That's not true. Top-end DT and some DT-made hubs (high-end Bontrager etc) don't even have pawls, they use star ratchets. Notoriously loud Chris King hubs use a unique ratchet mechanism, not pawls. Shimano and Campy hubs both have three pawls and use a wire "band" spring. Mavic hubs only have two pawls and use wound springs.

Again, with pawls it's the lube that makes the difference.

You're being very specific. My most said "tend" to have more. It's generally recognized that the more pawls there are, the finer the ratchet engagement points could be. Not all companies follow that. Chris King's are loud because they have many more engagement points.

What is the grease for? Is it necessary maintenance? Also, when people say they are wiping down the chain, are they seriously just wiping it with a cloth? How dirty can a road bike chain get?

Mine (mid-90's Chorus) are pretty quiet, but it could be that they've had a lot of use of the grease port and so excess has dripped onto the pawls keeping them quiet. Just repacked the hubs so there's probably even more (but clean) grease on them now.

lube still has a large bearing on freehub noise. All my campy wheels are very loud but they have not been repacked in quite a while.

No, they're loud because they're designed to be. More engagement points means more clicks, but not necessarily louder clicks.

My PW hubs are very nearly silent. They were when new and are even more so with ~1500 on them.

I like it quiet, but is this something to be concerned about?

From the comments it sounds like there are reasons some hubs are loud.

Just marketing. Only if your freehub slips under power do you have anything to worry about. Back in the freewheel era, quiet, softly-ticking freewheels were considered the best-made.

Go take your bike for a 50-100 mile ride, flip it over and look at the bottom bracket upon your return :)

Yeah, they're wiping it with a cloth ... the chain in particular (at least a well-oiled one) generally picks up a lot of road grime

Funny $hite there...Funny cuz i am a beginner and when i coast i actually start to think... hell if i am coasting i am cheating on my computer so i stop and take a break and a drink of water...

Were you being facetious? Without the emoticon I'm afraid I can't tell. IMO the bicycle chain (as a class) has the potential to be the filthiest item on planet Earth. Some industrious folks take care to make sure that doesn't happen. The less energetic like myself just let it go. My chain can mark you at 20 paces. And the mark is indelible. They don't call 'em "grease tattoos" for nothing. The dirt goes right through those exam gloves I wear when I am working with it. I think it was brought here by space aliens.

When I do wipe the chain off, I find that the rag never stays clean. I mean no matter how many times I wipe the chain with a clean rag, afterwards the rag still looks as dirty as the first pass. If you look up "black" in the dictionary, they have a picture of the rag I use to wipe my chain. Perhaps I should mention I use a wet oil to lube my chain. Yes it is for bike chains, but it is not a "dry" product.

Get a Fixed Gear Bike.

To tell the truth, until I started hanging out on this forum, I always thought that was true about freehubs too. I remember when Hugi hubs (now DT brand) were roundly laughed at because of their incredible noise level. Surely Campy and Shimano worked very hard to make quiet hubs. And it wasn't just grease or the number of pawls. It was the little design details. How everything fit together.

I think the appreciation of a noisy freehub is a very recent thing. First I ever heard of it was when Bianchi10 got his Enve wheels a while back. One of the first things he said about them was how much he liked the noise. It may even be traceable to the increase in popularity of carbon rims which often increase the hub noise by acting as a sounding board like the hollow body of a guitar or violin. I think the acceptance of and even preference for noisy hubs is just a case of, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

I've had good luck with Phil's Bearing Grease in freehubs. Thinner than Polylube, but doesn't wash off in the rain. You can mute even the loudest pawls with heavy grease, or make a DA freehub audible with light sewing machine oil. Often an increase in noise in a freehub is a sign it needs service. Most Shimano ones come off with a 10mm once the axle is off, and a good diea if youre repacking anyway.

+1 Even though it's minimal, and quiet freehubs may well be losing more energy to heat instead, I can't help but cringe at the audible "noise wasting" from noisy hubs.

Just be sure to use a "Bicycle" brand playing card!

Exactly. The design of the pawls or ratchet and most importantly, the strength of the engagement springs dictate how loud the hub will be. Strictly, the the springs only have to be strong enough to ensure secure engagement of the pawls. More spring strength just means excessive drag and noise. And, since it is only possible for one of the pawls to transmit torque at one time, freehubs with multi-pawl designs are unneccesary. Maybe a second pawl as a backup - as with Shimano, is more than enough.

If you want your dtswiss 240 hub which is in the 66 to be loud, remove the 18 star ratchet system and put the 36 star ratchet system. It will now be almost as loud as a zipp hub.

http://www.amazon.com/DT-Swiss-36-St.../dp/B002SR5MII

i have silent wheels and loud wheels . i like the silent better.

My Easton/Velomax Circuits had an incredibly quiet hub. I could sneak up on people. Now my Soul S4 wheels have a very loud hub. I like it. I was told it sounds like a high end fishing reel in a recent ride. Sometimes I find myself spinning the rear wheel while the bike is on the rack just to hear the hub. I'm a sick puppy.

I am ordering one of those dude...I might even get one for my buddy's Goldwing MC...lol

I really notice when someone else's bike has loud hubs.

All 14 of our bikes have very quiet or silent hubs. My bf regularly repacks or replaces the bearings in all our wheels, maybe that's why they are so quiet.

If my legs are covered in a thin layer of crud after even a 20-mile ride, imagine that the chain gets crudded up decently after a couple hundred miles.

Back on topic, I thought I was the only one with freehub noise envy. All of my wheels are quiet--Forte Titans are silent, Shimano R500's are super quiet and Ultegra 6700's are audible, but not loud.

I like those obnoxious freehubs because it lets people know I'm coming up on them.

Mine are getting quieter because my hearing is going bad....I have never really thaught about the loudness of my hubs, really, even as a kid up to 21 on my Peugeot...

Hubs? You should always have at least one quiet hub on a bike.