The Conti Drive System (CDS), the belt drive from Continental for bicycles and pedelecs, will be delivered with a carbon belt as standard from now on. This will enhance the performance of the system and meet the ever more exacting requirements of particularly ambitious cyclists.
“Until now, manufacturers could choose whether they wanted to install an 8 mm aramid belt or a carbon belt of the same width. In practice, it became clear that carbon belts were generally preferred because they offered 30% more traction than aramid belts,” comments Max Friedrich, product manager for the Conti Drive System. “In the future, manufacturers and bicycle dealers will have to install only one type of belt, which makes their business simpler.” Continental already recommends the carbon variant for applications with transmissions with high reduction ratios or very high torque.
So that owners of CDS systems that have already been delivered can also reap the benefits of the higher-quality carbon belt, Continental is running a voluntary replacement campaign. With immediate effect, aramid belts can be replaced free of charge with a carbon belt of the same design at specialist bicycle dealers. The Service Center in Hofheim is taking orders via service@bmd.contitech.de.
Since the belt has only different tension members and is otherwise structurally identical, nothing changes in terms of the type of replacement. The experts at Continental recommend that only the center distance and the belt tension should be checked after fitting. “Ride performance and ease of handling will not change, as we offer the advantage of much lower initial tension than other systems on the market with carbon belts as well, owing to their tooth profile,” explains Max Friedrich.
