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Another benefit is the new hub is that it has damn near zero drag similar to the WRP kit. Seems like a win win.
Just fitted a DF hub to my Patrol. It's in the 10deg setting and it's made a noticable difference through some of the rough trails we have here (Canadian Rockies). My previous bike was a V1 Druid and whilst I didn't miss too many things from it when I moved to the Patrol I did notice the increased feedback at the pedals. I think the DF hub has certainly helped in that regard.
I debated Sidekick but my LBS had this already in stock and I had DT wheels. I can see myself ordering a Sidekick for my better halfs Bronson.
No ochain as we're both running 28 front chainrings as we're old :0)
"One odd thing that may be unrelated is that the suspension felt too soft, I even had a couple of unexpected bottom outs. I guess the chain was providing some compression damping force that has now been reduced?"
This is something I remember being reported by other folks who have tested these sorts of devices. Their suspension was moving more freely which meant it more freely got to the bottom of the travel.
I think you're probably right; I'd imagine adding more compression damping would help.
Sorry, just saw your message. I have the Hybrid DEG DF on my e-bike, which only has the 0/10 settings. To your point, no need to ever run it in the 0 setting. Should have clarified that.
I have DEG DF on my other bikes which also have the 20 setting but I only find myself running that in the bike park and on climb/plunge trails.
Yep I’ve settled on a couple of extra HSC clicks and nothing on low speed, perhaps need one there too though.
Few more days now on the Deg DF including a couple of days shuttling. I like it and it's made a noticable difference to the ride. The DEG hubs are noisy and for some reason they seem to have got louder with the DF installed. I don't know if it's that other stuff is quieter or just fresh service but.... If quiet hubs is on your wishlist e-13 might be the way to go....
When do you feel they are loud? When coasting or when the hub engages?
Both for me. They get louder as they break in when coasting as well as make a little thud noise when engaging.
I thought it was the quietest hub ever initially- nope when it breaks in it gets more noisy. It’s not hope levels of noise though.
I'd agree - I haven't ridden them, but have noticed that my buddy's very new (~1 month old) 350 DEG set to normal hub mode is much louder than my old style 350 ratchet.
Bigger ratchets, more teeth, more surface area. I would agree they are louder than standard ratchet hubs. I think that is all DEG hubs. I hadn't noticed if DF ratchets being louder while coasting than non DF DEG ratchets.
It's whilst coasting in my case. A lot of the time I'm riding rough rocky trails where I'm not super fast and there's often some background noise of loose rubble etc so the noise wasn't that noticeable. This past weekend I was on some smooth high speed jump trails and I really noticed it.
Is there a preference to the E*thirteen Sidekicks or the DT Swiss DEG DF? I may be building up a rear wheel soon.
I've been riding my Megatower with a Sidekick hub on our trails so far, no trips to bike parks yet. I started with the smallest dead band and I just don't think it's a great hub for technical trail riding, especially if you're used to instant engagement hub like Onyx. The bike is now also way louder on the downs. The chain slaps massively on bigger hits, or perhaps it's the hub clunking when the chain pulls on it hard? I have not been able to pinpoint the source of the metallic clunk just yet, but it's no bueno. Next step - STFU, let's see if it helps quieting this loud pig down.
I used to work at DT and I have not ridden Sidekick so obviously I have a preference. What I like about the DF system is that it can be turned off in seconds. I live in Grand Junction and for Lunch Loops, there is a lot of ratcheting you will do. For climbing there I run it in 0. Every once in a while I will change it for a descent there. Otherwise I mostly run it in 10 around here. You can put it to the 0 setting which is 4-5 degree engagement (72 or 90T) super fast. Then swapping to 10 or 20 is super easy. It functions and requires the standard maintenance that any DT ratchet hub requires. It is pretty darn robust and reliable.
The chainstay protector on the Megatower (both v1 & 2) is not great. I replaced the stock one on my Nomad 6 with a Bronson 5 CS protector which has taller, softer fins and that helped a lot with the chainslap noise. I'm sure the STFU or VHS fin tape would work even better, particularly on the underside. I wasn't able to get an STFU loop device to work on the Nomad or Bronson without rubbing in some gears. On other little trick I found that helped a bit was putting a bit of mastic tape on the underside of my right crank, as I descend right foot back, and there are marks from the chain slapping the end of the crank. Biggest upgrade for quietness was putting an Ochain on, which takes out everything but full compression slap.
Thank you. I have STFU on V5 Bronson and it works very well for me, but I also have 11sp SRAM drive train on my bikes which makes its setup easier. I have a feeling that any freehub with a dead band and without some damping feature is just going to be clanging when the chain yanks on it hard, hopefully the STFU will damped the chain oscillations enough.
In seconds?! Both systems require the wheel to be removed from the bike and then the cassette from the hub to adjust them.
Sidekick has the advantage of single point pawl contact while it isn't engaged, so probably has noticeably less freewheel drag (and noise, if that's of value to you), but it isn't clear to me whether it has a fully disabled (zero additional float) setting – if it does then that means it's only 40 POE. DEG DF has the advantage of more POE (90), so it's genuinely high engagement when disabled and its float is more constrained, while it also has a wider range of float settings (I think they measure them differently, i.e. if I'm correct about Sidekick being 40 POE that means e13's "18°" is actually 9-18°, while DT's "20°" is 4-24°).
Yes, you have to remove the wheel on both. DT hubs you can remove the cassette and FHB without any tools, just lift up on it and the FHB/cassette pop off. Adjust the DF ratchet and reassemble. That is seconds. Pulling the wheel takes longer than making the adjustment.
There's no 0 deg deadband setting in Sidekick, which I am starting to regret. The pawls retract when coasting and require the full deadband travel to re-engage so the 9 deg setting results in 9 deg + whatever the engagement of the pawls is of float.
If I'm reading the e-13 website correctly the sidekick 2 is 60POE. Which is 6deg. So it's 9-15deg?
DT DF in 10deg is 10-14? (10 degrees of float + 0-4 for the 90POE cassette. Although I have read arguments that it's more like 5-9 because the DF points sit in the middle of the 10 when coasting.
My math might be way off here....
I have a DT350 36 tooth on a different wheel and it feels very similar to my DF in the 10deg setting although I've not done actual back to back style comparisons.
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