# Anyone on a Breezer Beltway?



## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

The title is pretty self explanatory, but my LBS offered me a pretty decent price on the SS Breezer Beltway. I'm currently having a love affair with SS and the belt drive is pretty appealing for a commuter. Doesn't seem to be much floating around about these, but on paper it looks pretty cool.

Anyone have any thoughts on these?


----------



## mtbxplorer (Dec 25, 2009)

Maybe check for reviews on the belt system spec'd if there is not much out there on the bike? I've seen a report of belts breaking, I don't know if there is anything to it or not, but that could kill a commute.


----------



## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

It's the Gates CDX Centertrack drive which is well reviewed. Not that I need a new bike but I'm fairly tempted to try it since I can cover half of the cost with credit card points.


----------



## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

After much Googling and never finding any reviews (someone must own this bike) I decided to play guinea pig and cashed in my CC points and order one for myself. 2014 models were gone but I was able to get a new 2013 model. It's coming from the other side of the country so it will probably be a week or so before I get to play.

I'll post some pictures and thoughts on it after I get some saddle time.


----------



## JUNGLEKID5 (May 1, 2006)

The belt drive system works once set up properly. Over 4 years on one belt and still going strong.


----------



## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

Thanks for bumping this up, been meaning to post some thoughts in case anyone else is curious about this bike.










There she is, 2013 Breezer Beltway Single Speed, I took delivery about a month and a half ago and have been using it as my primary commuter since then (13 miles round trip). Here are my thoughts on the bike so far:

*Belt Drive:* This is the most unique part of the bike and probably the main reason anyone would be looking at this bike, and so far I can happily say it's been flawless. High cadence or a slow grind up a hill it's simply worked. Rode through rain and sleet without issue or mess to clean. Also no more rolling pant legs, hop on in your jeans and go, I find myself more inclined to ride since I don't have to "kit up". So far the belt drive system works as advertised, I'm very happy with it.

*Gearing:* 46x24, more like a beach cruiser than a rocket ship. I thought it would drive me nuts coming from a 2x10 Cyclocross bike but honestly I kind of like it. Easy to pedal and gets you where you are going. I think it suits the overall ride, more on that later.

*Brakes:* Tektro Novela disc brakes with 160mm rotors front and rear. Sweet I thought, disc brakes will be a nice step up from canti-levers. Yes and no, the stopping power is only a little better but they do maintain power better in the rain. They do the job but you can tell they are low end disc brakes. If there is anything I upgrade on this bike it will likely be swapping these for BB7s. They'll stop the bike, but don't expect them to feel like hydros.

*Ride feel:* Before I ordered this I didn't know if I should be expecting a flat bar road bike or upright beach cruiser, perhaps something in between. It definitely falls closer to the beach cruiser. The first time I saw the bike I thought it looked like it would be clunky to ride, but then I got on. You sit quite upright, the bars are swept back, quite a change coming from a CX bike. I took it out to the parking lot of the LBS and pedaled around and the first thought was "Man, this is comfortable.". I was also impressed with how quickly it got up to speed, mind you at 90 RPMs you are going about 14 MPH so it's no speed demon, but it felt great. Now riding it on a regular basis my opinion remains much the same, it takes about 5 extra minutes to make my 6.5 mile commute to work compared to the CX bike, but it's a very comfortable ride.

*Other thoughts:* There are couple things I like about this bike that I think are worth mentioning. It comes with a bell, cheap accessory I know but cool that they include it. I didn't commute with one before, I would just call out when necessary, but I'm liking the bell.

It has an included kickstand, I haven't used one of these since I was a kid but for what the bike is I think it's a nice touch. It's mounted on the chainstay and it's quite sturdy, they did it right

Holy tire clearance Batman, this thing comes with 700x35s and there is a lot of extra space. My eyeball measurements tell me this bike will takes 40s easily. High volume tires are awesome in my book.

The split in the frame to accommodate the belt drive is slick, 3 people tried to find it and couldn't at the LBS. Kudos to Breezer.

*Overall:* This is a sweet bike. Despite the mediocre brakes this thing has been a pleasure to ride. I won't get any KOM on Strava, but that's not what this was designed for. The best thing I can say about this bike is that it makes me want to spend more time getting out and riding.


----------



## stainy (Jan 5, 2015)

Looks sweet. What size CX do you usually ride and what size is the Breezer? I've been thinking of getting the 2014 model, but as you found online reviews are hard to come by. I can't find a LBS nearby that sells Breezers so a test ride is out of the question and I'm struggling to figure out what size would be best.


