CHEAP CHINESE DT SWISS 54T RATCHET UPGRADE 

Many people have been asking about the reliability of the 60T. Did you buy the ZTTO or the dt swiss? I'd be curious to hear your results on the long term of either!

@@WeRideSouth I bought the “ found “ brand that are gold in colour and dipped in titanium. They look like excellent quality and will let you know how they fair in time,, I will keep in touch!

@@battistaverardi1240 After 6 months. still work fine?

@@battistaverardi1240 hey mate, I've been looking at these ratchets, do you have any update 6months on? How many KMs have you put into it?

Good to know about the grease. I found 14g on a World Wide Cyclery video, but it didn't reference anything. Did you weigh yours?

@@WeRideSouth yes, I weighed them.

Thanks for your explanation. Also just divide max ratchet with lower ratchet to find improvements. 54/18 = 3x less degree of engagement anyway.

bummer to hear you didn't have good results with it! Let me know if the official DT swiss works out.

The ratchet system is made of steel. But from everything I have seen and experience with, the ratchet system is one of the most durable systems. Hope this helps!!!

Maybe less grease. Too much grease will cause trouble engaging.

Sounds more like too much or wrong (too thick) grease.

That's terrible news! I am glad you were able to get a refund. Here's a photo of the ZTTO after 950 miles, they are still going strong: instagram.com/p/CMFbHbfnHMu/

​@ainda esta bom? WeRideSouth

This is true lol. It's not a huge savings, but a savings none-the-less. The ability to reduce the point of engagement is the major upside of this, I'd say the minor weight savings is just an added bonus.

@@Abdullah-ou7bp i just peed 6g of urine while laughing at the ingredients of an overpriced energy bar. There was a famous rally team who worked out the cheapest way to save 25kg from the vehicle was to bribe the copilot £25,000 to quit drinking beer.

Dont use grease, it will stick your pawls down

@@rrv2003 there is no pawls. It’s a ratchet system

@@rrv2003 i think these are not using pawls

I do think having more teeth, more drag, probably slows it down some. On that bike I believe it was a 42/42.

I just ordered a set of ztto 54 t ratchets from aliexpress for my dt swiss 370 dt swiss that came on my new strive cfr with a 18 t ratchet , did yours last ? I will use them for freeride and enduro

Sucks to hear that. I'll be sure to keep an eye on mine as I'm only about 2500km and they have shown no sign of chipping or slipping yet, but time will tell!

$33.40 divide by 10000km. That's a good effective price per km ratio. Also remember to regrease it after every 1000km. May even last another 1000km to make it 11000km total. After that probably buy another set as standby and slot it in your trousers as they are so light you hardly will feel it once you have cycled close to 9950km or 10950km depending how well you regrease it so you can replace them on the fly. Otherwise get the 'ol 6 pawls.

You may be right, I have never inspected a ZTTO hub, but I did have them on my mind for an XC MTB build. I thought about the 60T, but I only decided against it because of the price. In my opinion 6 more teeth didn't add enough value for me to justify spending roughly $30 USD more.

The 60T are harder to make and are more brittle, ZTTO explains that in their official store when you buy the 60T model. They state something like "we did the 60T because of customers requests and tried to make them as close as possible in terms of reliability compared to the 54T, but there's still a difference on that regard in favor of the 54T"

I wonder if that's why the official DT swiss stopped at 54T. I think you can only get 60T in Chinesium. Maybe 54T is the limit for slippage.

