DT Swiss 36 star ratchet upgrade?

[Phall]

Anyone done this? Worth it? Its not cheap, even at cost.

[Dee Hubbs]

Ive installed it once for a customer on a 350. It was smooth and sounds great.
Not worth the $$ in my opinion.

[Eluder]

Depends on the bike. Do you think you would benefit from a slight upgrade in engagement?

[crashtestdummy]

I did it on my Behemoth when the 36 tooth first came out. I really liked the change and I haven't had any problems with it. But then I've really done nothing to my 440 hubs since 2006, so they were already bombproof.

[greasyslope]

I did it last year to my lady's bike after she chipped a couple of teeth on the old star ratchets. I don't remember the exact cost, but it didn't strike me as particularly expensive, but I was going to have to do something anyway. Twice the engagement seems worth it to me, but it definitely depends on how techy the stuff is that you ride. If one is just rolling on buff singletrack, it will not make much of a difference.

It is a very easy swap, except for yanking off the freehub, which is always so easy when I watch a video of someone else doing it, but for me, it requires a lot of cursing.

[VTskibum]

Haven't done it myself yet, but many of my riding crew has. All seem to think it's worth the ~$35 investment. Bunch of us are/were riding King hubs and found the durability vs engagement to favor DT Swiss w/ the upgrade.

My area generally has 50/50 a mix between rocky technical and fast smooth on the same rides.

[Dee Hubbs]

Anyone have a line on a cheap price on these?

[Arty50]

All seem to think it's worth the ~$35 investment.

Sadly, that was a pricing error by DT Swiss. They cost ~$100 now.

[frorider]

So when this 36 star came out (1 or 2 yrs ago) there were a lot of failures reported in the field, with people going back to the sucky 18 pt (sucky, as in sucks if you like riding up ledgey technical trails). But then I started hearing that using the right viscosity lubricant was the key to making the 36T work reliably. Haven't paid much attention since then, since I'm a Hadley and CK guy (and Hope...esp now that the 40T is available). Anyone know exactly what the story is here re: lubricant?

[joetron]

I've converted 6 or so using DT Swiss ratchet grease with no problems reported. Just a fine film "like a glazed donut" is what the dtswiss guy told me one time.

[frorider]

bukkake approach would be less reliable then probably.

[crashtestdummy]

I used Slick Honey in my conversion and it was more than 2 years ago, 3 or 4 at least. And no issues for me, but not worth $100 IMHO.

[VTskibum]

Ouch, $100 is steep.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Is this something that we could arrange a group buy for?

[frorider]

Does DT equip any current hubs w/ this 36T? Or do they prefer to milk the extra $100 for the 'upgrade' that really should be a standard item, as when Hadley increased their POE.

[Dee Hubbs]

Does DT equip any current hubs w/ this 36T? Or do they prefer to milk the extra $100 for the 'upgrade' that really should be a standard item, as when Hadley increased their POE.

As far as I understand all hubs sold with DT branding come standard with the 18T. Some Specialized/Roval builds with unbranded DT's come with the 36T.

[gunniride]

Thoughts on these long term? What about the 54t that trek offered?

[radam]

I've got a full season on the 36T upgrade and have been very happy. Paid ~$55 so not dirt cheap but one of the better upgrades I've done for that money. Star ratchet system is stupid easy to maintain and while I don't lay down massive amounts of power everything has held up well. I'm sure the trek upgrade is sweet but I don't know where to source it and I don't think it's even remotely cheap.

[jm2e]

I've seen the 54t with a mini tub of their proprietary grease for $100 on eBay. Otherwise, I've got a local Trek store that I suppose I could order through.
Independent mechanic I use said that DT is waiting for the Trek license to expire, then it'll be more available (and cheaper?)

[Eluder]

I've seen the 54t with a mini tub of their proprietary grease for $100 on eBay. Otherwise, I've got a local Trek store that I suppose I could order through.
Independent mechanic I use said that DT is waiting for the Trek license to expire, then it'll be more available (and cheaper?)

QBP has them in stock (DT Swiss Part), any bike shop can order them at this point.

[jm2e]

Which begs the question; If you can get the 54T, why would anyone get the 36T?
I've been wondering if DT has been losing market share from their poor POE. Seems like POE is all the rage.

[radam]

POE is all the rage, but I don't know if I'd drop 2x the money for the 54T vs the 36T.
I'd be curious to see some data on DT's market share through the years. I feel like people who are choosing other hubs aren't giving as much credence to DT's reliability as they should. I've got 5 years on a set of 350 hubs at the moment and have done nothing to them until last year when I found out you were supposed to occasionally put the thin coat of grease on the ratchets. I'll take that over a few extra POE any day.

[VTskibum]

^^ Truth! Sold off all of my C King's and running 240s or 350s. Utterly bomp-proof vs the King inevitable and repeated loosening end-caps or worse. Running 18t in 350 and just upgraded the 240 to 36t, really haven't missed the King POE as much as I thought I would.

Already been said, but replacing or servicing these things is so stupidly easy it's comical compared to other far worse hubs.