Fulcrum Racing rear hubs - are they noisy?

horizon

Thinking about springing for some Fulcrum Racing 5's but I've seen a couple of comments about the freewheel being noisy. I've only ever had Shimano hubs which have always been silent - which I like. I don't want that to change. Can any owners comment please?

onlyonearrow

My Fulcrum Racing 7s have a definite noise but it's not intrusive. Not as noisy as I've heard with Hope hubs. I don't notice it compared to Shimano rear hub on another bike.

Dadmo

I've used Fulcrum, SRAM, Bontrager and Mavic wheels, and the Fulcrums have definitely been the noisiest. On the other hand, they've never gone out of shape.

paulc33

My fulcrum 5's are fairly noisy. Most of my riding friends know its me coming as I free wheel along.

Good way to warn pedestrians your coming though. Haha

gsk82

i've never considered my racing ones as particularly noisy.

Wirral_paul

My Racing 7's are noisy too - compared to other wheels i've got / had anyway.

Keep pedalling - they dont make noise then (and you arent slowing down / slacking)

horizon

Wirral_Paul wrote:

My Racing 7's are noisy too - compared to other wheels i've got / had anyway.

Keep pedalling - they dont make noise then (and you arent slowing down / slacking)

Hmm, that's bad news. Thanks for all your replies so far. Sometimes I like slacking, freewheeling in silence down a favourite country lane. Furthermore, mechanical noise is wasted energy, surely!

andy_wrx

They are only noisy if you freewheel, so...don't !

I actually like noisy wheels in a group, you can tell if the guy two or three in front stops pedalling

thegreatdivide

I've got 2009 Racing 3's that sound like someone fishing for marlin, but my 2011 Racing Zeros and my 2012 Racing 3's sound like a Swiss watch i.e. lovely.

noiseboyfeetman

My Fulcrum 5's are noisey, which just makes me freewheel less. But my Fulcrum 7's are near as damn it silent.

horizon

There doesn't seem to be any consistency, which is even worse! I could understand the bottom of the range being noisier than the top, but that doesn't seem to be the case - the opposite in some instances. Perhaps I'll look at Ultegra 6700's instead.

ugo.santalucia

All these debates about noisy freehubs are very stupid... I think there are far more important issues than whether freewheeling is noisy or not. If the pawls are noisy, it's probably a good sign, it means the pawls/springs are good quality and will last long. If you want to reduce the noise, get more lubrication or thicken up the lubricant used by mixing oil and grease, trying not to jam them.

Besides, as someone mentioned, a noisy freehub is very useful when riding in a tight bunch or downhill

horizon

ugo.santalucia wrote:

All these debates about noisy freehubs are very stupid... I think there are far more important issues than whether freewheeling is noisy or not. If the pawls are noisy, it's probably a good sign, it means the pawls/springs are good quality and will last long. If you want to reduce the noise, get more lubrication or thicken up the lubricant used by mixing oil and grease, trying not to jam them.

Besides, as someone mentioned, a noisy freehub is very useful when riding in a tight bunch or downhill

I ride mostly on my own, quiet mechanicals are important to me and my question is quite valid. Its certainly not stupid but, I agree, there are far more important issues (see the Daily Mail) but this is a cycling forum to discuss things cycling.

ugo.santalucia

Horizon wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

All these debates about noisy freehubs are very stupid... I think there are far more important issues than whether freewheeling is noisy or not. If the pawls are noisy, it's probably a good sign, it means the pawls/springs are good quality and will last long. If you want to reduce the noise, get more lubrication or thicken up the lubricant used by mixing oil and grease, trying not to jam them.

Besides, as someone mentioned, a noisy freehub is very useful when riding in a tight bunch or downhill

I ride mostly on my own, quiet mechanicals are important to me and my question is quite valid. Its certainly not stupid but, I agree, there are far more important issues (see the Daily Mail) but this is a cycling forum to discuss things cycling.

OK,
Hope hubs are noisy because the pawls are exceptionally good, Campagnolo hubs are noisy for similar reasons.
Unless you abandon the pawls system, assume the noisier the better (per equal amount of lubrication). Now, if you want a crap freehub, but quiet, help yourself.
If you instead want a good but quiet hub, then abandon the pawls and enter the expensive world of ratchet systems... also called HuGi... get a set of DT Swiss hubs and keep them well greased and you won't notice you have a freehub... to keep them quiet, you'll have to regrease them often, but opening a DT hub is as easy as opening an umbrella

Vitessetortoise

Simple answer, I had F5s and, yes, they make more noise than shimano hubs.

It's a nice noise.

I learned to like it.

I've got Harry Rowland handbuilt wheels now, they quieter (not silent) and I kinda miss those 'noisy' hubs

horizon

ugo.santalucia wrote:

OK,
Hope hubs are noisy because the pawls are exceptionally good, Campagnolo hubs are noisy for similar reasons.
Unless you abandon the pawls system, assume the noisier the better (per equal amount of lubrication). Now, if you want a crap freehub, but quiet, help yourself.
If you instead want a good but quiet hub, then abandon the pawls and enter the expensive world of ratchet systems... also called HuGi... get a set of DT Swiss hubs and keep them well greased and you won't notice you have a freehub... to keep them quiet, you'll have to regrease them often, but opening a DT hub is as easy as opening an umbrella

Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of ratchet systems, I'll look into those further.

ugo.santalucia

Horizon wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

OK,
Hope hubs are noisy because the pawls are exceptionally good, Campagnolo hubs are noisy for similar reasons.
Unless you abandon the pawls system, assume the noisier the better (per equal amount of lubrication). Now, if you want a crap freehub, but quiet, help yourself.
If you instead want a good but quiet hub, then abandon the pawls and enter the expensive world of ratchet systems... also called HuGi... get a set of DT Swiss hubs and keep them well greased and you won't notice you have a freehub... to keep them quiet, you'll have to regrease them often, but opening a DT hub is as easy as opening an umbrella

Thanks for that, I wasn't aware of ratchet systems, I'll look into those further.

They are excellent, but you are looking at £ 300 for a pair of hubs (or at least 200 for rear hub only)... it is a very expensive solution to a problem that does not really exist