Sound of silence....

[Ozz]

So, it has taken me about three years, but finally setup my CSI with a compact crank...Campy 10sp Record CT and a new Chorus BB. Took it out this AM for quick test run to make sure everything is working as it should...

Sunny morning...about 65 degrees at 6:00AM....quick out and back along south end of Mercer Island.

Oh my! Freshly waxed chain, alloy rims, tubulars, perfectly adjusted shifting, steel frame....the bike did not make a sound while riding....just the occasional buzz from the rear hub (Campy Chorus) and the solid "kerchunk" when shifting (love Campy 10sp)....

Man, that is a what riding should be.....too bad I had to get home and go to work.

PS - It was not all perfect...had some clown car pull out in front of me...fine, didn't cut me off or anything, but then proceeded to drive about 15mph....so I passed him....never done that before!

[josephr]

beautiful moments like these are what its all about....one early summer it was warm but cooling off for the night, 4 of of us in a close line down a recently paved, arborous street with some slight curves...we were all in pace in the right gears for about 2 miles. nobody spoke a word, just the faint whir of chains and the crickets singing.

[buddybikes]

Long time ago I left my apartment after work (house in leafy suburbs), think April when things began blossoming.

I remember clearly taking my hands off the bars and screaming to the world what a beautiful evening.

Looked over and there was this urban farmer working on his lot...

[avalonracing]

Most people consider me to be a bit overzealous in my pursuit of quiet bikes but the only thing I want to hear from my bikes when riding is a bit of smooth chain noise and perfect shifts. I still haven't found many bikes to always be this way other than rim-brake bikes with threaded bottom brackets.

[Flinch]

Ahhhh, my CSI. Smooth, sleek, comfy, silent, need I say more?

Took my new 'mystery' Serotta out for the first ride today, made sometime in mid/late 70s (?), "BS" prefix serial#. It's a contender. Smooth, sleek, comfy... a bit more compliant than the CSI.

My previous Concours, fast, slick, nimble, fun...

Then there's my Legend ST patiently waiting for a rider...

But that CSI, oh my!

[thwart]

Yeah, we ask a lot for a ride to be ‘ideal’… especially if you work on your own bikes. And quiet is one of the things that count.

It takes a bit of meditation to approach riding nirvana when the bike is having an audible mechanical issue…

BTW, that’s a great ride description!

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Ozz

So, it has taken me about three years, but finally setup my CSI with a compact crank...Campy 10sp Record CT and a new Chorus BB. Took it out this AM for quick test run to make sure everything is working as it should...

Sunny morning...about 65 degrees at 6:00AM....quick out and back along south end of Mercer Island.

Oh my! Freshly waxed chain, alloy rims, tubulars, perfectly adjusted shifting, steel frame....the bike did not make a sound while riding....just the occasional buzz from the rear hub (Campy Chorus) and the solid "kerchunk" when shifting (love Campy 10sp)....

Man, that is a what riding should be.....too bad I had to get home and go to work.

PS - It was not all perfect...had some clown car pull out in front of me...fine, didn't cut me off or anything, but then proceeded to drive about 15mph....so I passed him....never done that before!

Bravo..the object of the ride...is the ride, not the bike. The bike should 'disappear' beneath you.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Ozz

So, it has taken me about three years, but finally setup my CSI with a compact crank...Campy 10sp Record CT and a new Chorus BB. Took it out this AM for quick test run to make sure everything is working as it should...

Sunny morning...about 65 degrees at 6:00AM....quick out and back along south end of Mercer Island.

Oh my! Freshly waxed chain, alloy rims, tubulars, perfectly adjusted shifting, steel frame....the bike did not make a sound while riding....just the occasional buzz from the rear hub (Campy Chorus) and the solid "kerchunk" when shifting (love Campy 10sp)....

Man, that is a what riding should be.....too bad I had to get home and go to work.

PS - It was not all perfect...had some clown car pull out in front of me...fine, didn't cut me off or anything, but then proceeded to drive about 15mph....so I passed him....never done that before!

