[Closed] Silent freehub - or almost?

XTR rear hubs are silent.

I have a couple of them.
I also have a Superstarcomponents superleggera with the 120 point pick up which is a high pitch buzz but not very loud.

Had a go on a hope hub'd bike the other day. Bloody annoying as hell - how do people put up with that racket on a nice quiet ride?

hopes with plenty of grease are near silent. same for most hubs

Had a go on a hope hub'd bike the other day. Bloody annoying as hell - how do people put up with that racket on a nice quiet ride?

MTFU and keep pedaling

@clubber
is it safe to open the hope hubs myself and grease them?

thanks for your answers 🙂

DT Swiss 240 if well looked after (regularly lubricated with their light grease)

Pro II's are easy to open - just take of the end cap and pull!

dothecrux - Member

@clubber
is it safe to open the hope hubs myself and grease them?

Yes but I wouldn't put too much in them - if its silent I suspect teh pawls are not engaging fully.

for a silent hub try an alfine - totally silent

If you're able to put up with 7-speed, find an older Shimano roller clutch hub - totally silent, a bit heavier, but the freewheel will last for ever. Plus instant engagement.

greasing a hope is no guarantee of a silent freehub, hopes are loud because the ratchet mechanism is in the hub so the whole wheel acts as an amplifier. Shimano hubs have the ratchet in the freehub body which has a degree of isolation from the wheel so are quieter. They do quiten down over time though thats probably due to the pawl springs lossing some of their zing.

Yeah just read a thing or two about not wanting to overgrease. People argue it might cause pawls not to engage properly...

Another thing is the engagement.
As I understand, e.g. CK wheels have more 'clicks' per spin than e.g. Hope. It means I can engage the hub more, right?

Who else (in the Hope-cost-league) has as many clicks as e.g. Chris King?

For the record - it's for trailriding - 9/10 speed cogs...
Instant engaging on the 7-speed sounded good though 😀

I'm not suggesting overpacking with grease. my 15+ year old hope hubs are nearly silent.

@clubber
OK - thanks for the input

I love my noisy Hope hub. Feels weird riding a bike without that noise now! Saves on having a bell too!

I always use shimano rear hubs for their quiet freewheel. If I wanted my bike to make an awful racket I'd ride a motocross bike.

Whit Ind freewheels have a nice sound. Pro2 drove me mad. Hated it. Well greased Shimano's freehubs are quiet enough.

[url= http://www.trueprecisioncomponents.com/tpc-products/mtb-rear-hub/ ]These[/url]? Site says you can get them [url= http://www.edwardescamberwelllondon.co.uk/ ]here[/url], but not sure how up to date that is.

My Mavic Aksiums were quiet from the off but I've made them almost inaudible by using a combination of some white lithium grease I had lying about and a few blobs of chainsaw oil. I find the blend stops the possiblity of the grease causing the pawls to stick. The LBS mechanic suggested the use of gearbox oil but I haven't tried that yet.

Who else (in the Hope-cost-league) has as many clicks as e.g. Chris King?

[s]that hub doesnt exist.[/s] tell a lie, superstar do a hub that has a superfast engagement.

The FSA hub on my 29er is totally silent - made a slight tick when brand new

hub on my fulcrum red zones was near silent, when i attempted to replicate this on other bikes xtr seemed to be the consensus. i like the sound of the hopes but riding a silent wheel is great

Who else (in the Hope-cost-league) has as many clicks as e.g. Chris King?

edit - noticed the link is for a site in the US but you can get them here...

american classics are fairly quiet. i also have dt 240 and chris king they are both quieter than hope but you can still hear them. my dt 240 has the star ratchet 36 point engagement upgrade and it feels much better than 18 points. the chris king 72 point engagement is excellent.

dothecrux - Member

As I understand, e.g. CK wheels have more 'clicks' per spin than e.g. Hope. It means I can engage the hub more, right?

Do you think it'll matter though? For trials riding maybe but for everyday riding hub takeup isn't a big deal, as long as it's not massively slow anyway.

@Northwind - no I guess you're right thinking of my rides so far, where I don't really sense that... Just might feel it jumping to a 72-click pick-up hub 🙂 But since I don't bother now - guess I'll skip the dream of owning a £600 CK-wheelset 😉

I'll second Stoner on the XTR option.. Ti freehub body too, so un-gougable.. Ti seems to be a bit out of fashion for freehubs these days.

Another option, although it'll blow the £600 CKs out of the water is Industry 9's.. They have a CK-esque sound, but come with straight pull alloy spokes and Stans rims. They weigh one half of nothing at all.. They do standard flanged hubs too.

any terrain that requires stop/start pedalling then more engagement feels good, but isn't essential. if its mostly just steady pedalling then there is no benefit.

xt xtr or dt 1800 swiss wheels are near silent (not sure what hubs) 340 maybe?