Dt Swiss 54t vs Lyne JB02HE hub

[Clear2Land]

Ok so, I currently have a DT Swiss 350 18t rear hub and I'm looking to upgrade the hub to 54t or buy the Lyne JB02 high engagement hub. Reason for choosing to upgrade is to get that higher engagement and also for that nice zzzz sound (in my opinion). But mostly for the engagement????

 

I have heard good reviews about both hubs and I'm not sure which option to choose as they both are similar in price. Lyne hub has 2.4 degree engagement compared to DT 6.6 degree engagement and I have heard that the Lyne hub has a lekker sound to it, aswell as the 54t upgrade.

 

Just want to hear some of your thoughts and opinions from people who have ridden or have knowledge about these two options and which option is the better one to choose????

[Matchstix]

Well dont have experience . . Dt upgrade should be a tad cheaper than a complete hub and rebuild.

Mate has the jbo2 with zero issues.

[Jewbacca]

I would go with the 36 tooth up grade. The 54 tends to wear out faster with the smaller working bits. The 36 tooth is also more than fast enough pick up..... I have a Lyne hub and it works perfectly.

[DieselnDust]

I would go with the 36 tooth up grade. The 54 tends to wear out faster with the smaller working bits. The 36 tooth is also more than fast enough pick up..... I have a Lyne hub and it works perfectly.

 

 

What Jewie said.

 

The 54T upgrade comes with two new springs and you have to use those two springs. No confusion with the old ones and You have to use the DT swiss grease they sell for R200 a tub. If not the star ratchets will wear quickly and will even stick resulting in a derailed chain off the front ring.

The 36T upgrade sounds great and is more robust and forgiving of poor maintenance

The Lyne hub seems bullet proof and cheap(ish).

Also consider ECC hubs. Great value for money

[droo]

What Jewie said.

 

The 54T upgrade comes with two new springs and you have to use those two springs. No confusion with the old ones and You have to use the DT swiss grease they sell for R200 a tub. If not the star ratchets will wear quickly and will even stick resulting in a derailed chain off the front ring.

The 36T upgrade sounds great and is more robust and forgiving of poor maintenance

The Lyne hub seems bullet proof and cheap(ish).

Also consider ECC hubs. Great value for money

 

Have to disagree with you on ECC, I've seen way too many freehub failures to be able to recommend them.

 

There is one with a star ratchet type engagement that is a bit better, but I'd pick Lyne over ECC any day of the week.

 

OP - 36T ratchet upgrade, unless you're planning on rebuilding the wheel anyway. Reasons are all already listed above.

[DieselnDust]

Have to disagree with you on ECC, I've seen way too many freehub failures to be able to recommend them.

 

There is one with a star ratchet type engagement that is a bit better, but I'd pick Lyne over ECC any day of the week.

 

OP - 36T ratchet upgrade, unless you're planning on rebuilding the wheel anyway. Reasons are all already listed above.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up on the ECC'!

[droo]

Thanks for the heads up on the ECC'!

 

I've been searching for the perfect budget hub for years, and have come to the conclusion that it just doesn't exist.

 

JB02HE is the closest so far, no failures yet.

[Matchstix]

Depending on what ecc. The star ratchet I dont know. But I will say the JB02 freehub seems better quality.

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

Upgrading the DT hub would be fastest, cheapest and easiest.

 

If you rebuild with a new hub, you may be in for new spokes and nipples, the price of the new hub, and labour to rebuild the wheel.

 

The DT350 hubs are really nice, and should give you a lifetime of good service, and parts are always available.

 

I would choose a name-brand hub like DT Swiss or Hope over a generic one any day of the week.

[Headshot]

In a perfect world we'd all be on DT or Hope but ya know $$.  I'm a few months in on a really cheap custom wheelset. The rear hub is a Lyne, now priced at R1600. It makes a lovely sound and so far so good on reliability. Its already blown the awful Spesh hub my bike came with into the bushes. 

[Ben Daniel]

The buzz of the 36t is really amazing, I may even have a spare set. PM me and I can check for you

[droo]

Its already blown the awful Spesh hub my bike came with into the bushes. 

 

You set a low bar. Lyne deserves a better comparison than that.

 

[MarcHD]

As the DT Swiss distributor I can probably throw my 2cents in, but that will likely only come across as biased anecdote. 

 

What I can say with certainty is this:

Upon receiving the distribution rights for the brand, one of our first steps in doing our market research was to approach SA stores which service a large amount of bikes using DT Swiss internals or complete hubs/wheels on their bikes. (Concept stores are a good example) 

 

Specifically the brands we focussed on were:

Specialized 

Giant

Scott

Better known as the three most popular bike brands in South Africa by a huge margin.

 

One of our questions, was whether these stores had any negative feedback regarding the 54T ratchet.

 

Specifically given that ALL Specialized Roval wheels from mid range and above have this upgrade as standard, and that Specialized [at the time] was still the most popular bike brand in SA - we would have reliable feedback approaching these stores.

 

The overwhelming response was that the 54T DOES NOT give issues in noticeable numbers to be cause for any concern. 

 

Doing A/B tests on our B2B portal, in which both the 36T and the 54T were available - the 54T naturally outsold the 36T (more is more after all) of which we have had no warranties I am aware of!

 

Now please don't misunderstand me, I am not saying there have been no issues ever, or that the individual experiences of stores are wrong or misleading - they are speaking from their experiences after all!  

Rather, I simply wish to highlight the facts based on the collective experiences of the stores seeing the most amount of 54T DT hubs through their doors throughout the entire SA market. 

 

Hope this helps!