Silent hubs for gravel wheelset

[danielG169]

Hey, all

I own a pair of elitewheels ent gravel, but they're really loud. Was wondering if you guys are aware of any aliexpress hubs that are more silent.

I'd like to get into wheel building but honestly I am not sure at all by which criteria to pick hubs, what makes a good hub? I read online that novatec are good ones, but I don't know what makes them any good.

[Ludo]

Did you try to put sole more or gravier grease in the ratchet?

[bxcc]

Onyx Racing Products make the only truly silent hubs that I know of. However, they aren't cheap, and definitely not on AliExpress.

If your Elite hubs have the ratchet system, which is a clone of the DT Swiss ratchet system, then pick up some DT Swiss ratchet grease and apply a light coat on the ratchets. That will quiet them down quite a bit.

Good hubs for one person are not good for another. Rider weight and terrain will play a major factor in what one defines as good. If you want name brand hubs that are bulletproof, it's hard to be any DT Swiss hub with the 18 tooth or 36 tooth ratchets. Novatec are middle of the road hubs the generally use the pawl system. Those won't be any quieter than what you have currently. If you want to purchase a new set of relatively quiet hubs to try your hand at wheel building, pick up a set of DT Swiss 350 hubs.

[danielG169]

I have the 6 pawls system, not the 36T ratchet. And each pawl has three engagement points, so it's quite loud.

I know of Onyx hubs, but those are worth more than my entire wheelset for a single rear hub.

[jfcb]

How about Novatec? With some light grease rather than oil, they are relatively silent. You still hear them, but they are not loud at all.

[Bigbobby1482]

You can get cheap, and complete silenced hubs from shimanos' previous gen mtb series.
 They have the scylence tech, which is completely silent at speed. Go to youtube and check it out, pretty cool.
You can get the hub in a non-boost spacing so it works for gravel bikes fh-m8110. Link for EU https://www.bike-discount.de/en/shimano-xt-fh-m8110-center-lock-rear-hub-12x142mm