Loud freewheels
 

At first I wondered why anyone would want one but after thinking of the safety issue I kind of like them. What brand makes those loud new free wheels? It would make it hard to sneak up on someone.

Chris King has one of the loudest (and coolest) that I know of.

Every Mavic wheel I have owned has a loud free hub.
It helps when I am attempting to pass someone on a MUP but all in all I would prefer the opposite.

Chris King or Hugi
Distant Second - Mavic

Kysrium SL's are pretty loud, as are Williams Cycling 30s

Free Wheels? Who is giving away free wheels?

My Campy Eurus hubs are pretty loud.

HTFU! That loud ratcheting sound you hear is not there for safety. It is an alarm saying that you stopped pedalling! :P

I like loud freewheels/hubs as they let me know to dial it up if I hear one behind me when I am pulling.

If you actually mean freewheels, then White Industries makes the loudest ones I know of.

My wife had some wheels built last year with WI H2 hubs. I've been really impressed.

fulcrums. not the nice buzz of CKs, but a loud fast ticking

I like my somewhat loud Campy hubs. The sound is pretty similar to the sound made by a fishing reel and very appropriate when reeling in freds, toddlers on their tricycles, etc as I blast down the MUP in TT mode at 25+ mhp.

Zipp 404 carbon clinchers have the loudest freehub I've ever heard, including many of the ones listed above.

Neither set of my 404's were obnoxiously loud, at least not compared to Kings.

Rolf Wheels, you can hear them 1/8th of a mile away.

this. My fulcrums are SO LOUD

Quote of the year

+1, annoying as heck.

5's and 7's. the zeros, 1's and 3's are a nice buzz.

So, in another post I noticed that many people go to the extreme by riding with their brakes open for minimal drag, although this wouldn't be the same extent, wouldn't it be logical that having that 'clicking sound' would require some amount of friction that is really unnecessary?

I only ask because some of the people in the other post seemed really really particular about unnecessary friction/weight/anything.

Noob question: What makes some louder than others and why is this done (other than to let others know that you're not pedaling, scare kids on tricycles, etc).

that makes me tempted to upgrade to the 3's

FWIW, you can pull the freehub body partially off and put a little Phil's Tenacious Oil in there and it'll quiet it right down.

I also would like some free wheels.

I noticed someone in my club had a super-loud freewheel, sounded like a bumblebee with an amplifier - was a chris king.