Seriously Funny Story From The Comically Negative Rich Dillen

No doubt Rich is facing cold hard reality of I9 rear hub drag. I am sure when Rich he puts his bike in the repair stand and spins the rear wheel, Rich gets a little depressed because he observes that it doesn’t spin as nearly as well as his old beloved Shimano XTR 960’s. Hopefully I9 will adopt the new magnetic ratchet system technology that Tune showcased at the Eurobike. As it stands right now, the I9 rear hub is pretty draggy and is costing riders podium positions.

XTR 960s did not have magnetic ratchet technology, they just had fewer pawls and way fewer points of engagement than I9s do. Sure they might spin better, but that could be just as much do to the grease used as anything, and clearly some people want high POE regardless of this “pretty draggy” performance. Someone should really measure the amount of power wasted in this drag and equate that to a real performance drop. My guess is anyone blaming a missed podium on the drag in an I9 wheel, probably wasn’t going to finish on the podium anyways. Also, I’m pretty sure the magnetic ratchet that Tune uses is not to reduce drag, it’s to reduce weight. No one will (or should) argue that Tune’s system is simpler and lighter the I9s, but saying it has inherently less drag because of the design is silly.