Well, I've done about 5 miles on a hub which has had the spring removed and all seems fine. Unfortunately the experiment is diluted by the fact that I converted from grease to oil (ATF) lubrication at the same time. I was expecting some improvement with the switch to oil but I wasn't expecting the sound of the pawls to almost disappear completely as it has done. I can still feel the grinding in some gears but the hub is nearly silent, which is quite remarkable. I was expecting a lot of oil leakage from the ball cage bearing area but there's been none whatsoever.
It seems to me that those who say these modern hubs don't run well on oil are mistaken, it's just necessary to seal the shell where the press fit join is and to put ptfe tape around the ball ring threads.
Last edited by chagzuki; 03-25-13 at 05:10 PM.