[Closed] Why do people *want* noisy hubs?

So walkers hear you on the tracks.

Cos those daft timber bells would do my nut in.

I'd happily run a silent hub. What are my options?

I imagine it can mask a variety of other annoying noises from a badly tuned bike.

Yep I do t get it either, I’ve had silent hubs in the past and now appears impossible to get quiet ones

Love my Onyx Vesper on the hardtail. Pick up is too quick for the bouncy bike though.

Love my timber bells.

I like the noise it makes, pedestrians can hear it (in addition to the bell) and it masks the squeaking noise from my back wheel that I haven't fixed yet.

To give braindead pheasants a hope of heading away from their and my danger, instead of darting out of the hedge just ahead of me while I'm freewheeling at 20-40mph.

I cannot be the only one thinking this.

Simply because walkers & horse riders know I'm there - far more effective than a bell.

Can I hear the hub?

YES: ok, must be not pedalling, probably going downhill

NO: ok, must be pedalling, probably going uphill

YES A BIT BUT I THOUGHT I WAS PEDALLING: probably time to change gear

Works for me but YMMV I suppose.

Ah, it starts to make sense now.

See, I don’t have the same issue as others on here when it comes to walkers. Near constant screams of terror as I negotiate features seem to clear the way most of the time, and I have a timber bell for when that doesn’t work.

Because they are mentally unhinged.

I don’t. I’m happy enough with a Hope Pro 2 on the MTB, because that’s kind of noisy anyway with a bit of chain rattle, buzz from nobbly tyres and squishes and slurps from suspension. Most of my riding is more like sightseeing by bike, and silence adds hugely to that. Sounds of the river, birds, the stuff you went out to see and hear. A bell works fine to alert people I’m approaching, but more often than not there’s room enough to go round and I’ll just waft by.

I almost caused a jogger to jump into the river a few days ago, there was plenty of room to pass but he wasn't expecting me. My bike is well silent.

Because some people like the sound of it.
The same way some mentally unhinged people like grabby brakes that leak and need replacing frequently.
Or levers that randomly pull to the bars.
Etc

Because they sound good.

I assume joggers and lone walkers all have earbuds in these days, so wouldn’t hear you on a tandem with two Hopes out back and five playing cards buzzing the spokes.

I’d happily run a silent hub. What are my options?

Pedal you lazy bastard 😀

It’s a sign of wealth !! Noisier the hub the richer you are 🙂 See/listen to Chris king Hubs etc

Did you never attach a playing card to your forks so it would click on the spokes going past? 'Grown up' version innit.

It is genuinely good for alerting walkers also, a bell feels rude and annoying in a non-urban setting and can be a shock - the hub sound is noticeable but doesn't just appear from nowhere.

the hub sound is noticeable but doesn’t just appear from nowhere

Surely that depends on when you stop pedaling.

I don't mind a bit of noise but I sometimes get a bit embarrassed by my pro 2's if I'm riding some where really quite and I just want to roll for a bit.

I’d happily run a silent hub. What are my options?

Fixie.

My old Claude Butler pub bike has Shimano Altus which is silent.

It’s a sign of wealth !! Noisier the hub the richer you are 🙂 See/listen to Chris king Hubs etc

Have you seen the price of Onyx?

Not had a silent hub since a very old XTR one. If someone made one that was robust and affordable I’d choose it.

I love a silent hub

It gives me an idea of how fast I'm going when my eyes are shut.

They're great for letting my pal know I'm not trying when riding behind him on the trails.

I also like how they seem to annoy others, I don't really hear them anymore, must tuned them out.

Also let's you know that all the pawls are working and you're not about bash your nuts on the stem.

They (used to) let others know you had a more expensive hub.

Most common hubs on my bikes are Deore and they're pretty quiet, this is because I'm poor/ tight.

Well serviced Chris King hubs aren’t particularly loud, but the sound is very different to normal hubs. Like a mechanical angry bee if you backpedal. But certainly not as loud as a Pro2 or an I9

I love a noisy hub, and a silent too, duplicitous bastard.

