Noisy freehub - quieten with grease?

[toontra]

Just bought a set of Progress A-Prime carbon wheels from a friend. The freehub is incredibly noisy! I'm used to Shimano DuraAce which are almost silent and the sound is driving me nuts.

I suspect the hub (Novatec rebadged?) has never been serviced so I'm thinking of trying a clean & grease job on it. The makers say it's a spring and pawl hub so should be straightforward. The thing is, what type of grease should I use? Various online sources say a "grade 3"* would still allow the pawls to operate normally but be thick enough to deaden the sound a bit.

Where do I find "grade 3" grease. I can't see any grease labelled as such - just general "freehub grease" (e.g. Shimano) but no mention of "thickness". Any ideas welcome.

* Apparently grease is graded from 00 through to 6

[rareposter]

Never put grease in a freehub, except perhaps ones without standard pawls, like an American Classic or a Hügi (DT) with a star ratchet. Just use light oil. Yes, the clicks will be loud - you can't change that it's just the design.

There are videos on social media comparing different freehub sounds eg:

https://youtu.be/syG-5gun1Dw?si=XRaFMkgLolVUw3gu

[freeflow]

I was recommended Superlube Synthetic Grease when I was using Royce hubs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Synthetic-Grea ... 71&sr=8-10

You will likely have to top up the grease every month or so as the grease will leak out due to overfilling (getting enough in to quieten the hub). I didn't mind this.

[Valbrona]

Grease pawls and they stick.

[toontra]

Thanks RP. The internet being what it is shows differing opinions. For example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-27zksk ... w&index=17 (spring & pawl section starts around 11.20)

There are a few other sources that also suggest grease to quieten spring & pawl freehubs. They can't all be wrong - can they?

With Shimano hubs I've always used oil as you suggest, but I'm into different territory here so would appreciate advice.

[toontra]

Grease pawls and they stick.

Surely it depends on type of grease?

[rareposter]

Grease pawls and they stick.

Surely it depends on type of grease?

Not really - grease dries out, becomes (even more) sticky, the pawls stick, the freehub jams.

[toontra]

Grease pawls and they stick.

Surely it depends on type of grease?

Not really - grease dries out, becomes (even more) sticky, the pawls stick, the freehub jams.

Ah OK. As I say I usually use oil but was hoping to experiment.

Part of the problem is the wheels are deep section carbon and the frame has a large aero carbon down tube. I think all these things are acting as reverberation chambers that amplify the sound.

[hoogerbooger]

I asked a similar question on this forum some time ago. The shimano type free hub has pawls enclosed within the freehub....which muffles the sound. The type of freehub you have is presumably the type where the pawls are in more direct contact with the hub/ wheel which tends to amplify the sound.

You can use grease on pawls, but only if it's fluid enough not to gum up the springs. I use landrover swivel semi-fluid grease instead of oil on my Missus's noisy Mavic wheels' freehub. It's tomato ketchupy consistency. It does deaden the sound somewhat.....and has not caused problems with function

[toontra]

I asked a similar question on this forum some time ago. The shimano type free hub has pawls enclosed within the freehub....which muffles the sound. The type of freehub you have is presumably the type where the pawls are in more direct contact with the hub/ wheel which tends to amplify the sound.

You can use grease on pawls, but only if it's fluid enough not to gum up the springs. I use landrover swivel semi-fluid grease instead of oil on my Missus's noisy Mavic wheels' freehub. It's tomato ketchupy consistency. It does deaden the sound somewhat.....and has not caused problems with function

Thanks for that. Always wondered exactly why Shimano hubs were quieter than many others.

[cyclop]

Ditto "scribe" wheels .

[mattsccm]

Virtually no grease. I rub a small bit around to hold things in place but it is pretty light stuff or even has a bit of oil mixed in.
Bear in mind that the carbon wheels may make things worse. I have two Shimano hubbed rear wheels. One with a deep carbon rim. Definitely noiser.

[NickJP]

Grease pawls and they stick.

Use a 50/50 mixture of grease and oil. I started doing this after finding the suggestion in the cassette body service instructions for the Phil Wood hubs on our tandem, and have found that the same mixture works fine on all the other brands of freehub I have tried it on. The mixture quietens noisy freehubs to some extent and doesn't cause the pawls to stick.

Step 4 in these instructions: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0378/ ... 79ea79.pdf.

[rogerzilla]

"Grade" probably means NLGI. Grade 3 is actually firmer than the stuff we use on hub bearings, which is 2.

[alexnharvey]

NLGI grades 0, 00 and 000, aka semi fluid greases, are increasingly less likely to make the pawls stick as they are less and less viscous. Indeed, a semi fluid grease is specified to lubricate shimano freehubs. You can try to approximate the reduction in viscosity with a grease-oil mixture. A heavier weight oil, such as gear oil might also dampen the noise somewhat.

I have some semi fluid grease you could experiment with if you like. For the cost of postage i could send a sachet.