Fun with Athearns. (7/3 Video of GP7 run with new bands)

That's pretty much what happened with the medium sized goody's on this one. I've switched to smalls and now I just have to wait and see how they hold up.

I'll probably keep the clear ones on the GP7. They do walk but they seem to work quite well.

I'll give the F7 a go tonight. It now has the small bands and if they don't work well I'll try the black ones. I wonder if part of the problem might just be sizing.

On the Geep there appears to be the proper amount of grip and I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't crank the Geep all the way up as I was more concerned with lower speed smoothness.  From what I've read most Hi-F's do just fine going fast. 

On the F7 the grip isn't right, but I put on the small bands and I'll see how they work tonight.  I think some of the problems with the poly (do we know exactly what they're made of) "ouchless" bands is that after they stretch they don't have alot of give, so they  end up being more limited in the range of distances they can cover. My fear is that the F7 distance might be too big for the small bands and I already know it's too small for the medium bands.   

One other thing I noticed is that folks on Amazon seem to report a possible change in formulation a couple years ago. Supposedly before they would retain their stretchyness and then after a change they do what we've observed where they stretch and stay stretched out. 

As for silicone, I looked them up and silicone hair bands are actually made to break away when removed so I doubt they'd be good enough for our use.

Here's some silicone bands designed for making jewlery but I have no idea if they're more sturdy.
www.amazon.com/Latex-free-Silicone-Refill-Bands-1800pcs/dp/B00F3TKLRA/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1530654171&sr=8-17&keywords=silicone+rubber+bands

The Perfect Parts Company, anybody remember them ?
They had an assortment of rubber bands for model RR drives. Don't know if they still make them or if you could find them on evil bay?
I did find this link and it seems they are still in business.
perfectpartscompany.com/index.htm
I looked it over a little, brought back some old memories of my control line days.
Hope this helps?
T.C.

Has anyone tried any of the dealers on ebay selling HO drive belts?
Here's one I've seen several times.
www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Drive-Belt-Rubber-Band-50-ATH90101-Black-Hustler-RDC-Plow-F3-F7-GP9/132569781552?hash=item1eddc65530:g:yykAAOSw37tWDY~c
Has a couple of positive product reviews...

DO NOT USE THOSE!!

They work great for a week or two, but will literally disappear into thin air.

I had them on my Zebra, and a few weeks after tbe initial install I pulled it out of it's box and noticed 3 of the 4 were gone, as if up in smoke.