I recently pulled my '82 Guerciotti, full Campy NR, off the hook to take her out all week on my 20 mile commute and the very first thing I noticed was how incredibly quiet the bike was. My modern carbon bikes seem to make popping noises at random and other bikes with loud pawls when coasting and so on.

There is such beauty in the quietness.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by redir

I recently pulled my '82 Guerciotti, full Campy NR, off the hook to take her out all week on my 20 mile commute and the very first thing I noticed was how incredibly quiet the bike was. My modern carbon bikes seem to make popping noises at random and other bikes with loud pawls when coasting and so on.

There is such beauty in the quietness.

Yup, just about everything whizz-bang these days is firmly in the 'nice to have' category but certainly not essential to get you and your bike down...and up the road. Yes, yes, racers gotta have all this stuff but only because they all do and it's all about 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday'...'sponsorship=advertising=sales.

I do love my down tube, friction shifting, 6s freewheel, rim brake...bike...it's really quiet too.

[NHAero]

I've never figured out why some bikes are quieter than others. My ‘72 Bob Jackson is my quietest bike. Yet all four of my drop bar bikes are running the same brand chainrings, cassettes, and chain.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by NHAero

I've never figured out why some bikes are quieter than others. My ‘72 Bob Jackson is my quietest bike. Yet all four of my drop bar bikes are running the same brand chainrings, cassettes, and chain.

Part of the difference may be that many parts of a bike are hollow, and can act as resonating chambers. Larger chambers with thinner walls tend to amplify sound more. A classic example is deep rims vs. shallow rims - deep rims create large resonating chambers, and can amplify road vibrations. The extreme case is disc wheels, in which the entire wheel is an resonating chamber, and which typically make a lot of noise as they roll (despite their lower drag).

This phenomenon is not limited to just wheels - frame tubes can also act as resonating chambers. Frames which use large diameter thin wall tubes can sound quite a bit different (and usually louder) than frames with small diameter thick walled tubes. I suspect that a good part of the reason that fat tubed aluminum frames gained a reputation as being "harsh" compared to steel frames is due to the different (and usually louder) sound they made from road vibrations.

(For that matter, even tires are subject to acoustic effects. Tires can also be resonating chambers, and tires with thin lightweight casings resonate better than tires with thick heavy casings. That's why high end tires can often "sing" as they roll down the road.)

[flying]

Originally Posted by Ozz

Man, that is a what riding should be.....too bad I had to get home and go to work.

Sounds great Congrats!

That second part of hating to get off because of work is a sign of bike/ride perfection

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Part of the difference may be that many parts of a bike are hollow, and can act as resonating chambers. Larger chambers with thinner walls tend to amplify sound more. A classic example is deep rims vs. shallow rims - deep rims create large resonating chambers, and can amplify road vibrations. The extreme case is disc wheels, in which the entire wheel is an resonating chamber, and which typically make a lot of noise as they roll (despite their lower drag).

This phenomenon is not limited to just wheels - frame tubes can also act as resonating chambers. Frames which use large diameter thin wall tubes can sound quite a bit different (and usually louder) than frames with small diameter thick walled tubes. I suspect that a good part of the reason that fat tubed aluminum frames gained a reputation as being "harsh" compared to steel frames is due to the different (and usually louder) sound they made from road vibrations.

(For that matter, even tires are subject to acoustic effects. Tires can also be resonating chambers, and tires with thin lightweight casings resonate better than tires with thick heavy casings. That's why high end tires can often "sing" as they roll down the road.)

I learned some of what you have written with my first set of carbon wheels 3 years ago. I thought it was the tires at first, since it was my first time using 38mm Gravelking slicks, or any similar tire. But there's an additional aspect about the difference in drivetrain sound that I haven't gotten my head around. All four bikes use waxed chains; Shimano 10 or 11 speed cassettes; and two are using TA chainrings. I have an Engin spider on the Bingham and initially I had the Sugino chainrings that were purchased along with the spider, and those rings were just plain loud. Changing to TA rings made a big difference.