I rode my bike again with the 60T the following day but this time I removed the red DT Swiss grease, replaced it with Dumonde grease and stretched the springs just a little. Then I took my bike on some Black trails with some technical up hills. The 60T never slipped on hard pressure. Not even on quick ratcheting techniques while climbing. Always on flat sections when there’s very minimal pressure. That day I did 16 miles, 3.1k’ and it slipped 2x on flat sections. I ordered the DT Swiss 54T already because even though the 60T got better, I lost the confidence climbing techy stuff. I feel like its going to give out one of these days. I’m currently carrying the 18T in my pack untik I get the legit DT 54T in. I wonder if a staggered type teeth made by DT would work. For example, have one face of the star ratchet with 30T on top and then 30T in the bottom, staggered. Then same on the other side. Less teeth, same engagement as the 60T I have now. Probably no slippage but maybe wears out faster (I don’t mind replacing it after 2k miles for this engagement). Better yet, 40T top/40T bottom. That will lead to 4.5° POE. That would be nice.

@@tjay_mac Yo, i bought this ZTTO 60T kit too on AliExpress and i have the same problem! It's been slipping and feels like it disengages from time to time. i rode roughly 5km last time and it slipped/disengaged i think every 4 pedal stroke on flat sections. It happens to me when i put quite some pressure on the pedals (heavy pedalling). Did your problem get fixed by using the official DT SWISS 54T ratchet upgrade? Cos i swapped my old DT swiss ratchet on it, NO PROBLEM at all 😟

@@MulyaEffran, Yeah the slippage went away after I moved to DT Swiss 54T.

@@tjay_mac Thanks man! i'll order the DT Swiss as well then 😇

Thanks for watching!

how has the ratchet been going?

@@mobadi4984 1000Km on e-bike, without problems

I believe both the DT Swiss and the ZTTO are made from steel.

There are many different types of systems. I think the most popular is the pawl system. This can get pretty quiet. There are also companies developing instant engagement as well as silent hubs too. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching!

InstaBlaster...

That's up to you.

There are so many options these days. Back then, it was just that one 😁

​@@WeRideSouth after an exchange with official fovno (laborious but we figured it out) apparently they are imitations of the hollow 60t Fovno upgrade I have on my most used bike... China is not what it used to be 😂

Another person commented that they had to file down some teeth. Mine was a direct drop in and if it doesn't fit I would return it for a full refund or another set.

Dang, sorry to hear! Did you reach out to ZTTO to see about a warranty?

Good to know, that's interesting that you had to shave yours down.

@@WeRideSouth was yours a drop in fit? Wonder if I just happened to get one on the max side of tolerance.

@@Trinimon18 yes mine dropped in.

I am pretty sure the EXP 54 POI ratchets are made of steel. I got them with my new wheels and Dt Swiss 240 hubs. You need special tools to swap the 36 ratchet for the 54 ratchet.

Which teeth version did you get?

On the other hand I've had them for around 2000Km with no issues so far, I'm using their own hub though, but the ratchet is the same as in the video. There's always some issues in terms of durability when it comes to high engagement star ratchets, even DT Swiss you'll find people with chips and dings here and there, maintenance has also a part on it as people sometimes use oil instead of grease to make them noisier and, if not maintained quite more often, that adds more friction to the system than it actually requires.

ones with more teeth will give you more of a sound.

Yes it claims aluminum, but I have not personally confirmed it.

@@WeRideSouth I've been wanting to upgrade to the 54T as the "play" bugs me. I called DT Swiss in Grand Junction , CO this morning and spoke to a rep. He told me they are made of steel. Planning to pick up some at my local bike shop today. When I do I'll confirm.

@@craigcarroll7790 awesome! Some have confirmed the 54t DT official is 14g with springs. Interested to see what you find out.

@@WeRideSouth I didn't see your request to weigh them until after I installed them. DOAH! They are definitely lighter than the 18T. Probably due to the fact that the 54T are "dished/hollowed" out in the center. A magnet test shows that they ARE made of steel. I'm not much of a weight weenie so it doesn't matter much to me. As a matter of fact, I put the 18T's in my "extra parts baggie" I keep with the bike they are installed on-just in case. My thinking is that yes, maybe the "cheap Chinese" may work just fine if they are of the same quality of DT's. However, it wasn't worth it to me to possibly have them fail and potentially damage my 240s hub.

