Belt-driven bicycle with a compact design that, like STRiDA, featured a belt drive. Other folding-bike manufacturers that have implemented a belt drive include U.S. company Bike Friday and Netherlands-based Bernds. In 2007, Gates Corporation developed a high-modulus synchronous belt and sprocket system called the Carbon Drive System. The belt’s pitch allowed for lower tension requirements to help prevent skipping. Lightweight, patent-pending sprockets have mud ports, openings under each tooth, which work to slough off debris. In 2009, an increasing number of bicycle companies, including Trek and "f"8 Cycles, offered belt-driven bicycles. While builders initially focused on single-speeds and internal hubs, in early
French bicycle industry for the rebirth of the French industry. In 1881, Paul de Vivie, a man of twenty-eight, bought his first bicycle, an "ordinary". By 1887, de Vivie decided to devote his attention to his avocation; he sold his business, and moved to Saint-Étienne, where he opened a bicycle shop and started a magazine, "Le Cycliste". Velocio, as de Vivie was known, began to import bicycles from Coventry; within two years, however, he had begun to produce his own bicycles. His 1889 "La Gauloise" was the first bicycle produced in France. French bicycle manufacturers have included: French bicycle component manufacturers have included: