Actually, according to suppliers I've spoken with, what we're being asked to pay for is
corporate greed. In this case Ryobi's greed, as they've refused to provide much
information to consumers and suppliers in order to force them to use and provide only
Ryobi OEM parts. I'd bet they sold at least 100,000 of these sanders, each one with a
drive belt. Does that sound like a a rarity? Graingers sells similiar looking belts
for $3-4.00, which is about what they are worth.

I tried Ryobi to see if they would let me have a free belt...no luck there, I'll next go
to the local Graingers to see if I can match up with a $4 belt.

John




Hate to bust the balloon, but you're paying for rarity, not weight.






"jbclem" wrote in message ...
I have a Ryobi belt sander that uses a Bando S4.5M drive belt (with cogs on the
inside).
The web sites I've checked are selling this belt for $15 to $20. This is a small belt
about 4 1/2 inches long. These prices seem to be way on the high side, I know that
much
larger automotive fan belts wholesale for $1-3.00. I'd like to find somewhere to
purchase this belt, or a generic version, for a price that reflects its real value.
Anyone know about this?

John