Guide to DT Swiss Hubs: Ratchet Types, Wheel Maintenance, and 54T Upgrade

Video and additional photos by Neil Beltchenko

You’d be hard pressed to browse too far into our website—whether it’s Reader’s Rigs, Race Rigs, or any other bike check—without coming across DT Swiss hubs, particularly the 240 or 350 series. Their celebrated ratchet drive systems are known for their reliability, which is paramount when it comes to long rides and bikepacking. Last week, Neil had the opportunity to tour the DT Swiss Americas office in Grand Junction, Colorado, where he got a full walkthrough of their facilities, had some insightful conversations with the team, and even took their wheels out on an overnighter.

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To complement the photos and video he gathered, we put together a detailed guide to understanding their hubs, including an overview on their hub models, details about the three main ratchet systems, and comparison grids that define what specs are available for which hubs. Find all that below, alongside two videos that talk through their three main types of ratchet drive systems and how to maintain their wheels before and during big rides and bikepacking trips, plus a quick primer on one of the most worthwhile upgrades you can do to the classic double ratchet system.

DT Swiss Hubs and Specs

Before we dig into the ratchet systems, here’s a brief rundown of all three of the DT Swiss hubs in their aftermarket range.

DT 350

Aside from the brand’s OEM 370 hub, DT Swiss hubs come in three different varieties. The DT 350 is the most affordable hub of the three. It’s finished in gloss black with white graphics and comes equipped with the 36-tooth Classic Ratchet, a dual floating star ratchet system which we’ll explain in detail below. One of the key advantages of the 350 is its ease of maintenance, requiring no special tools, and it can be easily converted to other standards, including an upgrade to a faster 54-tooth ratchet, which we’ll also cover. Weighing in at just 226 grams with a SRAM XD freehub, it’s lightweight but still the heaviest of the three hubs on this list. While it may be the most basic and chunkiest of the three, it still delivers excellent performance, is extremely easy to maintain, and comes at a very reasonable price.

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DT 240

The DT 240 is their mid-range hub and comes in a matte black or polished silver finish with red graphics. It’s available in all three ratchet systems, but the most prevalent is the Ratchet EXP 36, which is touted for its increased bearing distance with longer-lasting performance and reduced maintenance. Like the 350, it’s easily maintained without the need for special tools—except for extensive maintenance where you might need the star ratchet removal bit or the EXP Bearing Disassembly Tool. The EXP version can also be upgraded to a 54-tooth ratchet, and you can get the 240 with a Classic Ratchet 18, which can then be upgraded to 36 or 54-tooth ratchets. Weighing only 199 grams with a SRAM XD freehub body, the DT Swiss 240 is impressively lightweight.

DT 180

The DT Swiss 180 is designed for riders seeking the high performance and speed, with pro racing in mind. It has a sleek matte black finish and only comes with Ratchet EXP system. It comes standard with a 36-tooth ratchet but can be upgraded to a 54-tooth. It also has premium ceramic bearings and weighs a svelte 186 grams with a SRAM XD freehub. The 180 is limited to 28-hole straight-pull spokes and center lock rotors.

Here’s a detailed chart of specs as they’re available on each of the three hubs. Note the weight based on the following specs (mainly because the DT 180 is only available with most of these standards): 28-spoke, Boost, Center Lock, Straight Pull, XD freehub body.

Understanding DT Swiss Ratchet Systems

Now that we’ve summarized the essential lineup of DT Swiss hubs and how that translates to specs, let’s dig into the bones of the hubs: the three ratchet systems that literally make them tick.

To summarize the ratchet drive systems covered in the video above, here are the highlights:

1. Classic Ratchet System (350 and 240 Hubs)

The classic ratchet system, known for its simplicity and reliability, uses two floating star ratchets that are compressed together by two conical springs, providing relatively smooth engagement and varying degrees of speed, depending on the ratchet teeth count. They’re also renowned for their durability over time. Over the years, many of us on the team have put countless miles on the DT 240 and DT 350 hubs that use this ratchet drive.

There are three teeth variations, and we’ll outline which offers which in a detailed chart below. The most basic is the 18-tooth star ratchet that provides a modest 20° engagement, ideal for gravel riding, mixed-terrain bikepacking, and general ATB-ing where long-term reliability is key and speed doesn’t matter. Ratchets are also available in a 36-tooth design for 10° of engagement, which is the most prevalent and kind of a happy medium. Then there’s the 54-tooth ratchet upgrade for a faster 6.67° of engagement, which we’ll dig into more later. Classic Ratchet hubs require no tools for servicing, making it easy to disassemble and reassemble by hand.

