Last July, when Greg Martin rolled across the finish line to win the 2009 Singlespeed World Championships bike race in Canmore, Alberta, one thing was missing from the rig he'd pedaled for 24 hours straight: a bike chain. Martin was riding a bike equipped with a belt drive instead.

As innovations in the world of cycling go, the Carbon Belt Drive system from Gates, a company in Denver, could be a game changer. The humble bike chain--greasy, gunk-prone, finicky if not lubed and maintained--has been standard equipment for decades. But belt drives, which employ a flexible loop of polyurethane embedded with carbon-fiber cords, give bikers a new option.


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