Originally Posted by
shelbyfv
Do you suffer from misophonia or some other affliction that makes freehub noise a major issue? If so, move past your preference for cartridge bearings and go with perfectly silent Shimano hubs. I like quiet hubs when I ride alone but some noise can be useful when others are involved. Give pedestrians or other riders a heads up when you approach.
Might be misophonia or the harsh noise just adds to mental fatigue/anxiety during longish 3-8 hour rides at night/early morning.
The cup and cone bearings are hard to adjust just right in general. Shimano now makes few wheels with cartridge bearings such as WH-MT601
using 145mm OLD truough axles and disc brakes only as far as I know. Since I happen to have available rim brakes only at the back of the Thorn Audax Mk3R frame then Shimano is still out of the question. Also couldn't find any videos with WH-MT601 hub sound.
And since I have spare bearings for current wheel already stocked up then buying new wheels is not justifiable.