What’s the deal with the really loud wheels when coasting?
04-24-21, 07:07 PM
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What’s the deal with the really loud wheels when coasting?
Maybe a stupid question.
I know the sounds has something to do with the hubs (I think). Is this a particular brand or type of wheel?
how do you tell if a wheel will make the noise or not?
I know the sounds has something to do with the hubs (I think). Is this a particular brand or type of wheel?
how do you tell if a wheel will make the noise or not?
04-24-21, 07:10 PM
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04-24-21, 07:11 PM
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If your hub makes a lot of noise when you stop pedalling, that indicates to other people how fast you are.
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04-24-21, 07:20 PM
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All of the cool, fast kids have loud hubs.
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04-24-21, 07:38 PM
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Only a few years ago, hubs were pretty silent, then this loud hub thing started. You can still find quiet hubs, for some reason, some people like the loud hubs. The wheels on my wife's bike are really quiet, mine however, are loud and both from the same company, but the guts in my wife's hubs are from DT Swiss, mine are not. I would prefer less volume coming from my hubs, but, it does let people know I am there if they do not respond to my verbal calls, so it does have it's advantage.
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04-24-21, 07:42 PM
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Only a few years ago, hubs were pretty silent, then this loud hub thing started. You can still find quiet hubs, for some reason, some people like the loud hubs. The wheels on my wife's bike are really quiet, mine however, are loud and both from the same company, but the guts in my wife's hubs are from DT Swiss, mine are not. I would prefer less volume coming from my hubs, but, it does let people know I am there if they do not respond to my verbal calls, so it does have it's advantage.
04-24-21, 07:52 PM
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While I don't doubt the hubs are mechanically very good..the noise is a status-ego thing..for those that need status-ego things.
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04-24-21, 08:01 PM
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It might be for some people, but that is a pretty broad statement.
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04-24-21, 09:00 PM
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My inexpensive OEM aluminum wheels are loud. My fancier carbon wheels are very quiet. Both circa 2020.
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04-24-21, 09:41 PM
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I have loud hubs for the wattzzz increase over noiseless (pronounced: inferior) hubs.
Last edited by aplcr0331; 04-29-21 at 03:42 PM.
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04-24-21, 10:02 PM
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, damn those are louder than the Bontrager Aeolus Pro 3V's I have on my Domane.
04-24-21, 10:28 PM
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Stupid long video, but go to the 30:30 mark, the dude took the hub body off, cleaned it really well and then added more grease on the outer part of the ratchet.
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Last edited by jaxgtr; 04-24-21 at 10:38 PM.
04-24-21, 10:41 PM
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Somebody made a bespoke, expensive and presumably high quality hub with lots of points of engagement, that was loud. Somebody else copied it. Loud became associated with exclusive. Hilarity ensured.
04-24-21, 11:13 PM
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I like it in a big group ride or a race when I might not be able to see people stop pedaling further up the line.
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04-24-21, 11:22 PM
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04-25-21, 04:54 AM
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I'm so hard of hearing I don't know if my free hub makes more noise than my freewheel.
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04-25-21, 06:11 AM
#20
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works better than a bell or yelling “on your left” in my experience.
The buzz, particularly when i pedal backwards, really perks people up and they notice/turn when they hear it (walkers mostly, all the runners have ear buds in). It’s not a natural sound and walkers always notice. I got a lot of head tilts from my bell experiment (maybe i used the wrong bell or wasn’t loud enough)
plus it makes old farts so mad they try to use lame “insults” that might have worked on their dumb friends back in the 60’s.
Same thing holds true for hubs as does for music;
”if it’s too loud, you’re too old”.
The buzz, particularly when i pedal backwards, really perks people up and they notice/turn when they hear it (walkers mostly, all the runners have ear buds in). It’s not a natural sound and walkers always notice. I got a lot of head tilts from my bell experiment (maybe i used the wrong bell or wasn’t loud enough)
plus it makes old farts so mad they try to use lame “insults” that might have worked on their dumb friends back in the 60’s.
Same thing holds true for hubs as does for music;
”if it’s too loud, you’re too old”.
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04-25-21, 08:45 AM
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don't try this at home.
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Angry Bees tshirt. Chris King.
"Back when hub warranty registration was done by mailing us a postcard, Akiyoshi Takamura coined an infamous quote in the comment field of his card; "It rolls good with angry bee sound". This was the birth of the angry bees and so much more."
"Back when hub warranty registration was done by mailing us a postcard, Akiyoshi Takamura coined an infamous quote in the comment field of his card; "It rolls good with angry bee sound". This was the birth of the angry bees and so much more."
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04-25-21, 08:50 AM
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I was looking into a building another couple of sets of wheels using 240’s so I looked into the 240 EXPs and played with some wheels with them. They are clearly noisier than the 240S where which is unfortunate.
With the old 240’s you could all but make them silent with a liberal application of the DT grease although it was with increased drag and only for a few hundred miles before the grease moved around. Supposedly it’s similar with the 240EXPs.
Seems like all the hubs are getting noisier now. Maybe it all started with the distinctive “angry bee” Chris King sound or something. Me personally, I’d prefer just about silent hubs but that’s not in the cards,
I’ll likely go with the 240EXP’s just because I like the old 204’s so much, they’re super reliable, and they roll fast and smooth. The new EXPs are are supposedly more reliable and the roll even better although I presume much of that is marketing hype as opposed to actual difference.
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