Fulcrum Racing 7 2012 Loud Hub

Buckie2k5
Buckie2k5 Posts: 600
edited December 2012 in Road buying advice
Hi there, been thinking of buying but have read mixed reviews on a very noisey hub. Anyone have them and be kind enough to leave your opinin?

Cheers.

Comments

  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    I have these ones at the moment (pretty sure they are the 2012's)

    http://www.rutlandcycling.com/6893/Fulc ... elset.html

    The freehub is not that loud at all tbh
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,336
    A loud freehub is normally a sign of good quality rather than the opposite. Get some wheels with Chinese hubs instead,they are very quiet... :wink:
    left the forum March 2023
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    A loud freehub is normally a sign of good quality rather than the opposite

    If you believe that then why at the same time recommend quiet chinese hubs? :|

    The fulcrums are a great budget wheel imo. Ive ridden mine a lot through the autumn and winter and the rear hub has never had an issue. Ive not had the freehub body out since getting them new and iam pretty sure its 3 pawls in there so thats why they are not as loud as others with 4. They are not very quiet.. just not as loud as others. Quite a nice sound actually. Pickup is fine.. and yes ive had 4 pawl rear hubs before and there is not a significant difference really
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    A loud freehub is normally a sign of good quality rather than the opposite. Get some wheels with Chinese hubs instead,they are very quiet... :wink:

    Indeed. Chris King freehubs sound like an angry robot wasp and they cost a fortune.

    Campagnolo/Fulcrum freehubs are well known for their noise. It’s a very distinguishable sound – a nice sound IMO.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    Neale1978 wrote:
    If you believe that then why at the same time recommend quiet chinese hubs? :|

    I think Ugo was being sarcastic.
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    edited December 2012
    Thats just what we needed, sweet :?

    Some louder hubs are not always better in reality. Take hopes pro 2.. That thing sounds awful to me with its 4 oversized pawls. The older quieter bulb hub was awesome but they changed it anyway and it was never considered bad quality

    If you can look after a rear hub then you dont need loads of pawls in it as it gets to a point where pickup cant actually be improved anymore once you have enough. Some hubs have 6.. Is that really going to make enough of an improvement?
  • pb21
    pb21 Posts: 2,171
    Is a louder sound really an indicator of better quality?
    Mañana
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    They're quieter when freshly packed with grease.
    More problems but still living....
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    pb21 wrote:
    Is a louder sound really an indicator of better quality?

    No.
    More problems but still living....
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    Been covered here also

    http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index ... 25790.html
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,336
    Neale1978 wrote:
    If you believe that then why at the same time recommend quiet chinese hubs? :|

    I also recommend Campagnolo and Hope, which are noisy... unlike others, I never use words like "bulletproof" or "bombproof", but rather "good value" and "very good for the money". I use a lot of taiwanese Novatec hubs, which are more than adequate... I never said they are the best available... remember they cost half the price of a set of Hope and not everybody can spend 400 pounds for a set of wheels.

    The point here is that some think that a loud freehub is somewhat a sign of bad engineering and something to be ashamed of... quite the opposite. If loud is a concern, one can use a mixture of runny grease and oil on the pawls to quiet it down, but it has more drawbacks than advantages
    left the forum March 2023
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    Fair enough. In some cases reducing the pawl spring tension to ease the noise is better than putting extra grease in there. I did it with a Redline project 79 hub and it worked well
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    These are good hubs IMO. The noise is there but not annoying - low pitched, kind of clunky and solid sounding...?! I never minded it. It's only when freewheeling. You don't notice after a few rides.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,336
    pb21 wrote:
    Is a louder sound really an indicator of better quality?

    Per se it does not mean anything, but typically it indicates bigger pawls, larger ratchet teeth, better springs, all things that make a better freehub
    Considering freehubs and ratchets do wear, an over engineered one is not a bad thing.
    The number of pawls is irrelevant, unless you believe in the catch delay nonsense. Three is fine, four is fine, six is fine.
    left the forum March 2023
  • backo
    backo Posts: 167
    Have a pair of fulcrum 5s for the last 12 months now.

    Found the hub to be eerrie quiet for the first say 200miles before soundling like a hub should sound.

    Only issue I have had with them was a pawl spring break causing a 1/4er second delay in the wheel free wheeling once stopping pedalling.New spring cost peanuts and was easy to fix.

    Have been impressed with them..much to the point that I have bought some fulcrum 3s for my new summer bike but havent taken them out for a spin yet.....very much looking forward to mind!
  • Buckie2k5
    Buckie2k5 Posts: 600
    thanks for input guys i have went ahead and ordered them. Should anyone mention anything on a ride ill give it the " loud means quality" patter. lol
  • Neale1978
    Neale1978 Posts: 484
    Its not loud.. trust :wink:

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