Abstract: A belt conveyor idler has a rigid U-shaped channel which is fixedly mounted on a pair of spaced supports. A rigid strip of a low-friction material, such as a high molecular weight polyethelene, is fixedly mounted within the channel and extends transversely across the path of a conveyor belt for slidably supporting the conveyor belt. The channel and strip of low-friction material each have a complementary catenary configuration for the load-bearing troughing run of the conveyor belt, and a straight horizontal configuration for the return run of the belt. Belt retainer blocks are formed of the same low-friction material as the channel strip and are mounted on the ends of the channel strip to prevent excess sideways movement of the belt. The low-friction strips may be formed with a plurality of transverse slots to reduce the contact surface between the belt and strips. The idlers for both the troughing and return belt runs are free of any moving parts, yet provide a low-friction support for the conveyor belt.