New "Silent" Hubs from Shimano

From VeloVision Online... Alfine and Nexus 8 hubs get 'smooth' roller clutches instead of pawls... Shimano have announced a change to their 8-speed internal gear hubs. Previously, like most such hub gears, they used a freewheel-like system of pawls to ensure one-way rotation of various internal parts: This does of course create a clicking sound... Now they've moved to roller clutches which are near-silent in operation: These also offer, they say, quicker engagement, which should make shifting a little faster. This final image shows how the new hub internals use three of the roller clutches: The 'smooth' hubs have new part numbers: - for roller brake SG-8R31 (std), SG-8R36 (premium) - with coaster brake SG-8C31 (std), SG-8C36 (premium) - Alfine (for disk brake): SG-S501