Hey everyone how's it going?
If you ask any wheel builder about the DT Swiss hubs they're probably going to tell you that especially the 350s
are well priced, easy to service, they last forever, and overall are one of the best sellers.
But if you were to buy a DT 350 hub in 2022 it's gonna look like this
it was redesigned or reintroduced in 2021 so let's take a closer look at it!
It was the year before that when I introduced to you the new DT 240 and the Ratchet EXP,
the first change to their mechanism in 25 years.
to my big surprise, when they introduced the 350 the new 350,
they borrowed a lot of the same redesign ideas with one major exception.
And that major difference is the fact that the new 350 still called classic (J-Bend)
uses the old ratchet mechanism,
as opposed to the Ratchet EXP that many of you didn't like that much.
Ratchet EXP makes it harder to replace the ratchet rings
and they actually had a soft recall, check the serial number of your hub and reach out to DT Swiss
and see if your hub qualifies to be reworked.
They were really good servicing them and they sent it to me in a couple of days
so the new 350 doesn't have any issues like that because it still uses the same two ring mechanism from before.
You can easily clean service this or replace it it comes with 36 teeth as opposed to the 18T that were included before
and you can upgrade this to 54 tooth that's available as well.
So I would much rather prefer this old mechanism as opposed to the new DT 240 even though they say that it is better.
But don't get me wrong, I still like the 240 and actually have a full-blown video on the details of the new hub
I'm going to link it up in the corner of this video.
In that same video I mentioned that I didn't see any difference between the Ratchet EXP freehubs
and the good old ratchet freehubs from DT Swiss.
I can confirm now that they're all the same so whether you have a marking like this where it says Ratchet EXP,
or whether you don't have anything just like you see this on this Micro Spline they are all interchangeable
as long as you have that ratchet mechanism inside, that would be both for DT 350 and 240 hubs.
So again, all freehubs are compatible between these two hubs.
Back to our 350, even though the ratchet mechanism is the same there is other changes that they made to the hub itself.
First there is quite a bit more machining done to the hub shell itself to reduce weight
something that was reserved to the DT 240 hubs or 180 hubs in the past.
You have the option for IS 6-bolt rotor attachment or the Shimano Center Lock.
And one thing that they've changed, if you look carefully here at this 240, is this end cap or more precisely the shape of it.
The 350 end caps used to be smooth, now they have this line or notch that makes it easier to remove them.
They are not the same with the 240 end caps
and here they are the old 350 smooth, the new 240 nicely shaped, and the new 350 with that little notch at the end of it.
Front hub is no different, you see that same notch on the end cap, and that extra machining of the hub shell.
Also if you look at the finish, this is anodized now as opposed to the old hub which was that glossy painted finish with a removable decal.
Now the hub shell is a more modern matte block and you have a painted logo, DT Swiss as opposed to the removable decal from before.
I am turning these hubs into a Boost set of wheels and i'm gonna use the same DUKE rims that I reviewed for you folks last year
These are Boost like I mentioned and that can be found right here on the box.
You're gonna get the details of these hubs right here at the top,
you see that they have the IS 6-bolt rotor interface, 12 x148 so that's Boost
but as you would expect
DT Swiss is very versatile so you can get either the 142 or 157 rear spacing, both 100 and 110 mm for the front hubs.
I like to build with J-Bend spokes but if you are interested in straightpull,
DT offers these 350s in that variant as well.
Classic here on the hub description refers to the J-Bend, otherwise it would have said straightpull
and you can see that these are manufactured in Taiwan.
With all the extra machining and an actual new axle in this 350 DT Swiss reduced the weight of the hubs.
You see 283 grams for this IS 6-bolt with the Shimano HG freehub.
If I was to go for the Center Lock disc mount, that would have reduced the weight by an extra 20 grams so keep in mind.
If you want the lightest hubs go for the Center Lock!
Front hub comes up to 165 grams, again this is about 20 grams heavier than if it was Center Lock.
As for the hubset, front and rear, that's 447 grams
And believe it or not that 283 grams is like 3 grams lighter than an Industry Nine Hydra hub
which everybody would pay double for if you were to buy it today.
As for the noise from this hub
this is not too noisy right now,
it gets a bit noisier once the grease on the ratchet rings gets pushed out
but right now this is what you're getting from a brand new DT Swiss hub!
And I know you're gonna say yeah but the 350 is not a high engagement hub
like the Onyx or the I9 Hydra is so you can't really compare the two.
Well I promise that I'm gonna do a video on that but let's just say that as biased as I am,
I consider these new DT 350s to be probably the best deal in the marketplace right now.
They're reliable, they're lighter than before, and they're affordable so I would highly recommend these 350s!
So what do you guys think? Are you in the market for new hubs?
Would you consider the new 350 hubs from DT Swiss?
Let me know in the comments below!
As usual, if you found this useful don't forget to like subscribe and comment
and until next time hope to see you folks on the trails.
Cheers guys, cheers!