If I don't want to scare off wildlife, what are some lower cost options?

I see back in 1997 Shimano made the Delore LX FH-R050 (and FM-R080) which were silent freehubs? Does anyone else make something like that? I guess it's the hub itself that makes the noise? So a simple freewheel gear replacement is not going to solve the noise problem, I would need a whole new wheel and hub?

Thanks for any ideas!

added: found two more "silent" models FH-IM70 and FH-T300

My WTB Speed Disc is silent as.

How "silent"? I find Shimano hubs to be very quite, but not silent. Lots of other stuff on the bike makes noise too. Would you be going single speed? Besides derailleur noise the chain slap creates quite a racket as well. Don't know how to handle braking, maybe a non-freewheel rear (forget the technical term)?

A Hugi/DT Swiss hub would be your best bet.

^^^WHAT!?
Hugi's are SO loud.

Shimano makes a police specific one that's totally silent. It's awesome.

Source URL or it didn't happen.

I can't find a URL for one, but I've ridden one that the local force got from our store. It's so that they can sneek up on bad guys more easily.

IIRC the trek 3700's that come with the police hub are likle $1000, so that hub is $$$.

Isn't it called the Shimano Silent Clutch hub...R80 or something. I think the 1000$ price tag is quite a stretch, I don't remember them being that much.

As for other hubs, I tend to go for louder, not quieter, so I am not sure who makes a quiet hub

It's at least $600 if not $1,000, but I'm pretty sure it was around 1k.

2006 Trek archives Police bike shows a shimano nexave hub

Why? I've actually noticed that the hubs on many downhill/freeride bikes have really loud clicks. Is there a purpose for this?

They click because they have more points of engagement? I'm probably 100% wrong there, but hey. It's not a DH/FR thing, it's dependent on the hub.

I hate loud hubs.

Not sure, I like hearing my bike maybe. Never sure to be honest, quiet bikes are very foreign to me, so when I "hear" them I usually do a double take to figure out what hubs they are running. I wouldn't say it is limited to downhill/freeride bikes but I think those are the primary users. My hadley for example, while loud, has by far outlasted any shimano hub I have.

As for why, I am not an expert, but I would it might have something to do with number of engagement points but more to do with design. Types or materials etc. I relate it to engagement points. If I hear a lot of noise it usually a hadley, king or hope.

Ya, trials and bmx riders have some loud hubs too

I know I have one hub, unknown maker from a downhill bike. Shiny and new (basically), more silent than anything I have heard. Someday I will build a wheel around it.

There must be some other reason you want a silent hub - - don't like the noise yourself?

Wildlife don't 'scare' at the sound of a bicycle; and any fair warning you give them that you're coming, the better so that they don't get caught unaware and run over.

More grease...

My Phil Wood hubs are fairly quiet. I have found that if I put liberal amounts of Phil Wood waterproof grease on the freehub pawls it is nearly silent.

In open air, you can't hear most freewheels because they radiate away from you.

When you ride next to surfaces that reflect (dry trees, etc) the sound reflects back to you and scatters everywhere.

Find a long wooden fence and ride next to it - even parallel dozens of feet away and you'll see what I mean.

Just wanted to see if there are other options out there. Thanks!