Winfried

(edited the thread's title: 142mm → 140mm)

Hello,

This folding bike sports a no-name, 7s* 142mm rear hub that I find too noisy. It clearly makes more noise than other bikes I passed on the street.

Provided there's no way to simply replace the freehub body and keep the rest of the wheel, is there an affordable silent/quiet hub I could use to build a new wheel from scratch?

Thank you.

* Shimano CS-HG41-7ac cassette

tFUnK

The quietest wheels I've got are a set of Bontrager Paradigm Elites, and from what I've read they have DT Swiss 240 internals, so perhaps that's an option (you'll need a few spacers to run a 7s cassette of course). However I've not had experience with an actual DT 240 hub so it could be that there's something different about the Bontrager version.

Winfried

Thanks. At that price, I might as well replace the transmission with a totally silent Alfine 11 hub though.

Russ Roth

Not really silent but close enough would be an XT or Ultegra 8000 series hub or earlier, I've got I've got the XT 8000 on my touring/gravel bike and its as quiet as they get, any quieter and you will need an internal gear hub or spend real money on something upscale. That DT240 will not be quiet in my experience. Seeing that you have a shimano hub on there already it may be possible to swap the freehub body and axle over to the old wheel otherwise you'd just have to have the new hub built into the old rim.

veganbikes

I am doubting your bike is a 12x142 thru-axle especially being that it is using 7 speed. In the end I wouldn't put money towards a new wheel for that bike. Get the bike you want that has the parts you want or build something from the frame up on a nice frame. 7 speed is old 80s era stuff so modern 7 speed is going to be at the lowest point in Shimano's line up or sometimes below that. Unless you have a serious problem with your current wheel there is no need to replace it and could be quite costly for no real benefits.

Iride01 

Don't coast and it'll be as quiet as most any other.

Winfried

Thanks for the refs. I'll check it they fit into a 142mm OLD.

Indeed, I didn't write it's a thru-axle. It's a classic quick release. I rounded up to 142mm, but the digital caliper says 141,blah and apparently 141mm is quick relase while 142mm is thru-axle.

I'll look further.

Not doable when walking in cities.

veganbikes

That is a weird one. Not a lot of people doing 141QR. The only ones I have seen in real life were Trek as I have a friend who has that. It seems strange a folding bike would use that as generally folding bikes go smaller to make them more compact and it would save them money to stick with 135mm or 130mm which a long established and have plenty of super low initial cost hubs out there. It would be odd to pick a newer standard that is less supported for a bike equipped with lower tier 7 speed components. You don't really need the extra spacing for that few gears. However still if the hub is functional and working as it should I would leave it as is. No point in putting a bunch of money towards that bike. If noise is really an issue you could see if your local shop can help put some more grease in the pawls and bearings and that might help quiet things down a little bit but getting a fancy quiet hub is more trouble than it is worth.

Winfried

Since an Alfine hub is 135mm and that bike has disk brakes, I'd also have to find an adapter to move the disk outward, not just spacers to fill the 141-135=6mm.

I got a chain whip and took the cassette off the freehub. Still no references :-/ The ring on it is 4mm thick.

Does the freehub look like it's replaceable, or do I need to find a quiet, affordable, compatible hub… or is it "pick any two" and possibly even hopeless?

grumpus

I suspect this bike was also available with a rear hub motor. I recently worked on a rear hub motor that's spaced 142 mm with a regular threaded axle.

Winfried

Indeed, it's also available with a rear motor.

KerryIrons

[QUOTE=Winfried;23232723]Hello,

This folding bike sports a no-name, 7s* 142mm rear hub that I find too noisy. It clearly makes more noise than other bikes I passed on the street.

Provided there's no way to simply replace the freehub body and keep the rest of the wheel, is there an affordable silent/quiet hub I could use to build a new wheel from scratch?

Thank you.

* Shimano CS-HG41-7ac cassette
{/QUOTE]

Assuming we are talking about noise when coasting, use a lightweight grease or a grease/oil mix on the pawls. It will quiet the freehub a great deal.

Winfried

Thanks. I did see this on the web and might try it. I hope it won't make the pawls sticky.

After removing the disk to measure the hub, the caliper says 140mm. Is that common?

Provided it can be removed, how do you take this freehub off the hub? And how do you open it to lubricate the pawls?



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Edit: Simple enough with two 15mm cone spanners :-)

Should I use grease or oil, what kind, and should I apply it on the pawls or the ratchets?



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Edit: After applying some thin oil on the pawls and lithium grease on the notches, it's definitely quieter. That'll do until/if a really quiet alternative 140mm hub comes around.

tFUnK

I'm going to guess it's 135mm from inside of dropout to inside of dropout. If you're measuring tip of axle to tip of axle, that may bring it to 140mm. 135mm is the locknut to locknut distance and it's a common (albeit dated) MTB standard.

Winfried

Inside of dropout to inside of dropout is 141,xmm which I rounded up to 142 in the title. It's 140mm from here to here:


So I guess a 135mm hub would require two 2,5mm spacers for the hub, and an adapter to push the disk outward:


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Edit: Took it for a ride, and it's now quiet enough. That'll do for the time being.