[SPCorBUST]

Originally Posted by kombatlion

I am really looking at this kit, but I am a little worried about the broken belts issue, are the belts expencive? are they easy to install?

if you read through the entirety of this thread, nearly all of the issues with this kit are belt related. personally i think its because of the dance owners have to play between whether the belt is too damn tight or too damn loose, having to settle for loose and loud, or tight and quiet but prone to snapping.

either way, you can look at the belt system with this kit as either the unique benefit or the critical flaw. this owner's thread has, unequivocally, more reports of snapped belts than any of the other kits. now is that representative of the entire body of customers? probably not, since we'll never know if the issues reported relative to the whole is more or less than average. however simply comparing this thread to other owner's kit threads, the frequency certainly says something, you can decide exactly what that is for yourself.

replacement belts are about $70 and are moderately easy to install, maybe a bit more difficult if you didn't install the kit yourself and/or aren't very handy. i'd look at belts as more of an ongoing maintenance cost for this kit considering how frequent they've been reported snapping. that being said, some folks haven't put too many miles on the kit so they haven't broken any belts, and some folks have put a lot of miles on the kit and still haven't broken any belts. conversely, some folks didn't put many miles at all on the kit and broke a belt, or put a lot of miles on the kit and then broke a belt. (or two or three)

the first owners have had this kit for just over a year now, so the vast majority of owners have less than one year of ownership under their belts. as a whole, owners are still in the learning/honeymoon phase of ownership - IMO there simply hasn't been enough time to expose any issues from long term ownership. to get the best picture of ownership so far and get an idea of the potential issues, start by reading the entire thread, and maybe asking about the experience from owners with the most miles and longest ownership. (you can find oldest from the first page)

i'd forego asking newer owners about their experiences in favor of those who have had the kit for longer and/or put more miles on their kit, and if you're cross-shopping kits, try to research or compare the kit's components as well.