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Ive been trying to workout through YouTube videos how the above hubs compare in terms of noise.
Currently got the DT 370 which I consider acceptably loud - and the Novatecch hub on my Hunt wheelset is similar ish which is also fine.
How do the Hope Pro4 compared with the DT Swiss 350 - both with the 18t and 36t ratchet options?
Waaay louder.
What Tom said, my friends Pro4's drown out my 350's in a big way.
I have both. The pro 4 is much much louder to the point I thought the hub was missing on the first ride with the 350. As the 370 is a pawl hub I'd imagine it is also noiser than the 350.
What you really need though is a 370 to pro 4 conversion as the 370 is substantially different to the 350.
Currently got the DT 370 which I consider acceptably loud
mmhhh.
I have two bikes with DT 370. Compared to "other" hubs: no noise at all...?
The ratchet of the DT 350 are the better design so.
Ok, thanks so far.
In which case, has anyone got experience of the Pro 4 vs a DT 370 hub? I was assuming the 350 was louder than the 370 - I found a video with a 36t ratchet in it and it sounded quite loud. But videos are really misleading!
I quite like the noise of the 370 - I could put up with a slightly louder hub - but not massively louder.
350 can barely be heard. I'm actually swapping wheels on bikes at the moment so I've got the Pro4 on the one I use for bridleway commuting, so people can her me coming!
A friend has whichever wheelset it is that comes with the 370, and it's very quiet - similar ish to the 350
Mmmmmn . Not sure what to go for then - seems I’ve got hubs at the opposite end of the spectrum on the short list.
I was looking at videos from the weekend of biking in Wales and on my mates GoPro you can’t hear his rear hub at all - and it picks up the noise of mine. My camera the freewheel is the majority of what you hear. And that’s the 370. My mate has a Zee and it’s completely silent. I wouldn’t want that, but equally I don’t want something embarrassingly noisy / shouty.
whatever you have will become normal to you within an hour....
1st ride on 350's after having Hope, I thought there was something wrong as it was so quiet.
There is a buzz but it's much less intrusive than the Hope.
Much prefer the quiet to the Hope now, especially at night when there's monsters and axe murderers to listen out for..
I wouldn’t want that, but equally I don’t want something embarrassingly noisy / shouty.
With all due respect, you are riding push bikes round in circles in the mud. Get over yourself princess.
Tom - predictable response based on what I see write, but I take your point. My wife thinks adults on bikes is ridiculous in fairness - which is probably respresentative of a huge chunk of the population.
However, I don’t know how I feel about my hubs shouting at me the whole time I’m not pedalling 😳
@groundskeeperwilly - I like my Hunt wheels so far - although they are road disc wheels rather than mtb ones. They look nice / sound good and Roll well.
I even tested the crash replacement scheme in the first few weeks of having them - I got a replacement rim within 2 days at 30% off rrp. Smashed one into the biggest pothole you’ve ever seen and slightly warped the rim - I actually bruised both toes in my shoes the impact was so hard. I didn’t get a puncture and the wheel still rolled but it was a write off.
Hope hubs are "shouty" - you are quite right to have a think about it. If you are not used to them, they are very loud in comparison - to the point that i do not want them on my bikes. But they can be silenced to certain extent with grease and that itself deadens the clickety click of the pawls by about 50% - to be acceptable but the grease eventually dissipates (months) and you;re back to square one - noisey.
I consider my Pro 4's to be an acceptable alternative to a bell on the tow paths of Manchester
I have Pro4 and agree they are awfully loud. I tell myself it's good for letting people know I'm coming but really I'm still bitter that nobody had stock of DT in Boost flavour when I needed a wheel. For me, the trick of muting the Hopes with excess grease lasts about an hour of proper riding before they're back to full volume. Not worth the extra drag of too much lube IMHO.
The trick to silencing Hope hubs is using the correct grease. The blue XHP 222 grease Hope use is very good but even when over-filled will be noisy again quickly. I use a Morris red grease and they are absolutely silent for weeks then very quiet for months. I quite like the noise on my MTB but like a silent road bike.
I think from the responses above I need to find someone local with a hope hub and follow them round a trail for a bit / see if I can have a quick go. I like the look of the hope hubs but I don’t want to upgrade my wheelset and find them really annoying.
Maybe I should go 350 with a ratchet upgrade to 36t and have done with it. Although I don’t really like the black / white graphics on them. I can’t justify the additional cost of the 240’s.
I've got a pair of ex1501 wheels coming so can record my son's hope hubs and the 240s. I personally don't find hope loud.
They sound better, a nice loud crisp click. Louder than DT Swiss, not as loud as E13
E13 are louder than Hope?!
Poah- that would be awesome if you could once you’ve got it all up and running
you'll have to wait a few days as they are coming from poland
Poah - found a good deal on them?
