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DT Swiss 350 54T upgrade: Is it worth it?

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#21 ·
#22 ·
I watched some DT Swiss video years ago that also made the suggestion that there is a small penalty of drag with more teeth. I have 3 bikes...my gravel/groad bike has 18T, my XC Endurance racer as 36 and my RipMo has 54T. I really like the engagement to match the riding style.

Cheers,
Mike
 
#25 ·
I have been playing with 3 pawl 370, ratchet upgrade to 18 stock, then Chinese 60 (failed after 125km) Was carrying the 18 with me just in case (talk about back to back test) and I hated the feel of the 18 when I got back on the bike. I loved the high engagement especially in slow tech. Installing the Genuine DT 54 tonight because I can't live with the 18.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I have all three versions across several wheel sets. I ride in Phoenix so plenty of opportunity for chunky ratcheting as needed. After having all three I would ride any of them almost equally happily.

I miss the near complete silence of the 18 on the mountain bike. The upgrade to 36 was noticeable but hardly made me a better rider. The 54 is a bit noisy for my liking, but no biggie... however I really wouldn't want that noise level on my gravel bike.

If you ride super technical chunky ups then there's no reason not to have more engagement. It may or may not not help you, but it certainly won't hurt you. Honestly, where I noticed the higher engagement points is when picking up the slack trying to pedal fast... when already going fast. I'm not a racer so I don't really care about that either. They're all good, 36 is a pretty darn good compromise between engagement and noise level if that matters to you.

Pretty sure all the new 350s come with minimum of 36t. No doubt DT was feeling the marketing pressure and will be left behind at 18t. It's a rock solid system though.... That will inevitably be left the way of the dinosaurs.
 
Discussion starter · #28 ·
I usually do wheelie drops. Also wanted to try trials. 18T (20degrees) is just too laggy. Maybe 36T will get me what I want.

What is the worst thing that could happen when you have blown rachet?
 
#29 ·
I put the 54t in 2 of my hubs, I'm not worried about it exploding or anything. You could carry a spare around, perhaps if going on an adventure. If you are someone who regularly breaks hubs and other bike parts the 18/36 might be better.
 
#30 ·
Zero problems with 54t on both my bikes. I’ve raced XC, enduro and tons of trail riding. The jump from 18 to 36 is definitely noticeable. Where I noticed the engagement the most is when I was riding someone’s wheel and going from coasting to pedaling. Or when exiting corners and starting to pedal again. Slow tech didn’t seem as noticeable to me. I don’t mind the louder 54t, I prefer it. Let’s people know I’m coming.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#32 ·
MSU Alum said:
I agree with the assessment that if you have the old 18 tooth, an upgrade to either 36 or 54 is a noticeable improvement (for me, anyway) and that if you have a 36 already, I wouldn't bother.
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Totally. I have 36 in my XC bike (should have got 54 but was feeling cheap at the time) and 54 in my gravel bike; both are upgraded 350 hubs. I do prefer the 54 but mostly because it sounds like a swarm of angry bees.

18 was painfully noticeable before I upgraded, especially when standing on the pedals.

Btw, for those worrying about the durability of the 54t... all those little teeth are engaged at once. Unlike some of those ultra high poe hubs (690 poe?) that are also used for mtb, where only one tiny pawl out of 4 is engaged at once. They seem to survive, so I have no doubt that a DT 54 will.
 
#33 ·
18 is what I have on my road bike. It's fine for that IMO. 54 on my mountain bikes. I hate the slow hook-up of the 18's in slow, techy terrain not to mention the clunky sound and feel. Never had an issue with the teeth whatsoever after years. But I have chicken legs.
 
#34 ·
I rode 18T for years with no issues, but moved to a 54T with my new DT240 wheelset. I dont notice any unusual pedal kickback, but I ratchet quite a bit while riding. First ride was Gooseberry Mesa, and it was literally a game changing upgrade allowing me to clear virtually everything.

I have some Chris Kings on another bike (which I got around the same time as the 54T) and they are both equally as loud, albiet a different tone.. I wouldnt hesitate to do a 54T again.
 
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#35 ·
It is worth it if you are doing technical climbs. In the last two years I have only found I needed more engagement once and I think it was mostly a fluke. I backpedaled your get the right turn of my cranks to not have a pedal strike and didn’t go far enough and missed the engagement. It happened about 3 weeks ago. I must have been so close to the engagement point. Once in two years is good enough for me to call it the right amount of engagement. If you are not back pedaling to clear stuff then 36 or even 18 is all you need and they are stronger. I haven’t had a problem with durability either but I’m also 150 pounds and not super strong.
 
#36 ·
DYORD said:
I usually do wheelie drops. Also wanted to try trials. 18T (20degrees) is just too laggy. Maybe 36T will get me what I want.

What is the worst thing that could happen when you have blown rachet?
Click to expand...

18POE is not what is standing between you and the skills/moves you seek.

Worst case has two components: One, your hub fails to engage and you crash, with varying outcomes depending on how much you were putting into that stroke.

Two, you walk out. Or, pull the freehub off and replace the roached ratchets with the 18t you keep in your pack as spares for just this eventuality.
 
#37 ·
I've been pushing 54t DT240 hubs in low gears for several years and never had any problems... a bit noisy, but massively reliable hubs. Probably noisier than my King ISO discs, but those are a different 'tone'. Sound closer to my old Hadley hubs.
May not improve your riding as much as you hope; but then again, if you can't afford a new bike, they will at least offer 'something different'. Not a visual 'bling', but an audible one! I replaced my old Canfield Crampon pedals with some new ones last season and I still get stoked every time I place a shoe on them!! All that said, they are a noisy hub and sound best when freshly repacked and are more quiet..
 
#38 ·
11053 said:
If you do go for the 54T, make sure it is a genuine DT Swiss product. The knock off 54T upgrades do fail frequently.
Click to expand...
Going to call horsecrap on that.

I have been running a 60t chinese one that is every bit as good as the original. mine came witha gold coating and serial numbers and have been nothing but flawless, they were not cheap either.
 
#40 ·
Did a blind test with a riding buddy. We both have dt hubs (one a 240, one a 350 but use same ratchets).

We had a set of 18, 36 and 54 ratchets at our disposal. Found a semi tech climb, then one of us put whatever ratchet set in others hub. Had the rider put in earbuds for music to hide sound. And rode up then down trial area. Swapped again and repeated for all three.

We both could identify the 18, but we could not tell difference between the 36 and 54.

The only way we really noticed the 18 was when we were sitting still and could tell on backpedal - not when actually riding.

So there is your test sample of 2 fat old dudes and a few beer experiment.
 
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