artshotwell

I have just acquired a new bike, a 2020 Specialized Diverge E5 Elite. When I coast, I hear ratcheting sound. Haven't had this sound on my older bikes. My LBS mechanic says it's the high quality components on this bike. Do other bikes have ratcheting sound when coasting???

nomadmax 

Yes.

Wilfred Laurier

Almost all bikes that coast give off a ratcheting noise from the rear wheel, but some manufacturers (Shimano, esp.) uses a thicker grease in their freewheel/freehub mechanisms that dampens the noise.

And higher-end wheels often do have considerably louder ratcheting noise.

BlazingPedals

Yep, it's normal. Generally speaking, Shimano goes out of its way to make the ratcheting sound as quiet as they can. For other manufacturers, they consider the sound an indication of how robust their ratcheting system is, and make it LOUD. Some high-quality freehubs, (Chris King, Huegi, etc) sound like a swarm of angry bees.

So if the shop is trying to imply that non-Shimano parts are superior, that's not necessarily the case either.

canklecat

It varies a lot, and cost doesn't seem to be a factor. I noticed when riding with a couple of friends this weekend one wheel was particularly loud when coasting. Main difference seemed to be the fellow's deep dish carbon aero wheels. The rim resonated with the noise from the freehub.

I've noticed similar sound resonance with my older carbon fiber frame. Clicking from downtube shifters was amplified compared with my steel bike's downtube shifters.

Freewheels I've tried are never as loud as some newer freehub aero wheels. My older bikes range from 7-speed freewheels to 8-speed cassette. Freewheels are generally fairly quiet but some are nearly silent while others are audible. The aluminum rims are usually low profile or only very slightly "aero", so they don't resonate with ratcheting sounds from the freewheels.

Litespud

Some free hubs are simply noisier than others - depends on the design, materials, grease etc etc - I wouldn’t necessarily equate noisiness with quality - Campag & DT tend to be noisy, Shimano tends to be quiet - they’re all good

Gromax

Ah good, I'm glad someone else thought this was odd. The ratcheting on my new bike is so loud, I think it's my least favourite part about the bike. I want my bike to sound completely silent.

NomarsGirl

I figure the noise is just a reminder to stop being lazy and start pedaling.

caloso

You could pull apart the freehub body and pour some Phil's Tenacious Oil in there.

Garfield Cat

Pawls in freehub

Search that.

Rick

I used to be concerned about those noises until I purchased a bicycle with the Rohloff hub. My hub puts out so much noise that I can't hear noise coming from the other bicycles.

surak

GCN asked Chris King about the angry bees sound, he said that he originally planned to make his hubs silent but got feedback that everybody liked the noise.

Digger Goreman

"The Tao is Silent", and so are my hubs

Chinghis

Thanks for this explanation. I'm in the silent school, and the angry buzzing is a deal-breaker for me. (Not like I buy bikes or anything, but if I did ...)

Digger Goreman

In the back of my brain I remember reading that the noise is the new fad. Reminds me of Harley riders and their penchant for loud pipes. When I was a kid, we just attached cards to the forks. MUCH cheaper....

Gresp15C

If you find the noise to be appawling, try a single speed coaster hub.

But seriously, totally silent hubs are the exception rather than the rule.

zarbog

Facts do not matter in this instance. Noisy hubs just sound junky to me.

Lesbrill54

I like the clicky noise. In fact when we had a patient come with a clicking walker, I kept looking around for the bike

Darth Lefty 

Onyx hubs have a one way clutch instead of a ratchet. There’s another brand I’m blanking on that has magnets rather than springs for the pawls

DrIsotope

Foss.

Though to be fair, they don't really use pawls at all.

BirdsBikeBinocs

I like the noise. It's the only noise I like. On a bike.

Jon T

My Helicomatic is as quiet as a church mouse. Try using Marvel's Mystery Oil on your noisey cassettes.
Jon

Flip Flop Rider

you could always not coast to avoid that sound hehe. I use to try to never coast, but have been doing it more lately, the clicking is good

Caliper

It'd not odd that they make the noise, but I agree that the current fad of insanely noisy freehubs is incredibly annoying.

artshotwell

I like to be able to coast past walkers silently except for my little bell and a verbal warning.