Shimano altus +1

I think there's a bit of a scale from silent, to obnoxiously loud buzzing. Personally I like them to be towards the bottom third of the scale, not silent but not like a tin can full of angry hornets. A well used Shimano generally makes about the right noise for me...

I agree it helps those 'in the know' identify your income bracket simply by how audible you are when freewheeling.

It's quite funny riding with my youngest, my current Deore rear hub is about half the volume of the almost 20 years old, spares bin Bulb fitted to her bike. She likes the "clickyness" but then she is under ten and also enjoys competing with her Dad to see who can ping their bell the loudest...

My new hub, Stans is a bit on the noisy side for me... but not a lot i can do about it. I don't necessarily 'want' it.... but it's what i have.

The purpose of noisy hubs is to alert the slow ****s ahead of me that someone important is being held up by them and they need to GET OUT OF MY WAY! *

*may not be actually factually correct.

As above BITD noisy hubs = Chris King = Bling = Envy.

I ride in the Cairngorms, there are lots of randoms about. A Pro4 hub is a relatively discreet way of alerting them that a bike is coming up behind them. Plus, I’m fine with that level of noise, you on,y hear it when you’re not pedalling, there’s a solution to that....

I’ve a mate who was pretty rapid on the downs, he used to sit behind you and ping his bell continually all the way until you let him past. Now That Is ****ing annoying... 🤪🤣

Built my son a wheel with used Onyx hub, sneaky silent thing and one definitely needs a bell for bike with those hubs.

I like freehub noise just as a sort of reassurance of a well engineered freehub mechanism!

When the freehub is quiet or intermittent it gives me the fear that something is going to go wrong.

DT 350 seems the best compromise, lovely, precise but relatively quiet clicks

Cause they sound nice I guess

There's been research done on the rattlesnake's rattle (bear with me on this), apparently it will increase the frequency of the rattle to trick humans into thinking it's much nearer than it really is.

With a nice clicky hub, just do a quick backspin or two and the tone of the clicks increases and walkers think you are much nearer than you are.

I'd love an Onyx hub for the fat bike because of the near zero engagement but they are the same cost as a full wheelset.

Not keen on the real noisy ones, but then I'm riding a Hope Pro 4 so I am sounding like a right grumpy old man. I do think when they first started making an appearance it was done as a way of showing off, but now most hubs are making noises, they do make an effective way of alerting other trail users of your presence.

Interesting to listen to the junior section riders talk about them, they are all desperate for the noisiest/loudest rear wheel they can get their hands on - unclear on why but the noisier and the more it sounds like a tin of angry bees and it seems to get their approval!

As above BITD noisy hubs = Chris King = Bling = Envy.

And on road bikes these days you can still often tell how expensive someone's wheels are by the volume and timbre of noise the hubs make.

In N America I like that when you ride by with buzzy hubs the cicadas start up, as if you're some hot female cicada just flying through 😀

Industry Nine Hydra hubs on my Canyon Lux - 690pts of engagement - it's so loud I followed Industry Nine suggestions that said you can lube with pro x grease if you wanna reduce the noise - for me it was just too loud.

Nothing a little dab of light grease or thick oil cant quiten down. I'm in the nice and quiet category too.

It’s a sign of wealth !! Noisier the hub the richer you are 🙂 See/listen to Chris king Hubs etc

Or you ride Scribe / Hunt 😀

The DT350s on my FS and gravel bikes is nearly silent, my DT240 on my road bike is slightly noisy and an awful lot quieter than my mates DT370, the Fulcrum Racing 3 on my CX bike is like the DT350's. I much prefer the sound or lack of from these types of hub.

Weirdly, I kept reading this as "Why do people *want* noisy pubs?" and wondered why it wasn't in the Chat Forum.

Agreed, I thought. At 51 I like a nice quiet pub.

Like my noisy CK and Hope hubs, also like quiet pubs

I find doing a big skid is more effective at alerting walkers.

I much prefer the sound of the Hope Pro 2 hub on my trials bike than the near silent Deore hub (with 3 engagement points or fewer) on my commuter/mtb. The Hope is a lot more confidence inspiring, whereas I regret not getting a better hub than the Deore for the commuter.

