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tbabej | 4 years ago

Been a fan for a long time, in fact, my dream bike is a helix with a belt drive (and possibly a mid-drive motor). I do understand a belt drive might require a tensioner, but a man can dream! My current folder has a belt and it's a joy to ride on.

Additionally, I saw there are some electric options coming up in Q3, would you spare a moment to share your thoughts about possible future developments (i.e. if you see belt/ebike options expand in the future)?

discuss

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ridehelix|4 years ago

Wow, a fan here on hn! Belt drive is possible but it makes for a heavier bike as it usually is paired with an internal geared hub. Also all of the innovation in cycling where maximum drivetrain efficiency is the goal is still firmly footed in chain drive (shimano/sram/campagnolo and a growing group of others). Also right now it’s not a priority as we have a lot of open projects: accessories, electric, scaling manufacturing.

Mid drive on the other hand would be a more challenging project because of the space and packaging constraints of our design. But, rear hub motors, which is what we’re using, have improved a lot recently; they are lighter, 2 speed, quieter and are considered to be comparable now. You also have a far more flexible upgrade path when technology improves as it’s not tied to the frame.

Electric Helix is going to be pretty ground breaking because up until now, the only other compact option was Brompton which is front wheel drive.

So maybe the dream bike is still possible, just a bit different.

Tor3|4 years ago

Front wheel drive is nice in the winter - I hadn't thought of that until I watched a friend going up a steep snowy road with no problems, while 2wd cars were stuck. The electric motor on the front wheel, his own pedalling on the back wheel: Both wheels are powered. He had traction like a 4wd car.

tbabej|4 years ago

Thanks for the response!

Definitely understand where you're coming from. I'm excited to see how well can Helix make the pedal assist with rear wheel motor work. What I like in particular is that the setup will be more upgradeable than most mid-drive builds.

With respect to the belt drive, glad to hear that's still a possibility (albeit not a priority, which is fine). This is just a single data point, but if there was a Alfine 11 option with a belt, I'd pull the trigger and buy one right now. Well, perhaps I'd wait for the rear rack and the luggage case that I understand are in the works, those are killer accessories.

For me personally, the weight is less of a concern, at least in the vicinity of the low numbers where current helix builds are. To illustrate, my current 20 inch folder is about 15kg (belt+alfine 11) and I find that quite manageable.

In any case, keep rocking on, I hope you guys succeed - it's exciting to see such novel bike engineering happening here in Canada :)

Schroedingersat|3 years ago

I feel alfine (mushy, inefficient, wears out in not much longer than a chain drivetrain) as the only igh option (and explicitly making choices that prevent a rohloff being used) and no belt drive is a deal breaker for anyone with the kind of money to blow that is seeking something as convenient and premium as possible.

A bike that is always clean, never needs you to mess around finding a secure lockup and almost never needs service is the dream, and stopping 90% of the way there for want of 3kg seems so strange.