I was wondering if someone could answer this for me:
I recently bought new wheels (Mavic Aksium). When I rode the same model at my LBS, the rear hub made a healthy (read: loud) sound as the free wheel spun. However, mine on my bike, while they make a nice sound when spinning, aren’t nearly as loud and distinct as in the shop. Also, a riding buddy has Mavic Ksyrium and his free hub spins obcenely loud. What is behind wheels making this sound, and why might this disparity exist within the same brand and even model? (I should mention that my wheels are black and the wheels in the shop were silver. Additionally, my friend’s wheels are a few seasons old, mine have about 50 miles on them.)
Thanks!
could just be an update in the freewheel mechanism, and you have a slightly different production model.
Well, in that case, care to shed some light on what that freewheel mechanism is, and why some are louder or deeper or tinnier than others?
The sound that a freehub makes depends on the prawl mechanism. It’s becoming increasingly more popular to run a “stealth” freehub, which has such a quiet engagement that one can’t hear it under normal conditions.
Loud, obnoxious freehubs will be banned under my reign as World Dick-Tator.
Differences in these hubs can be due to tension on them, or how recently they have been greased, or you could’ve gotten a year newer than what you rode beforehand. Really, don’t worry about it unless it makes weird sounds (clicking, popping, skipping).