Fixing rear-wheel puncture on belt-drive bike I just bought a bike that has a Gates Carbon belt drive and am wondering what I will need do to remove the rear wheel when I get a puncture in my rear tyre away from home.

The dropout looks like this:




The centre part of the dropout on this side of the bike (and not the left side) is clearly removable. The rear of this removable dropout has a triangular shape that wedges it in place.

My guess is


Disconnect brake cable to allow room for tyre to pass them.
Disconnect shifter cable from hub.
Do nothing with the belt tensioner? Loosen it?
Loosen nuts holding rear axle.
Remove two recessed Allen (hex) bolts from removable dropout
Pull the frame apart slightly so the dropout can move forward?
Move the belt out of the way through the now open slot in the frame.
Pull the wheel out rearwards.


I don't like step 3 a lot. I've read the belt tension is important and I'm not confident of getting it correct when replacing the wheel. But if I don't loosen the belt tension first, step 6 may cause damage.

Is this procedure correct?
It looks good except I think you will have to loosen the tensioner. You won't have to spread the frame. When the recessed allen head bolts are removed you risk damage to the very end of the threads due to the belt tension. It is unlikely you can reinstall the tensioning assembly with tension on the belt. Due to the complexity of this kind of flat repair you may want to consider some type of puncture prevention be it tires, tire liners etc. I have used a technique of repairing a puncture without removing the wheel. In this case a rider on my local trail had a flat, bolt-on wheels, and no wrench.  You flip the bike upside down. Work one edge of the tire off the rim. Pull out the tube and patch and replace as usual.  Instead of working your hands around the wheel you spin the wheel as you work your way around. It appears in the photo that you may not have to remove the shifter cable. There may be enough slack to work it around the frame and effect the repair.