Originally Posted by af895
I wonder if some people prefer that over more conventional pawl/tooth systems on account of the instant response to power. Now I'll have to take apart one of the Silent Clutch freehubs while I'm at it.
From what I have read, Shimano's Silent Clutch offers 36 engagement points. No details on if they're stronger than the standard Shimano pawl designs though. I have heard some offroad riders preferring Silent Cluth due to the greater number of engagement points. Also one has to remember that number of pawls and engagement points is not the only thing of concern but also the size/strength of each engagement point as well as their dispersion. It's not always true that they're equally dispersed around the hub. Some manufacturers (Shimano included) group them so that a failure of one pawl in one arc can be backed up by another pawl.