----------



## formula4speed (Mar 25, 2013)

My CX bike is 56cm and so is the Breezer, which is the Large frame (also listed as 22" on the label). I'm 5'11 and I typically fall between medium and large frames, the medium frames weren't available when I purchased this so it was an easy choice. No regrets, it fits me fine, but I likely would have been fine on the medium as well.


----------



## stainy (Jan 5, 2015)

Cool. I was thinking of the 52 (medium) because I'm 5'10 and ride a 54 road bike. What you said confirmed it for me so I just ordered it.

I've always wanted a belt drive so I can commute and just have a low maintenance "set it and forget it" bike that's always ready to roll.

I test rode a Scott Sub Speed 10 to get a feel for a belt drive. It was a nice ride (8 speed, hydraulic disc brakes) and a great looking bike (if you like green) but also $450 more than the Beltway. Seeing as I live in the flat lands of Florida a single speed is no problem and I can upgrade the brakes myself. Maybe change out the handlebars or put some bar ends on to give me a couple of position options and I'll have a sweet commuter. 

I'll post a pic when I get it setup. Can't wait!


----------



## ZombieSquirrel (Oct 1, 2015)

I just test rode the Breezer Beltway 8+. It has an internal gear hub, the Shimano Alfine 8 speed. It was rather amazing to ride, a bit bumpier than my full suspension mountain bike, but at the same time lighter and smoother. I told the sales guy that I needed to save up more money to buy it. It is expensive. Around $1,700. I live in Portland, Oregon so a commuter bike would be great and this bike has it all.


----------



## Marlo (Jun 4, 2017)

*Review of Breezer beltway 8+*

I have owned the Breezer beltway 8+ for 2 years now.
The gates cdx is perfection.
The Shimanno Alfine is fantastic (smooth, positive shifting, dependable in all weather)so good I hate to say anything negative l only I prefer a twist grip on a commuter but its just an opinion, the shifter works great, no issues very nice.
The Shimano hyd brakes BR-M446 work flawlessly smooth, responsive strong and sensitive, fantastic brakes, the only issue is that Breezer put them on a commuter bike, on a commuter the fix on the fly flat is going to happen away from home-eventually, and when the bike is turned upside down the brakes get an air bubble in them witch causes a loss in braking that is close to 100%, I tried to ride it that way thinking that the bubble would work its way out but no luck, re-bleed is a must when you get home. 
Still they work great, Love Shimano probably not the best on a commuter, must be serviced on a stand or don't turn over then no issues at all.
The Shimano dyno hub generator is awesome, no issues plenty of power without noticeable drag.
My review of the Beltway is--- all components are fantastic (awesome perfect fit)except the parts that are Breezer, 
Issue#1 (Breezer)The front cog could not be aligned with the rear within the frame, we needed to take a die grinder to the frame to get cogs to align per gates specs, It was hard to believe that Breezer lets these things leave the factory. The last thing I wanted to do was alter the frame but belt would have rubbed it self to death if left alone. 
Issue#2 (Breezer)
The front fender was rubbing on the wheel when I picked it up from the dealer as I went from the store to my car, so I took it back in the store, they asked me to come back the next day, they suspected a part was missing and wanted to call Breezer (no problem).
The next day the fender did not rub in the store, but riding the bike threw the parking lot, the fender rubbed on every minor bump, the brackets were just not long enough to get the fender far enough from the wheel, it rubbed hard enough that it was going do damage itself with *normal commuting*, just what that bike is intended to do *its a* *commuter.
* Issue #3 (Breezer) The bike is advertised that it comes with an integrated tire pump on the rear rack, I does not in America, only in Europe according to Performance Bike(they would not send me the pump they would only give me a $40 credit to go buy one). and never fixed the description to this day, they don't care.
Issue #4The stays for the rack have worked their way loose in the frame on top, and have a tiny eyelet on the bottom that is tearing itself apart because there is no material around the screw. I have other bikes that have never worked their way loose over 10 years of commuting.
Issue #5 commuters have chain guards or something to keep your pants out of the drive, at least on the ones that cost $1700.00, but I knew that going in.
Commuter bikes are typically a more durable bike, and will suffer many maintenance issues that come with commuting by bike, thats half the fun (the challenges of it all).
But Breezer just stopped short they assembled the best of Shimano to a low quality frame, if I had it to do over again I would try something else with all the Great Shimano features.



formula4speed said:


> The title is pretty self explanatory, but my LBS offered me a pretty decent price on the SS Breezer Beltway. I'm currently having a love affair with SS and the belt drive is pretty appealing for a commuter. Doesn't seem to be much floating around about these, but on paper it looks pretty cool.
> 
> Anyone have any thoughts on these?


----------

