Hub with minimal slack?

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flag elcam
Posted: May 22, 2023 at 11:37 Quote
I have a DT swiss hub (don't know the model, just says ratchet system) that requires like a 1/8 turn of the crank to engage the wheel. It's horrible. I assume that is because I bought a cheapo pair of wheels with lame hubs. How do I shop for a new hub that specifically doesn't have that much slack? ...I'm not seeing it in the specs of the various hubs online.
flag mistermtb
FL
Posted: May 22, 2023 at 12:04 Quote
Does the hub say anything about a star ratchet system? If so, you can upgrade those internal bits to have less "slack" in between engagement points. A 36 or 54 tooth star ratchet would be a big improvement and could be had for something like $50. If your hub is not star ratchet and you want a better hub, look for hubs with a lot of "points of engagement" or POE. Alternatively, some hub manufacturers might only give information about the degrees of engagement, in which case you would be looking for the lowest number possible. Some hubs that are known for having good engagement are Onyx, Industry Nine, and Chris King but they aren't cheap.
flag jbuzzinco
Posted: May 30, 2023 at 18:25 Quote
High engagement hubs are not the best choice for everyone. What kind of bike? Rear suspension? What kind of riding? If your focus is on downhill, high engagement hub kick back can interfere with your rear suspension.
flag elcam
Posted: Jun 1, 2023 at 10:03 Quote
I had it on a full suspension trail bike, then swapped it to a hard tail. It has been super disorienting on both bikes. My other bikes have Stan hubs, and I don't think they are exceptionally high engagement, but more so than this one.

Sorry for my lack of knowledge here, but do i have to replace the whole hub, or just the freehub body?

I can't tell if it is star ratchet or just normal ratchet... all it says is ratchet system.
flag BenLow2019
Posted: Jun 1, 2023 at 10:36 Quote
elcam wrote:
I had it on a full suspension trail bike, then swapped it to a hard tail. It has been super disorienting on both bikes. My other bikes have Stan hubs, and I don't think they are exceptionally high engagement, but more so than this one.

Sorry for my lack of knowledge here, but do i have to replace the whole hub, or just the freehub body?

I can't tell if it is star ratchet or just normal ratchet... all it says is ratchet system.

Take a look at the DT Swiss website and then look at your hub. DT Swiss make great hubs and you can change the engagement without buying a whole new hub - it all depends on what hub you already have as to how much converting you have to do. You may have to conduct a pawl to ratchet upgrade or simply a ratchet upgrade. If you're doing a simple ratchet upgrade you don't even need any special tools.
Here's a couple videos to check out and get you thinking.
Pawl to Ratchet
Ratchet to higher engagement ratchet

You can browse around to search for better videos.

Hope that helps.
flag elcam
Posted: Jun 2, 2023 at 9:48 Quote
Got it, thanks. I opened up the hub and counted 18 teeth, so I'm going to upgrade to a 36 or 54 tooth ratchet, easy fix.

It's currently on a hardtail, but even if I put it back on a full suspension bike, I'd trade some amount of downhill performance for better engagement. 20 degrees of slack makes negotiating technical terrian feel dicey to me.
flag elcam
Posted: Jun 5, 2023 at 7:47 Quote
Anyone have thoughts on the 54t ratchets sold on ebay (for $40) versus the branded DT swiss ones (like $100)? I'm guessing the ebay ones are chinese and maybe made of aluminium, but not much info there.
flag BenLow2019
Posted: Jun 5, 2023 at 8:17 Quote
elcam wrote:
Anyone have thoughts on the 54t ratchets sold on ebay (for $40) versus the branded DT swiss ones (like $100)? I'm guessing the ebay ones are chinese and maybe made of aluminium, but not much info there.

Some guys on here have ridden without issue. I personally haven't tried.
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