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2. Ratchet EXP System (240 and 180 Hubs)

The Ratchet EXP system used in DT Swiss 240 and 180 hubs was developed to optimize weight without compromising the durability and reliability of the traditional ratchet system. By using a single spring and threading one of the star ratchets directly into the alloy hub body, this system reduces the number of internal parts, making it lighter.

Though designed with road, gravel, and cross-country riders in mind, it maintains similar maintenance precesses as the classic system, albeit a little more complex for advanced service, where a special tool is required to remove the threaded star ratchet. EXP is available primarily in a 36-tooth ratchet, although there’s also a 54-tooth EXP option.

3. Ratchet DEG System

The newest addition to the DT Swiss lineup is the Ratchet DEG system, a high-engagement hub design made for technical trail riding. The concept is pretty simple, DT Swiss simply made a bigger ratchet. This reduces the amount of force exerted on each tooth and creates space for additional teeth—90 of them, to be exact, resulting in just 4° of engagement. This makes it perfect for navigating techy rocky terrain, where quick acceleration and ratcheting to avoid pedal contact with obstacles is crucial.

To accommodate the larger star ratchet, the hub shell looks substantially different. And, unlike the Ratchet EXP, DEG reintroduces two floating star ratchets. Additionally, the DEG system is designed for easy, tool-free maintenance, with bearings positioned to allow easy access and replacement, making it one of DT’s most serviceable hubs for bikepacking.

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Here’s a grid spelling out which ratchet systems are available on which hubs:

DT Swiss 54T Ratchet Upgrade

As outlined, stock DT Swiss 350 and 240 hubs typically come with an 18-tooth or 36-tooth star ratchet, which provides a lower angle of engagement, meaning the distance between when you start pedaling and when your hub actually engages is longer in rotation. While the 18-tooth ratchet offers better durability, it’s not ideal for fast, precise power transfer in demanding situations, which is especially important for navigating your cranks through rocky and rooty technical terrain to avoid pedal strikes. The higher the number of teeth on the star ratchet, the quicker your hub engages, allowing you to burst through obstacles or up tight switchbacks using short crankset rotations.

The 36-tooth ratchet—which comes standard on the 350 and most 240 options—has 10° of engagement and isn’t nearly as quick as many modern high-engagement mountain bike hubs, such as the Industry Nine Hydra (0.52°), Project 321 G3 (1.25°), or WTB Frequency (5°). DT’s new DEG system is super fast at 4°, but you can also bridge the gap and easily upgrade DT’s Classic Ratchet hubs to a 54-tooth star ratchet, which nets a quick 6.67 degrees of rotation needed before your hub catches. I’ve found that to be plenty fast for about any trail riding situation.

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Upgrading a DT Swiss 240 or 350 Classic Ratchet system hub to a 54-tooth star ratchet is a relatively straightforward process, and one I think is well worth it, especially if you’re going from the 18-tooth ratchet, which in effect triples the speed. For $130, the DT Swiss 54T Ratchet Upgrade kit (which you can get at your local bike shop, or from online retailers like Jenson USA) includes everything you need to do it yourself without any tools: two star ratchets, two conical springs, and a small jar of DT Swiss Special Grease, a specially formulated Molykote grease. This particular upgrade kit works for DT Swiss 180, 240, and 350 Classic Ratchet hubs. I won’t delve into how to do it; Jenson actually has a decent video on the subject, and there’s not much to it.

You can also upgrade an EXP Ratchet System to 54T using the DT Swiss Ratchet Upgrade Kit for EXP, which isn’t as readily available. Your LBS can order one or it can be found at a couple random online retailers, including the Big A. This one’s a little more involved as you need a specialized EXP ratchet removal tool to extract the integrated threaded ratchet from the hub, which apparently can be pretty challenging and require a vice and quite a bit of force. That’s a little harder to come by, however. There are a few knockoffs or you can buy the full DT EXP Tool Kit.

DT Swiss Hubs and Wheel Maintenance for Bikepacking

In this video, Brandon Wold at DT Swiss shares some valuable tips on inspecting and servicing your wheels before and during a bikepacking trip, along with some important considerations for in-the-field repairs.

That’s a wrap for now. We’ll likely update this guide in the future, but if you have any questions about DT Swiss hubs, wheels, or maintenance, please leave us a note in the conversation below!

Further Reading

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