90-Tooth DT Swiss Hub! All-New 240 Ratchet DEG Revealed and Tested 14

The DT Swiss star ratchet freehub has been around in one form or another for close to 30 years now, and it has become a ubiquitous part of any wheelbuilder’s arsenal, whether aftermarket or in an OEM context. The ratchet has evolved over the years to keep up with the ongoing evolution in this space, but it was still lagging behind some of its competition when it comes to hub engagement. DT Swiss was determined to catch up, and to do so, they set about re-designing their ratchet system to make room for more teeth and subsequently, faster engagement. We’ve been fortunate enough to have been testing an early sample of the new freehub for the last 7 months, which means we can provide you with more than just first impressions as the hub launches today. Read on to learn more!

DT Swiss 240 DEG Hub Highlights

• AXLE SYSTEM: 12/148 mm, 12/157 mm BO+
• FREEHUB SYSTEM: RATCHET DEG 90T
• BRAKE INTERFACE: IS (6-bolt)
• MATERIAL: Aluminum
• HOLES: 28, 32
• FREEHUB BODY OPTIONS: SRAM XD, Shimano MICRO SPLINE
• WEIGHT From 270 g
• MSRP Rear (Classic): from 376.90 €/ 499.90 $/ 396.90 CHF / 354.99 £ / 599.00 AUD
• MSRP Front (Red LTD Edition): from 229.90 $ / 169.90 € / 178.90 CHF / 159.99 £ / 289.00 AUD, Rear (Red LTD Edition): from 499.90 $ / 376.90 € / 396.90 CHF / 354.99 £ / 599.00 AUD

Initial Impressions

Swiss inventor William Hügi developed a new, ratcheting freehub design during the early ‘90s, by abandoning the common pawl system in favor of two, spring-loaded ratchet rings. Teeth were cut into the opposing faces of each ring to create an axial (rather than radial) drive mechanism for the hub, which means that every tooth of the ratchet is engaged when the wheel is being driven, which sets it apart from a standard pawl-based ratchet. Hügi’s star ratchet system was first adopted by DT Swiss in 1994 and a year later, DT Swiss acquired Hügi and the two companies merged. The patented mechanism has been a hallmark of DT’s high-end hubs ever since although other companies have also licensed the design.

As the Hügi hubs evolved (the first DT Swiss 240 hub launched in the year 2000), a lot of focus was placed on weight (the “240” moniker refers to the weight of the hub in grams), which meant that the star ratchet was kept quite small in diameter. With a relatively low number of teeth, this was not a problem for reliability, but once the race towards faster and faster engagement started up in earnest, the star ratchet ran into some issues. Anybody who has extensive experience with the 54-tooth version will know that sooner or later, it is prone to acting up. The reason being that the teeth are very small and shallow (to be able to fit into the classic star ratchet form factor), which makes them susceptible to wear and tear (they also don’t like getting misaligned for any reason). E-bikes also put extra stress on rear hubs, and their prevalence meant that DT Swiss needed to look into making a stronger freehub mechanism. Enter the DEG…

The Ratchet DEG concept is simple – just make the ratchet rings bigger. This reduces the force being transmitted to the teeth, and also makes room for more of them. To free up space for the bigger star ratchet, a bulge was introduced on the hub shell. DT Swiss also decided to stick with two floating ratchet rings, in contrast to the recent Ratchet EXP hubs that use one fixed ring and therefore only one floating ring and spring. Based on our experience with the EXP hubs, this seems like a good move from the reliability standpoint, as the EXPs are prone to having issues with their freehubs. Two moving ratchet rings are less sensitive to manufacturing tolerances or wear and tear. DT Swiss also opted to use steel rings for even better durability. As for weight, the 240 DEG hub is 35 grams heavier than the 240 EXP, for reference.

