The wind up is there, but I was riding and loving my Onyx hubs for a while before I noticed it, and only because I saw it mentioned in a forum post and tried it for myself. If you stomp the pedals against the brakes, there is definitely a visible winding up of the sprags, but it is like loading energy into a spring, it gets returned instantly as the peak torque comes down. So unless you are particularly sensitive to it, or you ride a really heavy, very low geared bike, it is more of a feature than a problem because it gives a very nice, smooth take-up to the instant engagement. The Onyx hubs have also proven to be very strong, super smooth and completely reliable. I am intrigued by the new XTR hubs because silence is not optional for me anymore, and they look to have good engagement and be strong. So it will become a matter of weighing the benefits of the sprags versus the lower cost and weight. And while Onyx has a lighter weight version in the works, it is never going to get down to where these are. And of course the availability of Micro-Spline freehubs will be part of the decision.
May 27, 2018, 5:11 a.m. - Daryl Naskale
The wind up is there, but I was riding and loving my Onyx hubs for a while before I noticed it, and only because I saw it mentioned in a forum post and tried it for myself. If you stomp the pedals against the brakes, there is definitely a visible winding up of the sprags, but it is like loading energy into a spring, it gets returned instantly as the peak torque comes down. So unless you are particularly sensitive to it, or you ride a really heavy, very low geared bike, it is more of a feature than a problem because it gives a very nice, smooth take-up to the instant engagement. The Onyx hubs have also proven to be very strong, super smooth and completely reliable. I am intrigued by the new XTR hubs because silence is not optional for me anymore, and they look to have good engagement and be strong. So it will become a matter of weighing the benefits of the sprags versus the lower cost and weight. And while Onyx has a lighter weight version in the works, it is never going to get down to where these are. And of course the availability of Micro-Spline freehubs will be part of the decision.