-gates-carbon-drive-29er.html

Bicycling Magazine has chosen the Trek Soho Deluxe for a prestigious Editors’ Choice award. The Soho Deluxe is Bicycling’s commuter bike of the year. It’s easy to see why the editors at the world’s largest bike magazine love this city bicycle. In addition to a clean and low-maintenance Gates Carbon Drive, the Soho Deluxe features an Alfine eight-speed internally geared hub, front disc brake and rear drum brake for stopping power in all weather, full fenders and a rear rack for hanging panniers. Congratulations to Trek for building the best commuter bike on the market.

Interestingly, two belt-drive bikes made it into the magazine’s top rankings. The Gotham, from REI’s bike brand Novara, took runner-up honors in the Editors’ Choice contest. The Gotham features a Nuvinci N360 continuously variable hub for smooth, derailleur-free cycling. Both of these bike models illustrate how Gates Carbon Drive, combined with an internal hub, is an increasingly popular application for commuter and city bikes. Pick up the current issue of Bicycling to see write-ups.

The Soho Deluxe

The Gotham