@@craigcarroll7790 no worries, I'm almost positive DT is lighter another viewer commented that they were in fact 14g. Chinese or DT the engagement upgrade is definitely worth it.

My first 54T ratchet failed after 5 months, They sent me a replacement, But i asked for a 36T hoping it would last longer, It arrived yesterday, Today I went to test it and it failed again at the first 20km, I had to walk back home because the ratchet just slips with any force at the pedal, The teeths are completely worn out and chipped every where, Very dissapointed

@@MrBubba3494 what did you end up doing? trying another 36T from ZTTO? how did that go? My experience with both 54T and 36T is that there are equal chances of having a set of good ones, or a set of bad ones. I've looked at the ZTTO's compared to the DT's under a magnifier and the back of the teeth is different.

@@jsoeh7558 Ztto sent me another replacement after the 36t failed, This time i asked for 54t as it was the one that lasted longer, It arrived on August 6, 2021, And I have been using it to this day with no issues so far... My advice would be to use DtSwiss Grease, Or mix any light grease with some drops of mineral oíl as I did with mine to make it less sticky, I used regular grease with the pair of 36t ratchets that failed on one day And I noticed that Both of the ratchets were not springing back, But just stuck into place because the grease was too thick and the springs did not have enough force to push them in/out, And most likely the ratchets were only catching by the edges of the teeth instead of the full teeth, which u should clearly see here imgur.com/a/axeNTO1

@@MrBubba3494 thank you for the follow up! we've used transmission fluid only, and i agree, most of the damage we see, is from the teeths not meshing completely and running on the tips

Thanks! Let me know how you like it.

@Norm MTB Is ztto kit good?

how has it lasted?

You used the 54T? Sorry to hear!

I have used mine for thousands of miles with no issues, but others in the comments say they haven't had good luck. I posted a photo of mine after 900 miles on my Instagram a while back. They look as good as new.

I can't speak on the DT original, but if you have the money it's always worth going for what you are comfortable with. In my experience the 54T ZTTO has performed as good as my 18T DT as far as reliability goes and I expect it to continue. I also think that you should wait until a sale on Ali if you go with the ZTTO. I'm looking at it now and the current price of 50$ doesn't seem like it brings enough value. If you can get it for ~$35 dollars I think it would be worth it.

Buy the original kit by DT and order from your local bike shop. You will have a support network if things don’t end up working with the ratchet. I have the DT Swiss 54t on both my bikes and I have no complaints.

​@@WeRideSouthsir, are those 54t ztto still rocking you solid to this very day?? I might get it if you still got it

@@zanguro6200 yep. They have held up great, still in my wheelset which probably has 20,000 miles in it.

no problems!

DT350 should have the ratchet, if you don't have the ratchet this will not work. Yes seems like they moved the listing to www.aliexpress.com/item/32904239223.html and it 47.90$ I got it on sale on 11.11

350 have ratched. 370 have pawls

Is it a DT350?

I believe this one is DT Swiss specific. If you have Mavic hoops on DT Swiss hubs it would definitely work.

Sorry to hear about your experience with the 60T. I have a few thousand miles on the 54T and it's still in great shape. Here is a photo after about 950 miles: instagram.com/p/CMFbHbfnHMu/

@@WeRideSouth I read about they are not finding away to produce a stable one, like the 54t.

@@brunopletsch I find that 54T is pretty good. It's probably overkill for gravel.

Good point! I'll see what they all measure and update my website.

@@WeRideSouth awesome! I went to install my 54t today and realized I have a 370 with the 3 pawl driver, so I ordered parts to go ahead and convert it to ratchet. Fun stuff 🤣

@@AWD_DSM_FTW dang. Can you convert a 370 to the ratchet system?

@@WeRideSouth yep! Ratchet kit, ring nut, spacer, bushing, and two tools to remove old and install new ring nut.

I do not have an official DT Swiss 54T to test.

