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Got a customer who wants a silent freehub and struggling to think of anything. i9 Hydra is quiet but buzzy à la Chris King.
Is an Onyx the only option?
My DTs have all been pretty quiet out of the box, if not silent.
Onyx would be the go-to but crikey are they spendy. They do have other appealing features such as the low drag and the soft start feel.
I believe Tairin and Project 321 also offer silent hubs but I'm not sure how available they are.
18t DT is pretty quiet. Most Shimano too. But if your customer wants silent and has ‘Tom Howard’ money I think Onyx is it. Sorry Tom 😀
If they have Tom Howard bike money, and patience, KOM have a sprag clutch option coming. I’ve ridden it, and if you like the soft engagement and silence of the onyx, it’s another option. Not sure how much it will be, but if you have to ask it’s probably not for you.
If they want quiet please don’t give them an i9 hydra - that’s one of the loudest buzzy things going!
DT Swiss 18t ratchet isn’t too bad as long as it’s kept greased.
Obviously avoid Hope. Hunt are very noisy - my road bike freehub could wake the dead. Nukeproof wheels I think use Novatec (or a varient of) - they are noisy.
Shimano always used to be quiet but I think they’re a mixture now depending on the model. Not sure which ones are quiet vs noisy.
I’ve got some Erase Component hubs that I find disappointingly quiet vs the Hope / Hunt / Superstar V6 hubs I’ve got. They’re also very light - but the sealing on them is rubbish. Burn through bearings in wet weather and they use expensive ones.
Onyx are the silent option but spendy.
A freshly greased DT 350 tends to be very quiet indeed, especially the 18 tooth version. The Shimano XTR's are also supposed to be very quiet but obviously, no XD option there.
The Onyx is even quieter but brings its own downsides with weight, servicing and cost, plus not everyone likes the spongy feel under power.
If they do go Onyx the general consensus seems to be to go for the Classics not the Vespers as they seem to be more reliable.
My Shimano XT was silent when new and is now still often silent, still pretty quiet though even when buzzing. A quick backpedal when buzzing is often enough to kick it back into silent mode 🙂
Onyx - wouldn't bother looking at anything else if they have the money. Mine (bought 2nd hand) is amazing.
Love a (properly) quiet bike and it feels like it has almost no drag compared to a pawled freewheel.
As others have said, you gotta spend the money and get Onyx, or go with a DT 240/350 with a lower engagement (18, maybe 24) ratchet ring and keep it well greased.
Newmen Fade is near silent. suspect they will get noisy over time, but genuinely hear nothing while rolling along on my hardtail.
If weight is an issue - the Onyx Classis is 525g, the Newmen is 240g. I think I'd sacrifice a little silence to not have three quarters of a pound more in my hub.
Omyx are not immune to a it of slippage too, I'm told.
my latest bitex hubs for a gravel wheelset are nice and quite.
Neman if you want the quietest pawl based free hub, onyx if you have the cash. I'm sure that there's a European (Polish?) alternative to onyx who also does a sprag clutch freehub, but can't remember who they are....
Road bike company called l'evel? Are doing a light weight 5 spoke carbon wheel that's silent. 4:40 ISH into the vid below.
I had a thread somewhere about how I Scylenced my XTR hub, it ticks gently at walking pace then goes silent above that speed.
My 18t DT 350 is really quite, not noticeable when riding, my 36t 240 is noisier but not overly loud. There quieter the more often they're greased.
Thanks everyone. The reason he wants a quieter hub is that his wife’s friend objects to his noisy Roval and makes him ride 20 yards behind!!!
My slx is silent.
I had a Kona Hei Hei DL a few years back (maybe 2019) and that came with a Stan's wheel set and the hubs on that were close to silent. Stan's branded hubs, but don't know which exactly. Wish I'd kept them as they made my hardtail nearly silent
Edit. Was a 2016 (yikes!)and they are listed as Novatec, but I'm sure they were at least branded Stan's
Shimano XTR 'sylence' I think they call it - really is silent. Got them on my Gravel bike.
The same hub his Wife's friend has?
The reason he wants a quieter hub is that his wife’s friend objects to his noisy Roval and makes him ride 20 yards behind!!!
The best upgrade is probably to stop riding with the wife's friend. Or pedal more.
I think I'd be finding the buzziest Hope Hub just for a laugh.
