ScottRiqui

Fairly new to cycling here. I got my first vintage bike a month or so ago, and it has Shimano 600 Ultegra tricolor components. Up to that point, I'd been riding a Trek Domane with 105 components. I'd gotten used to the clicking noise on the 105 hub when coasting, and I understand what causes it. But the 600 hub is dead silent - almost eerily so after having gotten used to the Domane.

So, my dumb question is this - is there something different about the operation of the 105 hub compared to the 600 hub that makes the hub noise necessary? Prior to riding my new (old) bike, I thought all hubs were noisy to some extent just because of how they function, but I guess that's not the case?

Russ Roth

Should be clicking noticeably without being loud or obnoxious. I'm going to guess that after 25 years the lube in the freehub body has caked up and isn't allowing for the noise. Can always remove the axle, and when you look in the freehub body you'll see a lip between the actual body and the bearing race, often the race will have two notches as well. Take a lube like triflow and drip it into a notch and spin the freehub, as the lube disappears add a little more. The fresh lube will help to loosen up the old stuff and keep it running. Clean the bearings and races while you have it apart, regrease and adjust the axle. If you're really worried you can remove the freehub body with a 10mm allen wrench, look in the hub and you'll see the shape of the wrench which is really a large bolt. Undo it, its normal thread, and drop the freehub body in some degreaser for a few hours, let it sit to dry and lube with something a little thicker then triflo, should sound like new.

MarcusT

Decades ago, the sign of a quality free wheel was by how quite it was, now, it seems the noisier hubs are sought after. In fact I found a video on YT, how to make your hub noisier.

Speedway2

My Newer bikes all make that clicking sound when coasting.
When I had the freewheel changed on my SS is started off Loud. After a few hundred km's the volume has gone down.
My new to me SS (2012) is silent. I may clothespin a couple of hockey cards in the spokes (eh).

We all know the louder the clicking the faster the bike is. Just ask any Harley owner how their loud pipes make them faster

Moe Zhoost

Consider yourself lucky to be relieved of the obnoxious noise of modern freehubs. Noisiness is typically a factor of design, e.g. number of pawls (or ratchet plates) and spring tension as well as hub body material.

Of course a loud freehub can serve as a good warning for passing pedestrians on a MUP. They're usually more audible than the sotto voce "on your left" mumbles that most cyclists use.

pdlamb

Russ gave you the best answer, fresh oil in the freehub.

Candidate for the second best answer: maybe your rear hub doesn't have anything to say!

icemilkcoffee 

Why do you want a noisy hub? I put together two bikes with Shimano RSX hubs. One is completely silent. The other tik tik tik.
But if you want loud clicks- Campagnolo hubs tend to be loud with lots of tiks.

CargoDane

I have a Rohloff. I find gear 7 (or is it 8? - I don't have the twist-shift so can't remember) way too noisy and I tend to not stay in that gear for too long at time for that very reason. And the Rohloff - especially with a belt - is not really a loud hub compared to many out there.

Troul 

would prefer no noise, be lucky its like that.

jaxgtr

my 600 hubs were silent and smooth....they were excellent hubs.

ScottRiqui

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Don't get me wrong - I much prefer the silent hubs. I was just confused because until I got the vintage bike, I just assumed that bicycle rear hubs were noisy because they *had* to be, but I guess that's not the case.

Ironfish653

It's about the era; In the 6/7/8-speed era, you had a much broader mix of freewheel and cassette wheels across manufacturer's lineups. Freewheels were still common on mid-range bikes. Freewheels click. Shimano made a point on the 600 hubs (and the 105 and RSX that followed) to make them quiet, so you'd know by the sound, or lack thereof, that it was a high-end cassette hub.

2000's and later, freehub noise is much like the exhaust note on a sporty model of a car, vs the base model, so you can tell by the sound that it's a 'performance' bike. Chris King, in particular, really used the 'swarm of hornets' sound as their audio 'signature'.

Velo Mule

It's giving you the silent treatment. I prefer them quiet and as MarcusT points out, quiet was considered good. Loud was considered junk. Thinks seemed to have changed.

remember when SLR film cameras would make a loud click as the mirror came up when taking a picture. The better cameras have a quieter shutter sound. I even used rangefinder cameras (no mirror) sometimes when I wanted a quieter shutter sound. When digital cameras came out and they had that loud shutter sound, I couldn't believe how loud it was. I thought that with a digital camera there would be no shutter sound.

I prefer that the freewheel/freehub be quiet. When I rebuild a freewheel I will put some Super Lube on the palls to keep them quiet. Usually, it would only be oil.

Helldorado

Bike too quiet? There's always this (remember?)

CargoDane

Oh! I had forgotten about that! Damn, we were easily pleased.