Tell me about Shimano quiet hubs
 

My daughter and I built a wheel using a Shimano FH-M9111XTR hub. That thing is SUPER quiet when she is coasting down hills, I love it. They are so much quieter than the Shimano XT FH-M8110 i have on my bike. I'd like to build another set of wheels that are quiet like my daughters, but I'm finding a lot of different info, some times conflicting info, about Shimano hubs and noise. Some articles say these hubs are really prone to failure, and Shimano quietly dropped that technology. SO is that technology gone? SHould hubs like be avoided for larger heavier riders?

I haven't heard anything about Shimano's current offerings having any issues. Might just be that some people want the noisy hubs. There have been plenty of posts here where some ask if their free hub has a problem because it doesn't make noise when coasting. And that gets offset equally by others that write in wondering why their FH is making so much noise after they get a new wheelset or new bike.. Some have claimed the other companies engage quicker when starting to pedal after coasting. That's a stretch for me. I've never known that to be an issue that I can even perceive the difference.

Back in the 90s Shimano came out with Silent Freehubs that used roller clutches instead of ratchet pawls. You know, one of Shimano's new great things.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6c5e2815d5.png
There were dead silent, I'll give 'em that. Didn't catch on; seems roadies actually like freehubs that "roll good with angry bee sound™️".

The big S continued to market these freehubs as part of their law enforcement bike parts group for many years. (???) And they migrated the roller clutch tech in some of their upmarket internal gear hubs. There's a bit of a mushy feel as they take up, and an infinitesimal increase in drag which IGH users take as a sign of quality because Shimano.

Shimano had a hub design called "Scylence" which had problems and was discontinued, at least for now. They also had a fire in one of their plants causing problems.

Shimano road hubs can be very quiet, even before that design. I have Ultegra 6600 hubs on one bike and it is about as quiet as any hub I have had.

Even before the "Silent Design" hubs @tcs mentioned; Shimano freehubs have been quiet, particularly at the 105/XT levels and higher.
In the late 80s, the 6/7/8 transition era, you had a much higher mix of freewheels and cassette freehubs on the showroom floor. Freewheels click; so Shimano freehubs were made to run quietly to demonstrate their upmarket status over the less expensive freewheel equipped models.

I have some 90s XT and RSX hubs that are pretty close to silent, and some 00s WH-500 wheels that tick, faintly, but you have to listen hard to hear it over the background noise once you're on the road

I think the modern trend for loud hubs is akin to louder exhaust systems on performance cars; it may not make much difference, but it lets everyone know that this is the "Sporty" model.

A long time ago, not knowing any better, I greased the internals of a Suntour freewheel before reassembling.
It was dead quiet from then on, but didn't affect performance in any way I could tell.

This summer it occured to me that roadies don't need bells to get people out of their way. They just have to stop pedaling for a second or two.

I've heard that Shimano quietly change the modern quiet hub. I think there was an XT and XTR one. The assumption online was because they broke easily, which is probably what you read.

I prefer a quiet hub and run Shimano cup and cone hubs on 3/4 of my bikes. The mid 90s xtr hub is by far the quietest when compared to the 11sp xt and grx hubs, which aren't very loud. I've never owned one of the modern quiet hubs like your daughter has.

For those wanting a noisy hub, Onyx is the way to go. Very noisy, but very nice hubs.

Say what? Onyx hubs are silent...as in totally silent. If you want noisy, try the new DT 240EXPs. I am not sure if Shimano even makes any mid-high end aftermarket hubs.

Talked to a bicycle shop mechanic today, he said none of the new shimano hubs are quiet. Not definitive, but my dreams of a super quiet shimano hub my be short lived.I wonder if the XTR hub was an old one that had been sitting on the shelf for awhile.

It is likely that those are old ones. When I started the search for really quiet or silent hubs, Shimano was mentioned. Well, since I needed disc and 28H, I had few options. For the proven option, there was Onyx, so I went with them. I love quiet hubs and I absolutely love silent hubs like the Onyx. I am not sure why Shimano never wanted to build modern disc hubs for the aftermarket. I'd guess too much competition there already with Chis King, DT Swiss, and a myriad of pawn hubs out there.

Yes, you are correct. Just a little sarcasm. They are very expensive, strong, and very quiet hubs.

Probably so as not to complete with their own line of OE wheels.
The last few years, they've also really clamped down on their wholesalers / distributors, especially in the US, and Euro retailers being able to sell to US customers. 2015-2018 generation stuff seems easy enough to find, but not so much with anything newer
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This is the correct

On one of my mountain bikes I have 2015 xt 780t,among the quietest hubs I have on a mountain bike and they are as good as my dt 240s non disc hubs found on my two other MTBs

Looks like a scylence freehub. Its has a ratchet mechanism akin to DT, but with an added feature that makes the ratchet rings separate completely when coasting. Its Very clever but hard to explain in words. It has been reported its prone to creaking and premature wear, but I have no direct experience.

Hahaha you got me curious and I was wondering if they also made loud hubs. I just switched to Onyx on the primary road bike because they were completely silent. I think some pawl hubs are still relatively quiet, especially if you keep them greased (which is easy to do). I have stock set on a Specialized (may be Formula hubs) that have four pawls if I recall correctly. They are pretty quiet and quietened down more when I used Dumonde Tech freehub lube. However, no hub is silent like the Onyx. I do have Chris King R45s on another bike and it has a bee-buzzing sound which I find pleasing enough, unlike every other loud hub I have used or heard. It is not a very high-pitched buzz unlike Industry Nine and definitely not a chainsaw buzz like the new DTs. The older version of the DTs were not too bad but the new ones are obnoxious. I paid dearly for the DT 240EXP/ZIPP 303 Firecrest custom wheel build, only to take off the DT and put on the Onyx.

Adding lightweight grease to the pawls (instead of oil) will greatly quiet any freehub. The only time this MIGHT be an issue is if the temperature drops really low and the grease stiffens. Personally have never had this happen (I ride in temps down to about 40 F, 5 C) but some people have reported this issue.

The DT Swiss hubs that came with my Roval's are silent. I think they are 350 or 370s...

The DT 370s are pretty quiet as are the classic 350s. They get louder over time. I have the classic 350s (not EXP) as well as the 370s. They are definitely quieter and not bothersome though I would not say silent. I can make them pretty quiet for a few hundred miles with the Dumonde Tech freehub grease. After that, I hear them more but they do not bother me. DTs are pretty easy to grease and it's a good habit to have. I need to look into opening up the Chris King R45 and lubing it next.

havent noticed a problem with those hubs. paw style are going to give off noise.

if someone wants load, just get an E-bike.

Yep. I have some stock wheels that came on my Cannondale that use a Formula 3-pawl hub. They are not silent, but are very quiet.

The sound level on these seems closely related to how much grease is in there. They get louder as time goes on, then I pull them apart and re-grease and they're quiet again.