@@WeRideSouth ok.i m just curious the rachet that i get recently is a genuine one or a china made one

It's been a champ! Still running in my gravel bike. Waiting on another AliExpress sale so I can buy one for my mountain bike to see if it holds up under load.

Just some standard belray waterproof grease

I'll see what I can do

I can't say much about the integrity yet. I can report back after I put some more miles on.

I also use the ztto 54T...so far so good

@@akamalwi9274 how long do u use it?

@@WeRideSouth Any updates on how these have held up after a month of riding?

@@joemorreale9204 I've been about 1284 miles on this without a single issue. It's been great.

Holding up fantastically. No issues and I believe I have close to 1500 miles on it.

@@WeRideSouth great to know as I just bought a ZTTO hub with it :)

No review video at the moment, but I probably have 10k miles on the rachet and it still works like new.

​@@WeRideSouthwow good distance at 54t, how's it today?

@@zanguro6200 still rock solid.

@@WeRideSouthhappy to hear tgat they lasted , i just ordered mine and have seen some comments saying that they are bad , hope that they will last for my enduro bike (strive cfr )

I am! It's still going strong.

Well I've been told that the DT Swiss 54T are steel as well; however, you will have 2-4 grams savings if you go with the DT Swiss. It very likely they perform the exact same so it comes down to what your budget is and how much you're willing to spend/wait.

Thanks!

I do not believe they do. Did some research and turned up with nothing.

@@WeRideSouth too bad. Original parts with the two specialty tools would cost a bundle. Haha.

They do! It's called the Ln ratchet upgrade

Yep they are working great. Using them on my Mid South race bike tomorrow

It is specific to the DT 350 style ratchets.

I use mine every day. I don't think it's going to make your bike "faster". I do go over the degree of engagement you get when switching to a ratchet with more teeth. Faster engagement means you can start transferring power quicker, but realistically how often are you going to stop pedaling and re-engage? It's probably such a small amount that it's a negligible difference. In the real world the benefit of a higher teeth count ratchet is likely limited to technical mountain bike riding where you need to minute engagement to climb rocks and super technical terrain.

@@WeRideSouth Ok I get it, we'll benefit from it on our MTBs but Roadies and their ilk want to the next thing to spend their money on?

I swapped the springs.

Mine(ztto ratchet) got destroyed in less than 2 months. If you use it on road or smooth surfaces it might last, but if you use them on the trails with steep uphills, i will break easily.

@@rjf2832 maybe is just sheer luck or just a straight faulty unit, I used a couple of those in my old bike (142mm thru axle hub) and had zero issues with the star ratchets themselves. I even used a pair of ZTTO DR190 hubs for thousands of kilometers with no issues at all.

I haven't do you have a link?

I have tried and the ratchet broke lass then 1000 km

@@brunopletsch good to know!

I don't think that's the case. If anything people think that Chinese stuff is cheap quality which has caused a stigma surrounding cycling parts that I am trying to break.

I've read that the more teeth you add the more chances are that it will chip. People say the 60T chips quite easily, even the name brand DT Swiss version.

@@WeRideSouth i've heard of that too, 18t is bulletproof but the engagement is wack.

I think so. Especially if it's not a mountain bike.

@@WeRideSouth on point indeed i am thinking this for my Tarmac roval c38s or so. And I just found this same Chinese one last night and even cheaper cheers 🙂

@@WeRideSouth by the way... I forgot. Any weird behavior with it and the hub, rims? No problems at all?

@@almin9751 I haven't had a single issue with it.

@@WeRideSouth thanks

I thought that myself, but the truth of the matter is you should be pedaling during that 100K and if you're doing that, you won't hear it. After a few rides I realized that it's not that noticeable compared to others and the only way to really get it to "whine" is to pedal backwards really fast. Then it becomes quite annoying.

pedal more then 🤣

It's good for MTB when going downhill - warns people that you're coming. More frequent hikers probably subconsciously associate this sound with a bike coming already :D

Heck. Yes.