“We know, you’re looking at the Spot Brand urban bike and thinking, “That’s not a carbon race bike!” No, it isn’t, but the story worth telling about the Spot is the innovative Gates belt-drive system it uses. No other bike company in America has taken the lead with belt technology like Spot has. And, in pursuit of chainless drivetrain technology, Spot owner Wayne Lumpkin would be considered the motorman up in the lead car.
Back in the ’90s, Wayne made a name for himself as the founder of the mountain bike-oriented Avid brake company. Mountain bikes or not, it would not be a stretch to say that Wayne is one of those genius-type tinkerers and product developers who happen to love riding bicycles. After taking a few years off after selling his company to SRAM, Wayne came back to the bike industry as the new owner of Spot Brand Bicycles. Once there, he began applying his smarts to the bike and created the new CenterTrack belt and pulley design (belt bikes use pulleys not chainrings). Gates, who made their empire as a supplier of belt drives for Harley Davidson, went along with the idea and presto! A better-working belt-driven bike.
Spot currently makes a variety of bikes (urban, ‘cross and mountain) that use belt drivetrains. Throw a leg over one and you will be astounded at how smooth it rides. No chain noise, chain slap or grease. Besides single-speeds, you can get bikes that use eight and 11-speed internal hubs.”
