Gwame

As the title says, I just got a brand new TCR2 Advanced at the LBS. It's the 2020 model in red. It turns very smoothly but I can't help but notice how loud the freehub is.

Is this normal? My friend has the Giant Contend SL1 which was cheaper but is almost completely silent when running. Found this strange. Any reason behind it?

cxwrench

'Freehub' not 'freewheel'. Your friends bike obviously has a different freehub that run quietly. Some are not so quiet.

2cam16

Sign of the times. Loud freehubs are the latest.

deacon mark

I hate loud freehubs and that is why I love Shimano hubs. Standard Ulterga and now only 105 hubs of 32 holes. My road bike is a silent joy I just hate buzzing freehubs. I will take a well built silent rear wheel over any fancy wonder that sounds like loud noise.

Mojo31

Red is louder.

Gwame

Apologies for mixing up the term.

Is this definitely the case, and wouldn't be to do with assembly? As I said, I found it strange that his both is a little lower spec but almost silent. Both are Giant road bikes with 105 groupsets.

Gwame

Thank you. I will try painting my bike blue 😂

cxwrench

What wheels does your bike have and what wheels does his have?

Gwame

They're both Giant's own-brand wheels that come as standard.

This is his bike: https://road.cc/content/review/22106...t-contend-sl-1

This is mine: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ie/tcr-advanced-2

katsup

Both wheels are listed as Giant PR-2, but Giant changes hub manufactures a lot. Have your buddy take a photo of his rear hub and compare it to yours to see the if they look the same.

mvnsnd

If it really bothers you that much, pop off the freehub and apply some grease to the pawls and ratchet. This will quiet it down significantly.

mercator

Often a new hub will be loud but get quieter after a bit of riding, probably the grease migrating into the pawls.

Mojo31

I wouldn't do that. Mine is blue and the hub is loud. My wife's bike is "rasberry" and is very quite so that might be a better color.

Zaskar

There was a time when guys judged how good a hub was by how loud it was - with louder being better. I never got on that bandwagon. I find loud freehubs annoying.

The only time a loud freehub is useful is when the guy pulling won't pull off... the chorus of angry bees behind him can often be that cue that he's done.

popeye

This.

eduskator

The more expensive is the bike, the louder the sound will get! 105 should not be THAT loud, however... There's either something wrong with your bike OR you've never heard what a loud freehub is.

I don't have a bell on my bike (who does?) so when I am passing pedestrians or other cyclists and it's tight (MUPs for instance), I stop pedaling 20-30ft before so they can hear me coming instead of yelling or whistling.

Iride01 

Makes noise all the time?

If it's only when you coast, then consider it motivation not to coast. I don't care for the noisy hubs either. But some actually do. It's not enough for me to worry about but it'll be a consideration when I need another wheelset. Though not so much that I'd pass on a good deal.


Reason behind it...... different design and materials.

Gwame

Is this a straightforward process? And can I use the usual GT85 type grease or should it be something thicker?

mvnsnd

I'm, not sure what GT85 is, but nearly any standard grease will work. There are special hub greases but they are not absolutely required.

It should be a straightforward process. Remove the cassette and usually an end plate from the hub and gently pull apart. There are some Youtube videos that show the general process.

Iride01 

I thought the comment on filling it with grease was more in jest. Grease can silence the pawls by not letting them engage. So the cassette will happily spin freely in either direction and the bike won't move unless you use it like the early draisine of bicycle history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandy_horse
.

Some mfrs. use a light grease, other's don't. So tinkerer beware. Consider that it is working as the manufacturer intended it. Noise and all.

mvnsnd

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Freeh..._df_B002P8IAHA

There are others also. And yes, all it needs is a light coating, not completely filled.

DaveSSS 

Campy hubs have the same issue. It doesn't take much grease to prevent wear, but that small amount can result in a loud ratchet. It's guess work to figure out how much is enough to reduce the noise. When more is added, it's likely to result in a big noise reduction at first, with more noise coming back after 50 miles. Too much grease can prevent the pawls from engaging and creates more friction when coasting.

bampilot06

my wheels are silent, what do your wheels weigh? depending on the answer I will trade you.

CargoDane

Hence comments like this:

I'm not even joking, some people actually think the louder the better quality it must be, so they go searching for loud hubs:

https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listc...3101&pagenum=1

https://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listc...hreadid=165985

https://www.google.com/search?client...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

Which, of course, leads manufacturers to produce hubs that makes a lot of noise to make those people buy their hubs.

WorldIRC

I remember when I worked p/t at my LBS many moons ago, we had some "elite" customers that were very proud of how loud their hubs were.

Has this trend now changed?