I was able to quiet it down to a much more tolerable level with a mixture of Dumonde Tech freehub oil and DT Swiss special grease, but over time the noise will return as the oil and grease dissipate (Silt also has their own MV1 grease for sale that can be used to help reduce the noise). Granted, I prefer quiet hubs over noisy ones, but I think the cacophony this hub makes may be excessive even for riders who think they're in the “loud hubs are better” camp. The overall decibel level is louder than a Chris King or Industry Nine hub, and the lower pitch seems like it makes it more noticeable. Now, I've ridden my fair share of loud hubs, but out of the box Silt's Ratchet Drive is louder and more distracting than anything I've tried before. Instead, it was the racket the hub made when I was coasting. The Silt XC wheels took the place of a wheelset that was just 100 grams lighter, so it wasn't the wheelset's fairly light weight that I noticed right away. Those pressures worked well for the wetter conditions that prevailed, and I managed to avoid any pinch flats during that time. I ran a couple of different tire combinations during testing, with widths between 2.3” - 2.4”, and tire pressures in the low 20's, typically 21 psi in the front and 23 psi in the rear. Whether that's down to the tires or the rim design is hard to say – I was using lighter, thinner casing tires for most of the test period, and those can require additional coaxing to pop into place. Getting the Silt XC wheels setup up tubeless was relatively straightforward, although I did need to resort to a charger-style pump to get the extra blast of air needed to seat the tires. The wheels do come with spare spokes, spare nipples, and tubeless valves at no extra charge. Accessing the bearing that's behind the fixed ratchet ring does require a special tool, but thankfully Silt has those available for $15.

The wheels use a total of six stainless steel bearings (two in the front and four in the rear) in the common 69 sizes. That means there's 10-degrees of crank rotation between engagement points, a fairly typical number.

A 36-tooth ratchet ring is fixed in place on the inboard portion of the hub, and it interfaces with another ratchet ring that sits on a leaf spring in the freehub body. The rear hub uses Silt's Ratchet Drive system that functions in a similar manner to what's found on DT Swiss' EXP series of hubs. The 28 hole rims are laced up to Silt's own hubs with Pillar bladed spokes in a 2-cross pattern. The idea is that a wider rim bead helps reduce the likelihood of a pinch flat when the tire gets smashed against the rim. The rim bead is 2mm thick, which is pretty typical for a cross-country rim, although we are starting to see more options hit the market that are a little wider, in the neighborhood of 4mm. The XC wheels' carbon rims have an internal width of 27mm, and a depth of 25mm. However, they're considerably more comfortable, with less vibration from smaller bumps and at lower speeds in particular.Silt's hubs are laced to the rim with Pillar bladed spokes. If ultimate stiffness is a big factor though, these Scribe wheels don't quite match the WTB CZRs. Lateral stiffness is at a similar level to the alloy Wide++ wheels, but comfort is improved. The 28 spokes front and rear are the very well-regarded Sapim CX-Ray spokes, something even the most expensive wheels use.

The ride quality is a good balance of comfort and performance, with stiffness that surpasses the majority of other wheels and certainly the majority of alloy wheels. The benefit is that tyres come up broader and squarer, giving more support and allowing pressures to be dropped lower for better grip.įor me, there is no downside to a wider internal rim, though it can rule out narrower tyres – if you stick to the common 110% rule it means not going below a 28mm tyre, which is probably very unlikely to be required. The internal width of the rims is 25mm, which is wider than the most, even those claiming to be wide. The shape of the rim – it's hookless with a wide, deep channel in the centre – is almost certainly the reason for this. I tried several brands and all fitted easily and blew up tubeless without any sweat. Tyre installation gets another big thumbs up.

Scribe wheels hub noise