High-end road bikes : very noisy freewheeling - why?

[fossyant]

Shimano are generally very quiet. Mavic, slightly noisy, Formula a bit more, Superstar V6 bloody noisy angry bees, Hope Insane very angry bees. Noisy ones have an advantage off road, alerts pedestrians that you are coming.

 

[wafter]

Noisy freehubs have become something of a status symbol, with owners regaling others in the volume of their hubs. My understanding of the technicalities of it are that higher-end hubs have more pawls and engagement points, which supposedly improves drive take-up and torque throughput. One of my MTBs is a bit loud but my gravel bike and road bike are near-silent.

I'm not sure that noise is consistant with a greater number of engagement points; if anything I'd have considered that they might be inversely proportional as more pawls will give a greater overall engagement; meaning for a given level of engagement smaller pawls, less displacement and less force driving them into the body of the hub in order to make noise. Lubrication is also an issue, obviously.

Personally I think noisey hubs have just been used as a marketing tool to drive profit off the backs of those who feel the need to draw attention to themselves. I much prefer the lovely quiet Deore hub on my Fuji, or the heavily-greased Shimano freewheel on my Routier to the really intrusive, grating rattle from the Formula item on my Genesis.

Tbh the first thing I think of when I see another cyclist with some ridiculously loud freehub is "bellend"..

 

[Mazz]

DT-Swiss have just brought this onto the market to pimp your ride "up to 11"...😆

 

[the_mikey]

Tbh the first thing I think of when I see another cyclist with some ridiculously loud freehub is "bellend"..

How do you know you'll be getting a quiet freehub? I've not owned a "quiet" freehub in a very long time, aside from a pair of cheap shimano wheels that weren't very nice, and fell apart after hitting a pothole once.

 

[Mo1959]

I prefer a quiet hub. Makes it easier to hear traffic too.

 

[matticus]

How do you know you'll be getting a quiet freehub? I've not owned a "quiet" freehub in a very long time, aside from a pair of shimano wheels that weren't very nice, and fell apart after hitting a pothole once.

Either buy Shimano, or
Start a forum thread for suggestions.
Simples!

 

[Jody]

Hope Insane very angry bees. Noisy ones have an advantage off road, alerts pedestrians that you are coming.

Exactly why I opted for Hope on the MTB. I wouldn't want a loud hub on a road bike though.

I'm not sure that noise is consistant with a greater number of engagement points; if anything I'd have considered that they might be inversely proportional as more pawls will give a greater overall engagement; meaning for a given level of engagement smaller pawls, less displacement and less force driving them into the body of the hub in order to make noise. Lubrication is also an issue, obviously.

Tbh the first thing I think of when I see another cyclist with some ridiculously loud freehub is "bellend"..

It seems to be the greater number of engagements means it turns more from a clack/click (Hope - 4 pawls) to a buzz (Industry Nine - 6 pawls) with both as noisy as each other

 

[T4tomo]

a noisy freehub paired with deep section carbon rims, gives you a "buzz" when freewheeling and a "whoosh whoosh" when pedalling!

 

[fossyant]

6 pawls on my Superstars, very noisy even wheeling it out of the garage !

 

[ColinJ]

I found the solution to the problem...






... I got old and lost 50% of my hearing!

I used to be annoyed by some of my noisier freehubs but hardly notice them now. Unfortunately, many pedestrians don't either, often because they are wandering about deafening themselves with earbuds/headphones.

 

[Jameshow]

People who don't adjust their chain line so it's not sitting right on the cassette or rubbing the front mech really irritates me! I guess bike mechanics doesn't come easy to some people!

 

[Lookrider]

I swapped out an 18 DT Swiss ratchet for a 36 mainly fir the faster pedal pick up at 10° instead of the clunky pick up at 20° of the 18
It's not noisier but a lot more ( twice) clickier ...I actually like the sound and pedal backwards to amplify it ....this is all on a MTB bike but the rd bike I have is more qwiet
And I kinda prefer the noisy one
I mentioned this to a dedicated cyclist and he reckons the noisy ones are from the pro racers so if someone is breezing along in 2nd or 3rd say ...he can be heard free wheeling whilst the front guy is pushing hard ...therefore the noisy rider gets into his head by saying
I'm still here and freewheeling ?? Whilst you push hard !!

There's also the flip side to that theory and pro riders like a quiet hub so as the front rider is unaware he is there right behind him ?
No idea if these are true or not as I'm not up there with pro racers

 

[Dogtrousers]

a noisy freehub paired with deep section carbon rims, gives you a "buzz" when freewheeling and a "whoosh whoosh" when pedalling!

I think the "carbon" bit is significant. I think carbon fibre components tend to act as resonators amplifying the noise more than metal ones do.

 

[ColinJ]

I think the "carbon" bit is significant. I think carbon fibre components tend to act as resonators amplifying the noise more than metal ones do.

I first became aware of that when being overtaken by swarms of fitter riders on expensive bikes on one big sportive. I could hear them coming from way back, despite my iffy hearing!

Some of the row sounded like creaking BB30 bottom brackets though.

 

[MichaelW2]

I have used quiet Shimano and clippety-clop Campagnolo freehubs and dont mind which.