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My e thirteen rear hub fell to pieces when I took the wheel out yesterday, it turns out that the central axle that holds the freehub body onto the rest of the hub has sheared (I'm not sure how that happens but it has). I'm still within the 5 year warranty so hopefully they agree and fix it for me but just in case I'm looking at what to replace it with.
Beyond general reliability I want it to be as quiet as possible, ideally completely silent. Options are:
1. Newmen fade which is supposedly very quiet, seems good value and is well reviewed but has fewer points of engagement than the e thirteen it'll be replacing.
2. Onyx Vesper which is completely silent, has that interesting immediate engagement but is incredibly expensive and also somewhat heavy.
I think Shimano hubs are supposed to be quiet but I have a Sram drivetrain with an XD driver so I think that rules them out.
What else should I consider?
The apparently soon to be released Tairin silent hub also looks interesting.
I have Fade hubs on my road bike. They're quiet
While I can hear my DT Swiss hubs in the stand, their noise when riding is drowned out but the tyres on dirt.
Onyx hubs are amazing - my son has one on his bmx - totally silent. He misses the sound of his old crupi quads though...
Just pedal more?
Not sure shimano are quiet, i have an XT hub on one of my wheels and it's annoyingly loud, it's hope annoying levels and i honestly try to not use those wheels as much as possible!
Onyx, well they're silent, but cost about the same as a wheelset for a rear hub!
DT Swiss is what i use, reduce the noise by making sure the star ratchet is packed with the right grease, it quietens it down, even without grease i don't get too offended by the noise, infact i use them like that, after riding on the XTs for one ride going to the DTs is almost like going deaf it's so much quieter!
I have an Onyx Vesper on my Hardtail. It's quite liberating riding with no noise. The soft engagment is awesome. Worth every penny but I wish it was cheaper.
I also have one of the old silent clutch shimano hubs as pictured above. Its still going strong on the pub bike 🙂
Hope.
(Not Hope. They must have a team working on how to keep them the luudest about. Particularly annoying when you're pushing against a headwind and can hear someone freewheeling behind you. In the next county)
Commenting just so I can see what pops up. Currently got old Hope XC on the Fargo as it's QR. With the right grease they will be quiet for a couple of hundred miles, then the buzz returns(but much less than any of their PRO or EVOs). Even that is way too much for wafting along the riverbank looking at the wildlife, it all scatters long before you get there.
Onyx are wonderful! I'm never going back to noisy hubs. I know it's unsprung weight and that's bad but the sound of silence and the lack of drag is worth it. Can't comment on price, I got mine 2nd hand off eBay - a very rare occurrence. Now I'd happily pay the extra for new.
HOPE have two noise levels. slightly overpacked they're barely louder the Shimano, minimally packed they are a fair substitute for a bell.
Onyx are wonderful! I’m never going back to noisy hubs. I know it’s unsprung weight and that’s bad but the sound of silence and the lack of drag is worth it. Can’t comment on price, I got mine 2nd hand off eBay – a very rare occurrence. Now I’d happily pay the extra for new.
This is starting to feel like the time I asked about brakes and ended up buying Trickstuff 🙈
One thing to watch with the Onyx is "pedal kickback" effects. I don't notice anything but it's a hot topic recently for some bikes and the Onyx, with the instant engagement, are likely to be more prone to this as there are no engagement gaps for drivetrain to slide back into.
I haven't noticed anything but then I am fairly insensitive to pretty much all aspects of bike setup/performance so I'm not a good barometer. Thought that might be a good reason to go for something "more cost effective" if you're concerned out the Trickstuff effect. ;o)
Adding Project 321 as a potential option although they currently are out of stock with no idea of when their quiet pawls will be available again.
Also this but its been out of stock for ages
Not sure shimano are quiet, i have an XT hub on one of my wheels and it’s annoyingly loud, it’s hope annoying levels and i honestly try to not use those wheels as much as possible!
Interesting - I also have XT and it was completely silent when new. After a few weeks/months it started buzzing a bit, now it usually buzzes quietly and is intermittent, I still get silent patches. Certainly not bothersome.
My XT buzzed when going really slow. I've since put a new one of those spider spacers in with the dip in grease that Shimano recommend and it's now completely silent. It's got a smidge more resistance than before. Maybe I over greased. But no noise!
Edit, This is the 12spd microspline hub.
The Hope hub is actually silent, but the guys at Hope added a pedalling reminder system. It’s like that “move” warning that comes up on your Garmin if you’re not waving your arms about.
Only a couple of rides on the Newmen Fades, but they are super quiet, really impressed, this is my third Newmen wheelset, they've been excellent. Not actually silent like Onyx, but super quiet - and given the cost, weight and so-so reliability of Onyz, I'll take the Newmen.
A fixed gear hub is the most silent hub easily.
Only a couple of rides on the Newmen Fades, but they are super quiet, really impressed, this is my third Newmen wheelset, they’ve been excellent. Not actually silent like Onyx, but super quiet – and given the cost, weight and so-so reliability of Onyz, I’ll take the Newmen.
Saw a bikeradar review saying they were draggy - is that the case? Or do the spin freely?
Newmens spin free. I'm now a massive fan of their kit. It really is great quality and I'm surprised they haven't got a greater foot hold in the UK market.
DT Swiss is what i use, reduce the noise by making sure the star ratchet is packed with the right grease, it quietens it down
Yes, just load the ratchet with Special red grease (Molykote TP 42), it is audibly quieter.
Jamz
Saw a bikeradar review saying they were draggy – is that the case? Or do the spin freely?
That's an old review of the Gen1 hub, which had a preload adjuster. Gen 2 ditched that, and the new Fade hub is the (almost) silent one and a totally different design. I have one of each, none of them draggy, including the first gen, I guess BikeRadar must have overtightened the preload.
Another vote for DT Ratchets with the right grease!
I’m not sure how that happens
Because e*thirteen
Interesting – I also have XT and it was completely silent when new. After a few weeks/months it started buzzing a bit, now it usually buzzes quietly and is intermittent, I still get silent patches. Certainly not bothersome.
I just don't like noise that much these days, i had Industry Nine wheels a few years back and i think they broke my spirit, so used to quiet DT hubs (greased to be quiet) that having the XT just puts me off, i've greased them as well, but still make the angry bee noise whenever freewheeling.
I have some mavic crossmax xl wheels from back in the day. Super quiet.
However it it a pain to get proprietary spokes for them.
So if you can find some that that j bend that might be ab option
Had a look at the Vesper hub, 500 quid in the UK for a hub, think the cheapest wheelset was £1100, think earplugs might be the best value for money option 😂
My current frontrunner is Tairin's upcoming silent hub which they say is coming in September.
Not sure about pricing but I'm hoping it'll be somewhere in the same range as their current hubs.