Good for group road rides, if you're on the front and hear people's free wheels you're not pedalling hard enough!

I find doing a big skid is more effective at alerting walkers.

Possibly tongue in cheek, but I would say that was very anti-social and completely unnecessary.

I once had a customer at Evans who bought a Specialized full sus with Roval wheels who was adamant that the rear hub was faulty because it made a noise. No matter what was said or by who he would not accept that his new freehub was in perfect working order. He eventually left, making a huge fuss that he didn't like what he was being told. He ended up making a formal complaint to HO that we must have sold him a pup and didn't want to do anything about the "obvious fault"

I don't think people necessarily want noisy hubs, I think they just accept that as part of design of the thing. Having said that,I don't think it does any harm to "tune" the noise a hub to make to sound the way people want.

I quite like the sound of my i9 hydra hubs... high pitched buzz...
Just the right amount of annoying!!!

DrP

I don’t think people necessarily want noisy hubs

I do, I like it and specifically choose noisy hubs over quieter ones.

combination of pre-warning to other trail users arguably better than a bell IME, along with probably my perception of quality having been drawn into the Hope freehub noise from my XC hub days (still going strong!).

Quiet freehubs just sound wrong and broken 🙂

When my mate bought a Bronson after having an Orange 5 with a very noisy Hope hub he wasn’t happy, & asked Bike Scene if they could put some extra ‘clicktion’ in the hub that was on. They couldn’t of course but they did replace the bearings after about 8 rides.

I'd love silent hubs but they usually cost a fortune. I'm not sure if I've just got used to them but I don't find the hope hubs I have that loud.

BITD when hubs were pretty much Shimano/Suntour/campag hubs sounded pretty much all the same as far as I remember. Then the more boutique stuff came along like Hope and they tended to sell on quicker engagement, lots of CNC pawls etc which naturally sounded different. Maybe it’s because they have sealed bearings on top of that which makes them sound louder too?
Anyway the sound of a louder hub showed everyone that you were riding with an expensive hub. Nowadays it’s almost a comforting sound of quality to many but I can see why it might be annoying.
I’d like a silent hub on my gravel bike, what are the options?

Depends on the bike. A clicky road bike would drive anyone nuts. Someone in the road club has a set of wide/deep carbon rims that really echo, and a Bontranger hub. It is the most irritating thing ever.

Off-road, I kinda like it. It gives a nice perception of how fast you're going and it's just a noise I associate with bikes and good times.

My commuter messes with my head though. It's got a Halo Clickster with 72PoE which just makes it sound like you're going twice as fast as you are.

BITD when the choice was either a Suntour or Shimano freewheel (BMX) the a quiet roll was a sign that you'd bought the good one. Noisy was bad and I still subscribe to that. Noise just sounds cheap like it's not been very well engineered.

I've had Hope hubs on all my bikes for years but have just switched the Starling to Onyx and it's soo nice. Just the sound of the tyres on the trail and the rattling of the chain - that I need to do something about and fit the VHS tape I bought the other week.

I find doing a big skid is more effective at alerting walkers.

Possibly tongue in cheek, but I would say that was very anti-social and completely unnecessary

Yeah tongue in cheek. But have done it a few times. Usually it's when there's a group (6+) walking side by side taking up the entire width of a shared cycle/pedestrian path. And not a big skid, just a little one, and from several metres back, just to alert them rather than scare them!

I recently bought a set of 26in wheels off a mate for one of my old bikes. It's a Hope Pro2 hub and is noisier than my new-ish Hope Pro4 hub, it makes a right racket. At least the cat knows when I'm home, she's sat by the gate waiting for me!
I used to have one of the silent Shimano ones, I much preferred it tbh.

Because you can roll very, very, very, gently, freewheeling as quietly as possible, on a smooth tarmac path, doing your best to be very, very, very quiet, through a nature reserve and watch an entire film crew and sound team slowly turning to work our what the clicking is and then realising that another take is required. Sorry chaps, but it was a public space and both me and the mrs have hope xc hubs.