Onyx gets some stick about the weight but the vesper is 370g which puts it on par with hope or dt350. I've found my Vesper to be reliable, well sealed and easy to service.
No getting away from the price though.
Probably not much use now unless someone else makes them to the same design/pattern, but I've got American Classic hubs on my old 26" and they are silent.
I could swear that I still have my old shimano LX flangeless hub, which is silent, but i cant find it now. I was considering building it up as my hope hub warns the wildlife to my presence, but its V brake only which limits its usefulness, as does it being 8speed
The only one i can see online is the RO80
Shimano generally aren't noisy. Older XT's and you can hear a faint tick. My old Dura Ace is silent - you just can't hear the tick unless the bike is on the stand and you listed carefully.
Onzadog
Onyx gets some stick about the weight but the vesper is 370g
408 fr a 6-bolt 32h XDR vesper according to their site, but only 440 for the classic - they must have revised it, old search results have 525 for the classic.
Still a big gap to Hope (313g) and DT 350 (248g)
I had a Fulcrum hub that was really quiet when the hub was new - it's a bit clicky now and has annoying habits like the endcaps unscrewing with time, making the freehub go lose and gearshifts become off
Shimano are generally very quiet but sprags are a whole other level. I have an old sub-LX Silentclutch and it's amazing, I'd spend the money on another sprag if I was in the market.
Onyx is amazing, got second hand Classic hub for my sons bike and I’d love to get one for my bike too. I’m always thinking that I have dropped him while he is stealthily coasting just behind.
Unfortunately Superboost versions are even more expensive and I have pay for my dentists yacht this year.
Good point, whatever did happen to those Shimano Scylence hubs? They never cane out in the end. Silent hubs are about to be the next most popular thing so it would be a food time for them to release them!
American Classic here - absolutely silent, because it has a nifty mechanism to retract the pawls once it starts freewheeling. Not sure if they're still available - don't seem to see them any more.
I'd love an onyx hub
DT ratchet hubs are the quietest hubs I have.
I had a Fulcrum hub that was really quiet
I've got a set of Fulcrum wheels on my Diverge, and the rear hub is silent.
Another vote for Newmen hubs. I have had a Newmen wheelset on my Propain for the last year and a half and the hub is significantly quieter than any other hubs I have seen.
Someone mentioned the flange-less shimano hubs earlier...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256129304642
Quite tempted to bid on those myself, to go on my old singlespeed as it has a disc brake on the front, and a V brake on the rear....
My XT M756 are still pretty quiet. I have a 105 hub that's a quiet but pleasing buzz.
I don’t think there’s anything quieter than a Bendix Coaster Hub 😉
Obviously not an option, but my alfine is so silent it's almost spooky. It's a good job I still have my panniers rattling around to warn pedestrians else I'd have to fit a bell!
Bendix coasters - Because they have nothing inside apart from a gert big Bendix thread that bites the side of the hub to go forward 🙂
Does that count as one or infinite points of engagement?......
Another vote for Newmen Fade, I got a pair in the sales from Germany a few months ago and they're brilliant. Now I've got a silent rear hub I loathe the noise from my Pro 4/Hunt/DT 350's.
Someone mentioned Stan's, the set I have (330?) are as loud as Hopes...
Newmen Fade is very quiet. Came as standard on my Cube road bike.
Bitex hubs on my JRAs are pretty quiet. They're just standard pawl hubs, as are the Newmen Fades.
What makes a pawl hub quieter? Aside from grease instead of oil.
Would you consider this an accurate impression of how quiet it is?
I think I read that nukeproof did a hub that could run loud or quite. It was in my possibles list but ended up with Hunt's.
Fulcrum +another
Definitely not my WTB tho 🙂
DT on a 18T ratchet are very quiet, but quite laggy. My heavy duty wheels had them but had to swap after using the 36T for 6 months in my other wheelset.
Nukeproof Horizon do have a set of quiet pawls, but have to be bought separately. Not tried them as the standard ones aren't too bad, but then I've had 20+ years on Hopes of various generations.
bikesandboots
Would you consider this an accurate impression of how quiet it is?
My Fade sounds nothing like that, it's more or less silent, can hear a little tick in the stand, eerie silence while riding.
Although I see Chris King has the same. I could believe that it's at least as effective as the green seal on the Hope Pro 4. And Tairin is from BC so they must have considered this.