DT Swiss 54t Star Ratchet Upgrade Kit: Rider Review

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High engagement hubs can make all the difference in technical terrain making ratcheting through rock gardens a breeze compared to hubs with lesser engagement. DT is one of the few companies that offers an upgrade for their lower engagement hubs and has become popular to anyone riding their hubs. Read on as our friend Dustin tells us about upgrading his DT 350 hubs.

Installation:

The installation of the ratchet upgrade kit is very simple for the home mechanic. No tools required other than whatever tool you need to remove your rear axle (usually an allen key or QR). I installed this ratchet upgrade with my cassette still on the freehub. Put on some gloves or cover the cassette with rags and give it a firm pull. This should free up the freehub from the hub body. Now you will see both the springs and ratchets. Lightly grease the new ratchets and reinstall the same orientation that the old ones were removed. This kit includes the special grease which will likely last you forever as very little is necessary for installation.

Ride Impressions:

Jumping from an 18t to 54t Ratchet on my DT Swiss 350 hub was a night and day improvement. Engagement is much quicker and makes a big difference especially on technical climbs. It's easy to do a quick backpedal if you need your pedals/cranks to clear some rocks or whatever. With the latest geometry having fairly low bottom bracket heights, this is a huge help. The sound of the hub changes as well due to the increased amount of teeth.

Final Thoughts:

For around $115 currently I think this is a great budget upgrade to get some more performance out of these hubs. The stock 18t ratchet gives you 20 degrees of engagement. This 54t upgrade bumps that down to 6.66 degrees. Why spend hundreds on new hubs and re-lacing wheels when you can increase the engagement of your current hubs for cheap? I personally haven't ridden the new i9 Hydra or Onyx hubs which have far more engagement. These high-end hubs will also hurt your wallet much more.