No worries, I’m probably at least a month away from buying hubs I’d think.
Poah – found a good deal on them?
yeah so long as you want a 26er wheel set.
Well, we all agree that the pro4 is loud at least.
I've got a pro4 and have had dt350. The 350 is WAY quieter, but you need to spend 60 quid to get near the pawl pickup of the pro 4.
In the end, I went for the ease of service and pickup of the pro4.
These JRA bitex hubs have perked my interest though.
Bike 24 have got deals on some DT wheelsets, ive had some 35mm spline 1 XM somethings. They are quieter than Hopes.
These JRA bitex hubs have perked my interest though.
they not the same as novatec hubs?
After using pro2s for years... I dont find my pro4 loud at all.. Slightly more buzzy rather than out and out loud click type sound.
If you're worried about buying hopes then have a listen to some chris King hubs in the wild. .. Hopes will be silent in comparison😉
Pro4 is a bit louder than DT 350, whether thats too loud is subjective. Been running Hope for years so have got used to it.
Apparently not poah, although I've not looked to heavily into it.
I've got wheels with Hope Pro 2 (23T), Hope Pro 2 EVO (40T) and recently had a wheel rebuilt with the Hope Pro 4 (44T) and the Pro 4 has the nicest sound of the lot. Just my 2c on it. Zero issues with any of the Hubs so far. Oldest set is 4 years old now.
I’ve currently got pro2 evos on a steel hardtail and pro4s on my full suspension. The pro2’s are way louder with a defined click whereas the pro4 is more of a loud buzz and as mentioned above definitely not as loud as e13!
@joebristol if you want to hear a pro4 in person let me know.
@joebristol I will have my Meta with me at work in central Bristol tomorrow with Hope Pro 4s on it if you want to pop in and have a listen. Or, be within half a mile of Queen's Square at about 8 and you'll hear me.
Ashweee, that would be great, are you based near / in Bristol?
Yeah I’m in Bradley Stoke so could meet locally or at Ashton court/fod.
350s are more or less silent in use off road, I was on pro 2s before and won't go back, love the silence!
This is the noise of my current freehub - you can hear it at about 15 seconds in quite clearly. So Hope is substantially louder than this by what people are saying?
theycallmejerry- thanks for the offer but I don’t think I’ll be in the centre of town at that time (unusually) tomorrow.
Ashwee - I tend to ride at Ashton Court and Leigh Woods on Wednesday nights straight after work- that may or may not work for you? If not don’t worry too much.
As stated above, DT 350’s are ratchets like the 240’s and therefore very quiet. 370’s are pawl hubs like the Hopes, they’re both of a similar loudness to my ear. Personally I’d go for the DT 350’s, quality hubs.
Easy to quieter the racket Hope hubs make, just needs more grease around the pawls to deaden the sound. I prefer the DT freehub design but a greased Hope is a good hub.
Really torn on this one at the moment. Looked up the DT Swiss 350 again and it definitely comes out more expensive than the Hope unless I missed any good deals - and then it goes up in cost even more if you want the 36t ratchet kit. Although I probably don’t ‘need’ that - I’m sure the 18t is fine.
Hi Joe, unfortunately mid week rides are awkward for me and I tend to go out in the early afternoon.
Not to worry, I appreciate the offer anyway. Definitely not out riding this weekend as I went away biking 3 days on the one just gone. May see if I can get a couple of hours tonpop out the following weekend.
You could always get some aftermarket decals for the 350's:
https://www.slikgraphics.com/collections/dt-swiss/products/dt-swiss-350-hub-decal-kit
Slight hijack but I've got a set of 350 hubs (currently on wheels) that I could split.
Hi Stevie, how old are the hubs you’ve got? My bike is a little awkward as it’s boost rear hub with an xd driver but non boost 15x100 at the front. I cheaped out on the fork when I specced it as boost was another £50 or so.
@joebristol No sweat. I'm around all day if you do find yourself down here. I'm just off Baldwin Street.
Getting tempted to just go Hope and ‘hope’ for the best that the rear hub doesn’t annoy me.
new bike came with 370's, old one had pro 4's. pro 4's are a bit louder but i prefer that anyway.
bigger thing for me is the pick up, 370 is noticeably slower than the pro 4. not really been a problem riding but it is noticeable so when i get a better set of wheels it will be pro 4's.
Pro4 hubs will be a lot louder than anything from DT. I've had Pro4, 350 and 240 hubs with the DT offerings being much quieter. Currently have I9 which are the loudest hubs I've owned with guys at the front of a group ride saying they can hear them even if I'm at the back of the group. Despite the volume. I don't really notice the noise so much over the general trail chatter.
i also have a set of Hope Pro4 road hubs and these are way quieter than the MTB version so clearly Hope can make a quieter hub.
