superpletch

what is the advantage/disadvantage to upgrading dt swiss hub from 18t ratchet to 36t or even 54t on a road bike?

redlude97

FlashBazbo

redlude pretty much captured it. The time difference in engagement points is incredibly tiny.

WhyFi

It's all about that sound.

superpletch

at this point my 18t hub is quite quiet. will the new 36t star ratchet increase decibel level or just the amount of ratchet clicks per wheel rotation? I may consider if it makes it louder. I would like that.

WhyFi

Did someone service the hub? It shouldn't be that quiet unless someone used a heavier lube or something. As far as the difference in sound, I'm certain that I've seen a youtube vid on it.

edit -

Cyclist0108

My kid just had this done on his mountain bike, and thinks it is a major improvement. My guess is that at least part of it is expectation bias, augmented by the "improved" sound effects. (It is quite significantly louder -- louder than my Chris Bling hub now.) A rep at Sea Otter did this for him, as part of a hub maintenance tutorial. You also get a "lifetime" supply of their grease. Basically, you want something approaching a molecular monolayer, i.e., as thin an application as possible.

Edit: The same kid says for a road bike it probably would not change anything, but increase the friction slightly.

Racing Dan

In the low gear, delayed engagement can sometimes be felt, but I guess that is way more important on a mtb than a road bike.

noodle soup

+1

it's probably not super important, but I found the engagement of the 18t to be annoying. I was much happier after switching to the 54t .It is noisy if that bothers you

Bryan C. 

I switched from the 18 to 36. Overall I feel the hub is pretty quiet as compared to my older roval brand hubs and not much louder than the 18t. $100 star ratchet upgrade, mostly for the sake of upgrading is a tough call. Faster engagement for sure but as others have said it isn't something that is going to make a huge difference.

FlashBazbo

And if you want any of them to be louder, just don't grease them! They're all whisper-quiet for the first 200 miles after an application of DT's "special" pink grease! (Have I mentioned that the only thing I dislike about my DT Swiss ratchets is the maintenance interval?)

noodle soup

At least you don't need any tools to do it.

FlashBazbo

I find that a little worrisome in itself. How many maintenance cycles before the freehub body decides it's not going to stiction on anymore?

Jazzguitar

Over 7500 miles on my 240 rear hub and I've likely only regreased it a handful of times and it still rides like new. I'd find something else to worry about.

FlashBazbo

So, you're telling me I have nothing to worry about in the first year. I really didn't expect to have problems in year one. But in time, things start to wear out when you tear them down and put them back together enough times. Especially if they are stiction fit.

In the past, I've had wheelsets go 20,000 and 30,000 miles with zero maintenance. Never had to be disassembled. But then, the hubs weren't DT Swiss.

Jazzguitar

Yes, I doubt that you'll have any problems with the hub, they're pretty much bulletproof. Maybe once a year I pull off the free hub, clean off the old grease, apply new grease and pop the hub back on. It's literally a 5 minute job, I don't even remove the cassette. Honestly, I've never heard or read anything about anyone having issues with the durability.

noodle soup

I had 40K miles on a DT hub, without any issues. I hope it explodes and kills the rider soon(that wheelset/bike was stolen 4/15), but I doubt that'll happen.

You are wasting your time worrying about the longevity of DT Swiss hubs.