Regarding high vs low engagement hubs. Technical climbs/Impossible climbs are my thing. I have regularly used everything from an 18pt DT 350 to a 72pt Chris King, and do not experience that higher engagement hubs help for my riding style.
When climbing slowly, trying to soft pedal the easier sections of the climb to recover, then surging for uphill features, I find that before a hub will engage, you first have to get your feet rotating almost twice the rpm of your wheel, before any hub will engage, and by that point (with any hub) my feet have already rotated more than 20 degrees.
Also, for technical climbing, I really don't coast much, I soft pedal - near track standing - keeping tension on the chain/hub always engaged, in between the surges, so another reason that quicker hub engagement is meaningless to me.
March 14, 2023, 8:04 a.m. - taprider
Regarding high vs low engagement hubs. Technical climbs/Impossible climbs are my thing. I have regularly used everything from an 18pt DT 350 to a 72pt Chris King, and do not experience that higher engagement hubs help for my riding style. When climbing slowly, trying to soft pedal the easier sections of the climb to recover, then surging for uphill features, I find that before a hub will engage, you first have to get your feet rotating almost twice the rpm of your wheel, before any hub will engage, and by that point (with any hub) my feet have already rotated more than 20 degrees. Also, for technical climbing, I really don't coast much, I soft pedal - near track standing - keeping tension on the chain/hub always engaged, in between the surges, so another reason that quicker hub engagement is meaningless to me.