In didn’t know they made road pro 4 hubs that were different to mtb ones. Weird that one set are quieter than the other.
I don’t want silent hubs ala Shimano, but equally don’t want to waken the dead with my freewheel either!
It's the RS4 although will be too narrow for modern MTB applications. They are comparable to DTSwiss in terms of noise I would say and I expect you could use the internals in an MTB hub. If you spoke to Hope directly they may well supply you a set of RS4 internals in a Pro4 if they can be interchanged.
What size rims are you after? I have a set of 350's boost rear- xd driver (18t ratchet), non boost front, centrelock but can add six bolt adapters. Built on 29" XM481's with silver revolutions. Rear is pretty much new, front older but still excellent condition. PM/e-mail if they are of any interest.
Afraid I’m on 650b and would like black double butted spokes - and 6 bolt! Modern bike standards are silly the number of variations. Also planning to build my own wheels which I quite enjoy doing with a cheekier thatchers gold 😃🔧🍺
No worries, thought I'd offer them cos' of the different sized hubs! +1 for building wheels though, I find it oddly therapeutic!
Indeed, after the pair of 26” ones I built for my hardtail I’ve not picked up a pair of bargain wtb i23 rims I’m going to build up just for fun (£8 each). A mate will have them or I’ll sell them on eBay. Got a £15 Planet X 15x100 hub for the front but not found a bargain on a decent back hub yet.
After hearing someone’s very loud hub at Leigh Woods on Wednesday night (I’m assuming it was Hope as the bike had a lot of bling anodised stuff on it) I think I’m now leaning towards the DT 350. Would rather have a quiet hub than one that shouts at me. I’ve also read a few posts where Hope hubs need more maintenance on the pawls and also where people have said it’s a relief to ride quieter bikes sometimes!
My brand new Pro 4 hub is very quiet. A lot quieter than the novatec hub it replaced and way quieter than the old Pro 2 hubs
Interesting - most of the feedback I’ve had ia Hope are near enough the nosiest hubs going. The one the other night could have been a Pro2 I suppose.
If your star ratchet hubs are getting 'loud'' it means they need popping out and re greasing.
Working as new they are audible but enough of a reminder to pedal without being a nuisance or annoying imo
I find loud hubs like i9 a little offensive 😉
I have 350s with the 36t ratchet and some pro2 evos. Not sure how much the pro2 and 4 differ but can do a quick video / audio clip tomorrow.
Hopes are definitely louder though.
Thanks Joe, that would be really good to compare. I had the 350 hubs in my basket online to buy earlier, but then held off. Still not sure. DT are probably more reliable but they aren’t as exciting a purchase as Hope, which are a bit more bling in my mind.
here are the sounds. when you look at the waveform graph for all three the hope is the loudest followed by the spank then the DT swiss. The tone of the hubs is also quite different. I prefer the spank.
Thanks for this Poah! Amazing.
I’m not ruling the Hope out yet after that, and hearing a couples of other bikes with Hope hubs on them in the week. Hadn’t realised a couple of the guys have Hope hubs on their bikes - and they aren’t too loud.
Not sure Spank hubs have even made it onto my short list, although they sound ok.
So really it comes down to DT reliability vs Hope - it sounds like DT have less issues. However the Hope has a quicker pickup (unless you buy a new ratchet upgrade kit for the DT) and is a little more bling imo.
Got enough money for hubs and spokes set aside, will wait until I have cash for rims too, then buy everything in one go.
spank hubs on their own are not that common on their own. I bought their wheelsets. Only put that up as I have the hubs. Hope are louder than the other two but I personally don't notice it on the trail. Never had an issue with pick up on the spank which is a 30t 3 pawl system.
I’m sure pickup isn’t even a thing I’ll notice but I’ve got to differentiate somehow. DT Swiss 350 only has 18 vs Hope’s 40 something.
get the upgrade on the 350 or just buy the hope.
Those are the options. Guess I’ll see how the mood takes me when I have all the cash for the wheelset.
I’ve just got the spokes to build a front wheel that I got bargain bits for, and the rear spokes are enroute. Once built hopefully they’ll sellnok and that’ll provide pretty much all the cash I then need.
Should be a nice set of tubeless ready budget 26”’wheels for someone. Wtb st i23 tubeless rims with black halo spokes / nipples, then an XT rear hub and a Planet X el guapo front hub. Apparently thatvfront hub is the same as the Stan’s Neo.
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the Novatec on my road wheels (actually 6 bolt MTB hubs) are loud enough that my mate complains about them 🙂
I’ve got Hunt wheels on my road bike which probably use a varient on a novatec hub. I don’t need a bell, I just freewheel.
Maybe if I’m used to that then this whole thread is irrelevant?
edit - although I often have headphones in when on the road bike, but never on the mtbs.