I don't like noisy hubs, but I do like a big skid to alert dozy ramblers.

Normally when they don't hear the hub I wake them up with a skid and grin like I'm on day release 🙂
My missus just yells "Bike" at them and they scatter.

Don’t like silent hubs, don’t know why.
I do like the noise my pro4s make and sometimes it can indicate that they might need a bit of a service if the tone of the buzz changes, need grease, need a clean, need a new pawl/spring.

Funnily, I only hear the buzz when I’m coasting on the flat, don’t notice it when I’m flying down a hill.

For my road bike I bought some 105 hubs. I was expecting silence like my other Shimano hubs, they have a very pleasant quiet tick.

My pro2 evos and pro 4 sound nice. The sound doesn't bother me when riding as there are too many other noises to notice.

Like silent hubs, have a silent clutch on my beater as well. If I'm on a downhill trail it doesn't bother me but if I was in the middle of the country scaring all the wildlife away in a two mile radius that would annoy me.

Industry Nine hubs are the work of the devil.
They make Hope hubs sound quite soothing.

Yes Schmiken, my first thought too. The disappearance of that hub from the classifieds has had a negative effect on the balance and harmony of the universe.

I don’t think people necessarily want noisy hubs, I think they just accept that as part of design of the thing.

That’s the thing which had me confused though. I lot of threads that start with “what do you think of XYZ hubs?” and the most prominent response is “it’s not noisy enough” / “they’re nice and noisy”. No mention of performance. I was wondering if there was a technical reason behind this I.e. more noisy = more better, but by the sounds of things it’s just a personal preference, with a healthy pinch of Hopes are both bloody good hubs, and bloody good at letting everyone else know that you bought Hope.

Crackle maps for bikes innit.

I like a noisy hub. Sounds cool.

Love the sound of a hub. Have Hope pro something or other and find it quite relaxing. It’s the noise a bike is supposed to make in my mind and an aural companion on ride.

Industry Nine hubs are the work of the devil.
They make Hope hubs sound quite soothing.

Industry Nine Hydra hubs on my Canyon Lux – 690pts of engagement – it’s so loud I followed Industry Nine suggestions that said you can lube with pro x grease if you wanna reduce the noise – for me it was just too loud.

I was disappointed with how quiet my Hydras were, I replaced the grease with freehub oil to increase the volume.

After hearing some Pro4s on YouTube I thought they were obnoxiously loud and sought to avoid them, but after hearing them for real the noise became an irrelevance; neither a pro or a con. Having used them for a while, the noise is quite useful as a "level 1 warning" to other trail users.

I saw someone pass the other day with completely silent hubs, just the sound of tyres and suspension dampers, it was quite nice and probably something I'll consider in future.

My 2 year old 12 speed xt hub is now totally silent, had the lbs have a look at it and madison said it was normal

Industry Nine hubs are the work of the devil.

Someone in our group nicknamed them Industry Annoying.

I was disappointed with how quiet my Hydras were, I replaced the grease with freehub oil to increase the volume.

did the same, would be happy still if they were a bit louder. i don't think they are any louder than pro 4's just a differant sound.

to assert dominance over the lesser peseants

I ran a pro2 for a couple years, hated it.

I thought I liked noisy hubs until I followed a friend pushing their bike up. I like the noise when riding but after about 10mins of pushing the noise was winding me up.

I’ve just got a new wheel with Bitex hub, it’s a bit noisier than my original wheel but not obnoxious at all - I wouldn’t want any louder out of choice though.

I like them because I have a tiny winkle, and the noise distracts me from thinking about it all the time.

But honestly, it's all about psychoacoustics.

I like a Hope hub because it's what i'm used to. Riding with less engagement just doesn't cut it, and I think i associate the noise with a solid positive engagement.

A good example is the noise a car door makes 'symbolises' the perceived quality, solidity and safety of the vehicle.

Riding with less engagement just doesn’t cut it, and I think i associate the noise with a solid positive engagement.

Perceived it is though, as my Bitex hub is a fair bit quieter but with quicker engagement. 1.5 degrees betterer apparently.