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How do they compare to Hopes?
In my opinion, they're better. Hope pawls are directly behind a seal, which inevitably leaks and the ratchet mechanism gets filled with mud. The Hope freehub also needs two bearings, which are huge, heavy and an absolute sod to replace. The DT Swiss 370 pawls are on a stub that extends inside the freehub and has a bearing on the end, so the ratchet mechanism is out of the way of mud and the single bearing in the freehub is easy to replace.
Most replacement parts are available and, though the freehubs are scary expensive, you don't need to replace them unless they get badly scored by a cassette or until the ratchet wears out. All bearings are standard SKF part numbers so are available from a thousand different bearing suppliers on eBay.
Ian
That's possibly the most informative reply ever seen on the internet, thank you.
What's the engagement on them like? (And the sound, if I can be a tart for a bit)
🙂
Engagement's about the same as a hope but they're way quieter. I was out running at the weekend and a Hope hubbed bike came up behind me on the trail - I heard him long before he passed me and stepped neatly aside for him.
I pack the freehubs of my 370s with grease and they're utterly silent.
I have DT hubs, old Onyx? and 370. Great hubs. As have been said real easy to sort out if you need to and very quiet. Hopes are just to flippin noisy for my liking.