Digging into the details, here’s what we find: the number of teeth is now up to 90, and their profile has also been modified based on experience gained with previous designs. The result is 4 degrees of engagement, and improved reliability at the same time. DT Swiss also made the hubs easier to service, which will be welcome news for anybody who has had to try and remove the drive side bearings on the previous generation after some miles on the trail (the Ratchet DEG hub no longer requires you to remove the ratchet drive ring to get to the bearings). The bearings used are standard sizes to make finding replacements easier. The new hub is built for trail and enduro riding, and it will be a new addition to the catalog (the classic 240 will continue to be manufactured as well). The 240 DEG will be black as tested here, but a limited edition run (240 pieces, of course!) of red hubs will also be available as a bit of a collector’s item for the true fans.

On The Trail

Back in September 2023 (7 months ago, as we write these words), DT Swiss built us a test wheelset using the new 240 DEG hub, XM481 rims and Revolite spokes. The wheelset was up to the usual DT Swiss standards, the spoke tension was good, the rim tape was uniform, and the new hub looked the part too. This wheelset has rolled about 1400 kms since then, on two different bikes.

From the first ride, we were very happy with the snappy engagement and the generally dynamic feel of this wheelset. For a bike that gets pedaled around a lot in rolling terrain, including some technical climbing here and there, faster engagement offers a performance advantage and gives any wheelset a certain “feeling of quality” as well. Nothing worse than sloppy hub engagement that has you questioning how much power to lay down on your next crux move – well, there’s none of that with this new DEG hub. 4 degrees is not THE fastest engaging hubs out there of course, but in our opinion it's firmly in the “very fast” category already, more than fast enough for all but very specific use cases that might demand absolutely instant hookup.

The wheels roll fast, with the hub spinning quite freely in the workstand as well. The stiffness of this build has been spot-on, strong enough to deal with more spirited riding yet compliant enough to work well in rocky terrain. Throughout the testing period the new hub has been dead solid, never slipping nor otherwise skipping a beat.

In addition to subjective aspects like degrees of engagement, a hub’s sound can also be a deciding factor for many riders. The new DEG hub has a pleasant buzz to it that grows quieter as the wheel speed increases. Pretty much middle of the road for hubs as far as sound volume goes.

Long Term Durability

After 7 months on the trail, we can’t recall a single instance of the hub slipping or misbehaving in any other way. Pulling it apart revealed plenty of grease and ratchet teeth that looked to be in good condition. We think the changes made to this new hub make good sense from a durability point of view, and our experience with it thus far bears this out. When it comes time to service the bearings, DT Swiss has also worked on making that experience more pleasant than on any previous DT hub. All are steps in the right direction and point to many happy miles ahead for owners.

What’s The Bottom Line?

DT’s star ratchet has been around for a long time, and although it has seen several changes during that time, none seem quite as significant as the introduction of the DEG Ratchet – at least for trail and enduro riding. Both faster and more robust, this new hub puts DT Swiss firmly back on the map for high-engagement applications, and it looks like it will perform well in the longevity department too. Good move, DT Swiss!

More information at: www.dtswiss.com.

About The Reviewer

Johan Hjord - Age: 51 // Years Riding MTB: 19 // Weight: 190-pounds (87-kg) // Height: 6'0" (1.84m)

Johan loves bikes, which strangely doesn’t make him any better at riding them. After many years spent practicing falling off cliffs with his snowboard, he took up mountain biking in 2005. Ever since, he’s mostly been riding bikes with too much suspension travel to cover up his many flaws as a rider. His 200-pound body weight coupled with unique skill for poor line choice and clumsy landings make him an expert on durability - if parts survive Johan, they’re pretty much okay for anybody. Johan rides flat pedals with a riding style that he describes as "none" (when in actuality he rips!). Having found most trail features to be not to his liking, Johan uses much of his spare time building his own. Johan’s other accomplishments include surviving this far and helping keep the Vital Media Machine’s stoke dial firmly on 11.

Photos by Johan Hjord and Tal Rozow

View key specs, compare rear hubs, and review the DT Swiss 240 DEG in Vital MTB's Product section.