Trek District

The District is being branded as a commuter bike, which it would be great as. The belt drive means that there is no greasy chain to eat your pants as you dodge traffic. The single speed makes it simple and reliable. But what about those that want to simplify it even more and go fixed gear? Fixie inc is the only fixed gear belt drive that I know of, but I have often wondered how easy it would be to make the District into a fixie. Here is the reply I got from Trek.

TD: I’m sure you already know that the style of the District appeals to the fixie crowd. How easy would it be to convert to a fixie?

TREK: Only factor limiting this is a compatible rear hub and cog. There are some companies out there that are working on this, including Trek. Currently, though, it’s not possible to convert to fixed gear with parts available through Trek. If other companies have them available already, then you could use their parts to switch over.

TD: It sounds like the rear cog just slips over a Shimano freehub body. If this is the case, could you just use the Surly Fixxer to convert it to a fixed gear?

TREK: Can’t guarantee that the Fixxer would work with the stock hub, as this isn’t a Shimano hub (it’s Formula). As long as the belt cog was compatible with the converter, it could work. There are some really cheep looking belt drive freewheels out there as well. There’s a folding bike company called Strida that has been using belt drive for years and has drive train parts available.

TD: What is the rear spacing?

TREK: Spacing is 135mm in the rear, 100mm front. (not 120mm track).

With that in mind, it seems like a simple conversion to a fixie may not exist. Of course you could always re-lace the rear wheel with a different hub and you would be in business. Any other ideas?

Something tells me that Trek will be working on solving the problem with some in house solution if the demand is high enough. I know I would love a flip flop belt drive hub.