Originally Posted by
Badger6
There are two theories.
1) The loud hubs help raise awareness of your presence and thus are safer than the ultra-quiet hubs, letting pedestrians, motorists and scooter riders know of your presence, and thus obviating the need for a bell or a simple shout of "HEY! ON YOUR RIGHT!"
Motorists aren’t hearing you noisy hubs. Scooters (with engines) aren’t hearing them either.
Given that not all hubs make noise, they aren’t reliable indicators of bicycles being present.
Originally Posted by
Badger6
2) It's a byproduct of designing ratchets with more engagement points for shorter engagement, such that when the ratchets are disengaged and spinning they just make more noise.
Something like this is much more likely.