????“鏈條可能是150年以來，自行車身上唯一沒有改變過的部件，”工程師托德?塞爾頓說。塞爾頓已經在工業巨頭蓋茨公司（Gates Corporation）工作了25年，現任蓋茨碳驅動系統（Carbon Drive Systems）項目的主管，這個項目主要為自行車生產碳傳動帶。換句話說，他完全有資格評價自行車的零部件是否的確存在創新不足的情況。

????塞爾頓和他的同事們一直致力于解決這種情況。今年已經有101年歷史的蓋茨公司長期以來一直在生產各種汽車設備，并為哈雷戴維森（Harley Davidson）摩托車生產工業機械。現在蓋茨公司正在大力推動碳驅動系統，它用一條聚氨脂傳動帶來取代標準的金屬鏈條。這種傳動帶不需要涂油潤滑，也不需要日常維護，更不會撕開騎車人的褲腿。這種傳動帶第一次在自行車上亮相是在2007年。乍聽起來，它似乎是所有單車族的夢想。不過實際上，蓋茨公司要想大量賣出這種傳動帶卻并不是件容易的事。

????這些創新可能會給自行車產業打上一針強心劑。據全美自行車經銷商聯合會（National Bicycle Dealers Association）的一份報告顯示，2011年美國的自行車銷量下降了18%，從2010年的1,350萬輛下跌到1,100萬輛。2010年是自行車銷量比較輝煌的一年，這一年美國的自行車銷量在2009年的基礎上猛增了32%。從銷售額上看，2010年美國自行車銷售金額為60億美元，基本上與2003年持平。

????蓋茨公司的傳動帶現在已經被Trek和Specialized等知名品牌采用，但是從數量上看，與使用了標準鏈條和齒輪變速系統的自行車相比，使用蓋茨傳動帶的自行車還是遠遠不及。（一開始只有單速賽車使用這種傳動帶。因為除非在自行車的后輪上再搭配一個齒輪轂，否則將無法變速，因此限制了轉速的級數。）

????這款產品的增長勢頭不錯。一開始只有兩個品牌的4款自行車使用蓋茨傳動帶，但現在它已經為68個品牌的150款自行車供貨了。不過總體上看，使用它的自行車仍然很稀少。紐約的自行車店Bicycle Habitat的店主查理?麥克柯爾稱，人們走進店里之后，“幾乎從來不會”詢問關于碳傳動帶的事。他說：“早期采用者喜歡它，個人來說，我也喜歡它。但它的定價不合適?！?/p>

????確實，這款傳動帶無論對廠家還是對消費者來說都是很昂貴的。比如自行車的平均價格是600美元，安裝了碳驅動系統的自行車就會賣到1,000美元、甚至更高。對于高端買家來說，這當然不是什么問題，但廣域市場是由“非自行車發燒友”構成的，他們絕對不想為一輛自行車花那么多錢。

????與此同時，蓋茨公司卻通過碳驅動系統在海外取得了巨大的成功，尤其是蓋茨公司重點關注的電動車和電動助力自行車在一些通勤上班族極多的地區（比如歐洲）賣得特別好。就連一些知名的汽車公司也開始進軍電動自行車業務。比如去年春天，奧迪公司（Audi）和奔馳的子品牌Smart都推出了自己的電動自行車的概念車。塞爾頓說：“歐洲有那么多電動自行車，簡直太瘋狂了。電動自行車在歐洲更趨向于實用化。騎電動自行車可以方便地上下班，這一點很有吸引力。我想在美國，我們對自行車的看法更多的是消遣性的。比如人們可能會質疑說：‘怎么會有人買電動助力自行車呢？騎自行車難道不就是為了鍛煉身體嗎？’”

????瑞士品牌BMC的自行車產品經理T.K.馬龍從2010年開始與蓋茨公司進行合作。他認為，蓋茨公司的技術推動了整個自行車傳送系統的發展?！霸缙诘膫鲃訋阶孕熊嚥⒉皇欠浅？煽?。它們沒有整個傳動帶那么長的碳纖維，在壓力下容易伸展變形。如果用力加速的話，傳動帶甚至可能滑脫?，F在蓋茨公司已經提供了各種不同的傳動帶長度和尺寸規格，因此可以用于各種自行車，令齒輪始終保持固定，用傳動帶進行傳動。”

????BMC在2012年的三款自行車上使用了蓋茨公司的傳動帶，其中兩款分別叫做Urbanchallenge和Masschallenge，后者是款重量非常輕的自行車。在使用了傳動帶的三款中，有兩款今年已經售罄。BMC不愿提供詳細的銷售數據，但它表示，使用了傳動帶的Urbanchallenge自行車雖然價格更高，但它的銷量卻是使用傳統鏈條、價格更低的Urbanchallenge自行車的三倍。

