Priority 600 – 2300 mile update
I bought my Priority 600 in June, 2023. Since then it's been my primary commuting bike. My commute is a bit over 6 miles (10km). About half of that is paved. The other half is dirt/gravel. According to my Garmin account, the bike has at least 2300 miles on it now.
I still like the bike a lot but it's definitely not been as trouble-free as advertised.
New and Continuing Gripes
Dynamo Light Trouble As mentioned in my original post, the outside part of the front dynamo hub (the part where the wires connect) continued to rotate occasionally/gradually as I rode. Due to the rotation of the wheel. I tried to get the front axle quick-release tightened enough to prevent this without being too tight, but I guess I failed, because one day it rotated so much that the wires ripped. At this point I was sick of the dynamo hub altogether, so I ripped the wiring and the built-in lights off the bike altogether. I've been using my old battery-powered lights since then.
Belt Squeak The Gates Carbon Drive is really quiet when it's clean, and even when it's dirty, depending on what type of dirty it is. But as I mentioned before, certain types of dry dust will make it squeaky. You know the sound of an old clapped-out minivan with a loose fan belt squeaking as it drives by? Imagine that sound on every pedal stroke. Unfortunately for me, the dirt/gravel trail that makes up half of my commute seems to have the perfect type of dust for making Gates drivetrains squeak.
The recommended “solution” for this is to wash the belt, or at least spray it with some water or squirt it with a water bottle. Indeed, this will quiet the squeaking, for a time, until it gets the same dust on it again. The other recommendation I've seen from Gates and others is to use silicon spray lubricant on it. My routine is to wash and dry the belt and then apply silicon to it every couple of weeks. This keeps the squeaking to a minimum, but I'm a bit annoyed that I have to do this. A big draw of belt drives is the promise of reduced maintenance when compared with a traditional chain/derailleur drivetrain. Overall, this isn't as annoying as degreasing and lubing a chain, but it's still not great.
Creaking Frame? My bike has developed an annoying cracking/clicking/creaking sound that happens intermittently. It seems to depend a lot on torque – when I'm putting a more power through the pedals it happens more often. Temperature and even incline of the terrain I'm riding on also seem to affect it. It's a very annoying noise and I haven't been able to find the cause.
I emailed Priority about this and they responded with advice to lube and check the cranks, the seatpost, and the pedals. I did all this, and it didn't help. Their next recommendation was to try adjusting the belt tension. I increased the tension quite a bit (to 60-65Hz, the upper end of recommendations). The increased tension did seem to help a lot! But, it seemed to make the belt squeak (discussed previously in this post) much worse.
Another idea is to reduce the belt tension below the usual recommended value. I haven't tried this yet because I'm worried about belt skip, but I should probably try it.
I also read online (and saw a YouTube video) about this kind of noise being caused by dirt/dust getting in between the frame and the housing of the Pinion gearbox. One YouTuber was successful in getting rid of the sound by removing the gearbox from the bike, cleaning the housing and frame, lubing it, and reattaching it. I bought the the Pinion lockring removal tool (around $40!) and did this operation. It was a lot more work and a lot less fun than expected, and did not solve the problem. However, I did notice that some parts of the frame under the Pinion housing seemed to show some wear (shiny aluminum instead of black paint). This lends credence, in my opinion, to the theory that the sound is caused by the gearbox housing and the frame rubbing slightly. I have a hare-brained idea to remove the gearbox again and place some thin rubber or other material there to try to suppress the noise.
Early wear of Gates CDX:SL sprockets While adjusting my belt tension in a (vain) attempt to solve the aforementioned creaking sounds, I noticed that my rear sprocket was badly worn. The front looked OK, to my untrained eye. I emailed Priority about it the rear sprocket. They recommended filing a warranty claim with Gates. I did so, and Gates promptly replied and said that there have been issues with the “economical” CDX:SL sprockets wearing faster in “avid cyclist” or “everyday commuter” scenarios. I guess I fall into those use cases. They sent me a new stainless steel CDX sprocket free of charge and with very fast shipping. They said it should be more durable.
I paid my local bike store to install the new sprocket. The bike mechanic there said that while the wear on the rear was a lot more obvious, in their opinion the front sprocket was not far behind in wear. So I've reached out to Gates again about the front sprocket – maybe I should replace it with stainless steel, too.
Update: Gates kindly replaced the front sprocket under warranty, too. They sent me a stainless steel CDX front sprocket. Now that I've got both sprockets replaced, the bike is much less squeaky! Possibly the fine dust that causes squeaking doesn't stick to the steel as easily as it did to the aluminum? However, I've only put 80 miles on the new rear sprocket, and only 40 miles on the new front. Time (and mileage) will tell how much better these stainless steel ones hold up.
Solved Problems / Things Gone Well
Some of the small issues I had originally have been solved or haven't popped back up again.
Fenders Originally, I complained a lot about the fenders rattling and rubbing on the tires. This is no longer a problem. Maybe I've got the fender adjustments dialed in really well now, or my tires are just getting smaller due to 2300 miles of wear. Either way, this isn't a problem any more.
Squeaking Pedals Since I disassembled and greased them the first time, as reported previously, they haven't made a sound and are working great.
Loose Kickstand The kickstand hasn't been a problem since I tightened it the first time.
Pinion is Still Great The Pinion C1.12 is still working great! It's fantastic. I did the 1 year oil-change a few months ago. It was a fairly painless process. I love this thing so much more than derailleurs.
Conclusion
Owning this bike has been far from a carefree experience, unfortunately. I like it a lot, but maybe some of that is Stockholm syndrome. The Pinion is the most expensive/premium part on this bike by far – all the other parts seem to be of middling quality. It's a cheap bike built around an expensive gearbox. Part of me wonders if I should have paid a bit more to find a different (more “premium”) bike with a Pinion+Belt drivetrain. One that doesn't creak and doesn't cheap out on sprockets! But there aren't many bikes with a Pinion at this price point.