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Project321 magnetic pawls latch onto new Micro Spline freehub body

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Noticing a theme here? The first week of the year has been a stream of hub announcements, all revolving around Shimano Micro Spline compatibility. We missed their facebook announcement on the 2nd, but Project321 also has a new Micro Spline driver – joining the likes of Chris King, Stan’s No Tubes, and Hope Tech, who all introduced theirs the first week of the year.

Project321 magnetic pawls latch onto new Micro Spline freehub body

Using their magnetically actuated pawl system, the Project321 freehub has a number of options for how it can be run. You can choose 6 x 2 with six pawls engaging two at a time for a super quick 1.7° (216 POE) engagement, or you can go with 6 x 3 with six pawls engaging three at a time for stronger engagement but in 2.5° (144 POE) increments.

There’s also the choice of quiet or loud pawl options, so you can tune the sound of your hub. These are only compatible with their magnetic 6 pawl ratchet drive hub systems, and will work with 142, 148, and 157mm axles.

Project321 magnetic pawls latch onto new Micro Spline freehub body

Available with standard or ceramic bearing upgrades, the driver body kit includes bearings, the spacer, seal, pawls, and replacement driveside end cap with prices starting at $135 for standard bearings.

Project321 is also selling complete rear hubs with the Micro Spline freehubs already installed, as well as complete wheels. Made in Bend, OR, the hubs have a 3 year warranty on pawls and the freehub body, and a 10 year warranty on the hub shell and axle.

project321.com

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15 Comments
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Vincent
Vincent
4 years ago

I really like the quiet hub option, but will only buy if the hub would be released in a centerlock version.

K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
4 years ago
Reply to  Vincent

Onyx have CLD microspline hubs. Instant engagement and completely silent.

xl
xl
4 years ago

..and twice as heavy as dt swiss

Tim
Tim
4 years ago
Reply to  xl

Onyx’s new Vesper model hub is significantly lighter than previous versions. It’s not as light as a DT hub, but it’s still in more reasonable territory. Engagement is supposedly still kind of mushy, though, which for me defeats the purpose of instant engagement.

K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
4 years ago
Reply to  Tim

I’ve heard the same mush bs and brushed it off as internet static. I have a current Masters World Champ on the track who is an absolute watt monster on no less than 3 Onyx sets, one of them is strictly for road racing. If they were “mush” he would not have sold all his other wheel sets and went entirely Onyx. Just sayin’. That flex that some feel is coming from the chain and the rest of the drivetrain. The one-way sprag clutch in Onyx hubs doesn’t slip or flex in anyway. So I just have to say the mush conclusion is fairly absurd.

Tim
Tim
4 years ago

I read in two different reputable sources, one of them bike packing.com, that the engagement is indeed soft. (And they actually passed it off as a feature.) Is that a major detraction? I wouldn’t say until I rode one myself. If it feels anything like the old Shimano rollerclutch hubs, then I wouldn’t buy.

Langhorne
4 years ago
Reply to  Tim

I’ve got two sets of Onyx hubs now and I’ve been riding them for a few years. They aren’t what I would describe as mushy or spongy, but there is a soft aspect to the engagement and what is going on is that they wind up a bit under high torque. It is like loading a spring, the sprags stand up a bit under heavy torque while remaining fully engaged. The energy is immediately returned as peak torque relaxes. The net effect is a very smooth and efficient delivery of power. It does seem like some people don’t like the feeling, at least initially. Most find it to be a feature. For me, I didn’t even realize it was happening until someone else pointed it out, but I did really enjoy the overall smooth and drag free feel of the hubs, and I love the silence. I don’t notice the extra weight. Bottom line, they have been the smoothest, fastest and most reliable hubs I have ever had and I am ruined for other hubs especially for the silence.

Tim
Tim
4 years ago

From Bikepacking:
“It is probably less than one degree of rotation before the sprags are fully loaded, but because of the nature of camming devices, the “catch” of the freehub feels soft, as the sprags are gradually loaded. There’s no hard on/off stop that one feels when a pawl freehub engages, and I find the soft, near-instant feeling when I begin to pedal extremely pleasant. It makes my bike feel solid in a way I hadn’t appreciated before using Onyx hubs.”
It sounds like a minor drawback, but one that the writer tries to cover for in a dubious way.

K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
4 years ago
Reply to  Tim

Personal perception is awfully subjective.

Tim
Tim
4 years ago

Your track star’s opinion is also subjective. You are awfully partisan towards these hubs, (or maybe you’re just trying to get a rise out o people).

K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
4 years ago
Reply to  Tim

Not at all. I go through a lot of Onyx hubs every year they’ve been in existence and never hear any complaints about any mush feelings or weight. But you guys with zero experience with this company other than what you read on the internet can come on here and blame me for making my point. Odd times we live in.

K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
4 years ago
Reply to  xl

…lol, not quite 2x the weight. You have a phd in melodrama? Onyx rears are generally 120gm more than most other rears. In the last 6-7 years of building Onyx equipped wheel sets, even for gram counting roadies, I have yet to hear anybody complain about the extra weight. You only hear this from armchair critics on the internet.

Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot
4 years ago

I rode onyx hubs Laced to Enve shallow wheels for about 500 miles (borrowed wheel set from a friend) their engagement was instant and very tight/precise. Wheels were plenty light, I wouldn’t run those hubs on an schmolke TLO ultralight hill climb setup. Dudes counting grams on the Internet for stuff like this is silly, onyx hubs would be amazing for technical mountain biking if I could justify the price with the mrs.

K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
4 years ago

That’s right! Of any kind of riding you could get yourself into it’s the technical trail riding where Onyx are amazing, IMHO

LemondRider
LemondRider
4 years ago

Hey, didn’t Suntour do micro-spline in the 90’s?

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