If the chain is the weakest link in any bicycle, Gates' belt drive is perhaps one of the bicycle industry's most important innovations ever. It's no wonder we choose Gates Carbon Drive for our bikes. Thanks in part to the Gates belt, we can truly deliver on our promise that Mokumono bikes are reliable and low-maintenance.

The benefits of Gates Carbon Drive:

From V-belt to Carbon Drive

In 1911, a young American engineer named Charles Gates bought the Colorado Tire and Leather Company in Denver for $3,500. This Kwik-Fit company avant-la-lettre makes leather tires that extend the life of automobile tires. Not a luxury at the time. Charles Gates did not stay a tire patch for long, introducing the V-belt in 1917, an innovation that makes the company a global player to this day. When Gates develops a drive belt for motorcycles in 1980, an alternative to the rusting maintenance-prone bicycle chain cannot fail to emerge. That belt saw the light of day in 2007 and quickly became a success, especially when the electric bicycle began its advance.

Mokumono chooses Gates

The introduction to the Gates belt drive was a real discovery for us, recalls Mokumono co-founder Bob Schiller. "For my graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2014, the concept bike Epo, I looked at what other bike manufacturers were doing like. At the time, I found Schindelhauer an inspiring brand, mainly because of its aesthetics, but certainly also because of their choice of belt drive. No argument: it couldn't be missing on the Epo." The Epo became Mokumono and Gates belt drive became the standard for our bikes. We make low-maintenance and durable bikes, in that endeavor the Gates Carbon Drive belt drive is simply the very best choice.

Problem-free mileage

The unique character of Gates belts is due to the carbon fiber tensile cords. Carbon fiber has an unmatchable strength-to-weight ratio that makes the belts as strong as steel, but at the same time super lightweight. For our most recent model, the rugged Polder, we chose Gates' CDC belts. The CDC belt combines well with the Polder's rear hub motor. Because the power of the motor does not run across the driveline, CDC offers the advantage of allowing a little more slack when aligning the belt. With this drivetrain you will cover thousands of miles without any problems.