DT Swiss wheels w/ RatchetEXP vs Swissside W/ Classic Ratchet DT180

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Nereth
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:18 am

by Nereth

Hi all,

About to pull the trigger on either some DTSwiss Arc1100 Dicut DBs, or Swissside Hadron2 ultimates.

The story with these wheels are,

1) They are the same wheel in all ways, except the DTSwiss ones have DT180 Ratchet EXP and the swisside have the established DT180 ratchet.
2) They will be the same price for me after shipping etc.

So I feel like the choice is actually between:

1) Ratchet exp vs ratchet. Ratchet exp is new and shiny but has had the failure-to-engage issue for the last year. Recall has happened and replacement parts seem to fix it, but does that fix *stick* or do they tend to wear and mess up again? Anyone know?
2) DT Swiss vs Swissside warranty and aftersales service. Swissside you go through swissside online and then if you pass go, they boot you to a DT Swiss service centre. Extra steps, extra time. Don't know how motivated they/DT Swiss are compared to if you come straight into the DT Swiss service centre with the usually more premium DT Swiss wheels. Any experiences?

I was originally going to get swissside as they are cheaper and the old ratchet is lower risk. But now DT Swiss is the same price, I'm a bit torn. So I'm splitting hairs.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12443
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

I think the usual social channels (like this one) would know by now if the current EXP ratchets were developing issues.

by Weenie


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Nereth
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:18 am

by Nereth

Uhh, there's no question that they have issues:

https://www.dtswiss.com/en/ratchet-exp- ... nce-notice

https://www.cyclingtips.com/2021/05/dt- ... -bulletin/

The question is whether the fix remains effective, ten twenty, thirty thousand ks in. My DT 240s have close to 100,000ks on original ratchet. No dramas. Wandering if the new ones will have similar reliability (though I doubt anyone has gone that long on them yet).

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12443
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

Nereth wrote:
Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:04 pm
Uhh, there's no question that they have issues:

https://www.dtswiss.com/en/ratchet-exp- ... nce-notice

https://www.cyclingtips.com/2021/05/dt- ... -bulletin/

The question is whether the fix remains effective, ten twenty, thirty thousand ks in. My DT 240s have close to 100,000ks on original ratchet. No dramas. Wandering if the new ones will have similar reliability (though I doubt anyone has gone that long on them yet).
I said CURRENT, not early EXP ratchets.

Obviously basically nobody has 100000km on EXP ratchets so you’re asking a question that is impossible to answer. Since you are clearly favoring the previous star ratchet design, just go with the SwissSide so you can get the peace of mind you seek.

NordicSal
Posts: 279
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:09 pm

by NordicSal

Close the thread, no more needs to be said

Nereth
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:18 am

by Nereth

Tobinhatesyou,

Sorry, I misunderstood. That's a fair point if you've noticed the number of complaints actually dry up since they started the fix? I hadn't been watching at all back when the issues started, or closely enough since, to have made that judgement. But if that's the case that's very confidence inspiring.

hannawald
Posts: 1692
Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2016 7:28 pm
Location: Czech Republic

by hannawald

I would trust DT Swiss and their EXP design. It is slightly lighter as a bonus. If you can have them for the same price take whichever decals fits your bike better.

jfranci3
Posts: 1571
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:21 pm

by jfranci3

The old design works for sure.
The difference in those DT Swiss Aero hubs 240 vs 180 is minimal. They just removed some of the center lock splines. I did the math once and so was like 5gr of material.

Designwise, the EXP is basically the same as the ratchet expect one side is fixed. The EXP make a bit more noise, but work the same. They has a bad run of them, but they should be just as reliable outside of that now.

I'd get the older style for the noise issue and so I can easily move freehubs/cassettes around between my other ratchet wheels. Besides that, get the ones with teh better graphics and brand name you like more. I wouldn't worry about the warranty here.
Last edited by jfranci3 on Wed Mar 15, 2023 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

MilesG813
Posts: 142
Joined: Thu May 19, 2022 7:17 pm

by MilesG813

I only have 1500 miles on my DT Swiss 180 exp hubs but they have been issue free. I have not heard of anyone having the "stick" recur with the updated hub.
2022 Specialized S-Works SL7 I Ultegra R8170 I Princeton Carbonworks 6560
2012 Cannondale CAAD 10 I 105 R5700 I Zipp 404s

Xabi
Posts: 159
Joined: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:55 pm

by Xabi

Probably swiss side sells older/lesser rear hub so they don't sell a better product than their parent company.

That's how it works with cars and consumer electronics.

pushpush
Posts: 280
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2023 5:10 am

by pushpush

I have two sets of wheels with the 180exp hubs. One set had the problem, one did not. Both were warranty updated by DT Swiss. They were absolutely fantastic in their handling of the update and I really can't say enough good things about the people I interacted with.

Neither wheelset has had ANY trouble since the update. Completely troublefree ever since.

If I had need, I would buy another set without any hesitation.

Pottermouse
Posts: 62
Joined: Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:55 pm

by Pottermouse

Had very early DT240 EXPs which did have the issue - must have been about 3 years ago. DT Swiss did 'the fix' and no issues since.

Nereth
Posts: 248
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2023 10:18 am

by Nereth

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the votes of confidence.

I ended up purchasing the DT swiss for a few reasons;

1) Your comments made me believe the issue is gone
2) Resale value
3) to a very small extent, technical superiority (assuming aforementioned issue doesn't occur)
4), and most importnatly of all, the red decal on them matches the bike I'm building up really well :)

Hopefully these get to 100,000 ks with just a couple services and no issues, like my current DT240s's have :)

maxima
Posts: 460
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 9:37 am

by maxima

DT Swiss Hub are more robust then anything else. Those old problematic hub if fixed correctly with their recall spareparts, will actual solve the issue. Coming from a Wet and super high humidity environment all year round.....the ease + simplicity of servicing and repair for DT hubs by yourself is a big plus+++

Jasonlelam
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:20 am

by Jasonlelam

Opt for Non-exp ratchet. I would like to do hub maintenance or small part replacement by myself. With Non-exp ratchet, it is quite simple to replace the weared rachets with new ones without the need of any special tools. But you have to request some kind of unique tools to do the ratchet swap work if you have a EXP hub unfortunately.

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
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