Silent bicycles go quicker.

[Apollonius]

You could get a Hope hub, and sound like there is a swarm of angry bees behind you.

Campagnolo or nothing in our house!

 

[fossyant]

Campagnolo or nothing in our house!

Shimano mainly in mine, although SRAM on 3 MTB's

 

[Threevok]

Only Hope hubs in my house - the trick is to keep peddling

 

[GuyBoden]

I find the constant clicking sound of a badly adjusted dérailleur annoying.

 

[Alan O]

What still surprises me is the dreadful racket that some modern freehubs make. My old 6-speed freewheels are silent when coasting, but some of the people I ride with have freehubs that sound like football rattles.

 

[Threevok]

What still surprises me is the dreadful racket that some modern freehubs make. My old 6-speed freewheels are silent when coasting, but some of the people I ride with have freehubs that sound like football rattles.

I had an interesting conversation with Mrs V, whilst riding....

Mrs V : "Can you ride behind me ? I can't stand the noise of that bike"
Me : "But you have the same hub as me"

I must say though, you don't notice how loud Hope hubs are whilst riding, unless you hear them on someone else's bike

 

[Serge]

A colleague that I sometimes ride home with made a comment that resonated; he said "a bicycle should be silent".

Mine never has been, I have never really thought about it much, but the other day a mudguard bolt failed and everything became very rattly. As I made the repair my mate's words were running through my mind so I went about eliminating all the rattles I could by tightening stuff and being more thorough than usual with the lubrication routine.

It didn't work... Riding to work the next morning I became aware that the main rattle was the constant high-pitched one from the frame mounted D-lock; it's a noise that's always there and had become background so going home I put the D-lock in a pannier.

The new total silence has had an interesting side effect: without the haptic-feedback of constant rattle the bicycle somehow feels more comfortable and the tyres feel more forgiving even with the same pressure. It's as if the rattling of the D-lock was fooling my brain into believing the surface to be harsher than it was. I sense the tyres moulding to and gripping the road instead of bouncing across the top. I am also a bit quicker; I do less coasting on the rough bits and do more constant pedalling. Maybe fewer rattles make my subconscious more confident of the surface - "the bicycle is not rattling to bits, it's OK to give it some beans".

Weird.

Good post, that makes a lot of sense.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

What still surprises me is the dreadful racket that some modern freehubs make. My old 6-speed freewheels are silent when coasting, but some of the people I ride with have freehubs that sound like football rattles.

My Eastway came with a hub that was as quiet as a church mouse, unfortunately as a result of pothole damage I had to have a new hub, the freewheel on that is a right noisy sod and your football rattle description sums it up nicely.

 

[PeteXXX]

Y’all just need to ride fast enough that the sound is behind you before it can reach your ears!!

 

[colly]

A colleague that I sometimes ride home with made a comment that resonated; he said "a bicycle should be silent".

Mine never has been, I have never really thought about it much, but the other day a mudguard bolt failed and everything became very rattly. As I made the repair my mate's words were running through my mind so I went about eliminating all the rattles I could by tightening stuff and being more thorough than usual with the lubrication routine.

It didn't work... Riding to work the next morning I became aware that the main rattle was the constant high-pitched one from the frame mounted D-lock; it's a noise that's always there and had become background so going home I put the D-lock in a pannier.

The new total silence has had an interesting side effect: without the haptic-feedback of constant rattle the bicycle somehow feels more comfortable and the tyres feel more forgiving even with the same pressure. It's as if the rattling of the D-lock was fooling my brain into believing the surface to be harsher than it was. I sense the tyres moulding to and gripping the road instead of bouncing across the top. I am also a bit quicker; I do less coasting on the rough bits and do more constant pedalling. Maybe fewer rattles make my subconscious more confident of the surface - "the bicycle is not rattling to bits, it's OK to give it some beans".

Weird.

How on earth did you not sort it out before?
I can not ABIDE any rattles clicks, creaks, or rubbing noises. Instantly need attention.
I felt rather than heard a slight sort of tap under my right foot a while ago. Barely discernable but it was there for sure.
Stopping and cleaning around the cleat and pedal sorted it out even though l didnt see any mud or stones caught in there.
Drives me bonkers tbh.

Silence is golden. One reason l like fixed

 

[JtB]

Silent bicycles go quicker.

That’s what I have to keep reminding myself when the noisy bikes wizz past my silent bike.

 

[mgs315]

Considering I was overtaken by one of the local travelling fraternity on their two-stroke dirt bike the other day I’m thinking that quieter isn’t necessarily faster. I’ll let you know when I regain full hearing.

 

[JhnBssll]

I must admit I like my bikes to be running perfectly at all times and any little noises get investigated immediately. There have been a few times recently where storms have stripped the oil from my chain and replaced it with soil, every turn of the cranks and the accompanying screech affected me deeply

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

[QUOTE 5354321, member: 9609"]would you get a sonoc boom if you broke the speed of sound on a bike (or at least would others here it)?[/QUOTE]

In space no one can hear you sonic boom

 

[Crankarm]

A colleague that I sometimes ride home with made a comment that resonated; he said "a bicycle should be silent".

Mine never has been, I have never really thought about it much, but the other day a mudguard bolt failed and everything became very rattly. As I made the repair my mate's words were running through my mind so I went about eliminating all the rattles I could by tightening stuff and being more thorough than usual with the lubrication routine.

It didn't work... Riding to work the next morning I became aware that the main rattle was the constant high-pitched one from the frame mounted D-lock; it's a noise that's always there and had become background so going home I put the D-lock in a pannier.

The new total silence has had an interesting side effect: without the haptic-feedback of constant rattle the bicycle somehow feels more comfortable and the tyres feel more forgiving even with the same pressure. It's as if the rattling of the D-lock was fooling my brain into believing the surface to be harsher than it was. I sense the tyres moulding to and gripping the road instead of bouncing across the top. I am also a bit quicker; I do less coasting on the rough bits and do more constant pedalling. Maybe fewer rattles make my subconscious more confident of the surface - "the bicycle is not rattling to bits, it's OK to give it some beans".

Weird.

Downside is you will now need a bell or an Airzound. At least with a noisy bike people can hear you approaching and get out the way.