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Shimano 8-speeds fall silent

Shimano have announced a change to their 8-speed internal gear hubs. Previously, like most such hub gears, they used a freewheel-like system of pawls to ensure one-way rotation of various internal parts:



This does of course create a clicking sound...

Now they've moved to roller clutches which are near-silent in operation:



These also offer, they say, quicker engagement, which should make shifting a little faster. This final image shows how the new hub internals use three of the roller clutches:



The 'smooth' hubs have new part numbers:
- for roller brake SG-8R31 (std), SG-8R36 (premium)
- with coaster brake SG-8C31 (std), SG-8C36 (premium)
- Alfine (for disk brake): SG-S501

Posted on 19 August 2008