????對于蓋茨公司來說，推廣傳動帶最大的難題就是如何獲得主流人群的關注。自行車研究機構Gluskin Townley Group的分析師杰?湯利稱，對任何自行車商店來說，影響力最大的人永遠是改裝高手，也就是“DIY達人”。湯利自己就是一個資深的DIY達人。湯利認為，碳驅動系統在價格方面正面臨著一個“雞與蛋”的困境。目前來說，傳動帶還沒有很好地被DIY達人們接受，所以市面上的傳動帶不多，因此價格也很高。同時它的稀缺性也導致消費者對它缺乏認知。而且只有出貨量上去了，價格才能降下來。

????"The chain is probably the only element of the bicycle that hasn't changed in 150 years," says Todd Sellden. Sellden is an engineer who has been with industrial giant Gates Corporation for 25 years and is now director of Carbon Drive Systems, which produces carbon belts for bicycles. In other words, he's in a decent position to judge a perceived lack of innovation in bike parts.

????Sellden and his colleagues have been trying to address that lack. The 101-year-old Gates Corp has long made belts for various machines from cars and industrial machinery to Harley Davidson motorcycles. Now it is promoting its Carbon Drive system, which revolves around a polyurethane belt that replaces the standard metal chain. The belt does not require grease or regular maintenance, and won't rip a rider's pant leg either. On paper, it sounds like any rider's dream. But in practice, Gates will have a harder time mass-marketing the belts, which first appeared on bikes in 2007.

????The bicycle business could use a boost from some new innovation. According to a National Bicycle Dealers Association report, U.S. bike sales dropped 18% in 2011, from 13.5 million to 11 million. That's following a stellar year for the industry; the 2010 figure represented a 32% growth over 2009 sales. As for sales, the U.S. industry saw $6 billion in 2010—basically flat since as far back as 2003.

????The Gates belt is offered on models from giant brands like Trek and Specialized, but availability of those bikes pales in comparison to those with a standard chain and gear-shifting system. (The belt, initially used with single-speed race bikes, can only allow for shifting gears if paired with an internally geared hub, where the gears are in the back wheel, which limits the total number of speeds possible.)

????The product has grown nicely, beginning with two brands and four bike models and now offered on 150 models from 68 brands, but it's still scarce overall. Charlie McCorkell, owner of Bicycle Habitat in New York and a widely respected leader of the city's bike scene, says that "almost never" do people come into the store asking for the carbon belt. "The early adopters like it," he notes. "And personally, I like it. But the pricing is wrong."

????Indeed, the belt system is costly for both manufacturer and consumer. Where the average bike runs $600, a bike with the carbon drive system costs $1,000 or above. For high-end buyers, that's fine, but the mass market consists of "non-enthusiasts" who could never imagine spending that much on a bicycle.

????On the other hand, Gates has had huge success with the carbon drive system overseas, focusing on e-bikes, electrically assisted bicycles that sell well in commuter-heavy places like Europe. Even major auto companies are getting into the e-bike business: last spring, both Audi and Smart, maker of the SmartCar, revealed concepts for e-bike models of their own. "It's crazy how many e-bikes there are in Europe," says Sellden. "People use bikes for much more utilitarian purposes there, so the idea of getting to work without as much effort is appealing. I think in the U.S. we have a much more recreational mindset with bicycles. People question it, like, 'Why would you want an electrically assisted bike, isn't the whole point to get exercise?'"

????T.K. Malone, product manager for bikes at Swiss-owned brand BMC, partnered with Gates in 2010. He credits the company for advancing the belt system overall: "The early belt-driven bikes weren't super reliable. They didn't have carbon fibers running the length of the belt, they tended to stretch under pressure. If you really cranked hard, the belt would slip. Gates is just now offering enough different belt lengths and sizes that it makes it possible to do a full line of bikes where the gearing stays consistent and uses a belt." BMC is using the Gates belt in three 2012 models, two of them the Urbanchallenge and one the Masschallenge, an extremely lightweight bike. Two of the three are already sold out for the year. BMC would not provide exact sales figures but said that it has sold three times as many of the pricier belt-drive Urbanchallenge bikes than of the cheaper Urbanchallenges that have chains.

????For Gates, the obstacle is in achieving mainstream awareness. Jay Townley, of bike research firm Gluskin Townley Group, says it is the mechanics, or "shop rats" (he was one for many years) that hold the true power in any bike shop. As Townley puts it, carbon belts currently suffer from a "chicken and egg" situation tied to the price: the belt, for now, isn't well received by the rats, so there aren't as many of them in the market, thus the price is high. The scarcity also accounts for lack of awareness by buyers. And price will only come down with volume.