Trainer noise/ tyre

Johnny_Cage

I have an Elite Crono fluid trainer, lots of people say it is silent, or near silent - but mines makes a lot of noise.

I have tried a replacing the trainer, no change.

I tried a slick tyre and that made much worse noise, so I changed back to my blue insider tyre.

The insider tyre has no rubber spikes protruding from it - only a very fine seam of rubber... I doubt that would make any impact?

Is there any way to make it quiet?

Don't understand how anyone could claim this to be quiet, silent, or even bearable - as hundreds seem to do in the reviews for the product...

BrandonA

I don't have one of these trainers so can't comment directly. However...

How loud would you suggest it was? If you give some comparisons people could comment as to whether their trainers are louder or quieter than yours.

What sort of room do you have it in? I ask as it could be that it is amplifying the sound.

Is it always loud or is it louder when you either spin at a fast cadence or push the resistance level up (assuming it has such a feature)?

diy

could be the floor - have you tried sitting it on a mat?

Johnny_Cage

No mat, but have tried it outside and it still makes a noise. Not as much, obviously. Tried a pillow under it quickly to curb possible vibrations, no difference.

There's no resistance on the machine. But the faster you pedal, and noisier it gets.

The type of tyre made a massive difference - so that seems to be where the noise is coming from - but I don't know how I can improve on an insider tyre (made for trainers especially)

diy

I don't know about your particular trainer but the tacx has adjustment on the roller in contact with the tyre, maybe you can reduce the contact force a bit. As long as it doesn't slip it should be ok

ai_1

I've got a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine trainer which is also a fluid type and relatively quite. However although the trainer is reasoanbly quite there's a fiar bit of noise from the tyre/roller contact. I think/hope it's because the trainer tyre isn't very good so I'm going to get a new one. The rear wheel I use on the trainer may also be very slightly out of true and that could be contributing also.
Any suggestions as to which trainer tyres work well? Continental, Tacx, Schwalbe any others?
I think the one I have is an Elite Coperton tyre.

dw300

Johnny_Cage wrote:

No mat, but have tried it outside and it still makes a noise. Not as much, obviously. Tried a pillow under it quickly to curb possible vibrations, no difference.

There's no resistance on the machine. But the faster you pedal, and noisier it gets.

The type of tyre made a massive difference - so that seems to be where the noise is coming from - but I don't know how I can improve on an insider tyre (made for trainers especially)

First up, not trainer is quiet if you're pumping out 250W+.

I have the same trainer and a KK RnR, and they're both equally quiet. Sounds like yours is broken if there's no resistance.

More details about the power youre outputting, and where youre using it etc. All trainers are very noisy on any non solid (concrete) floor. If you ride on anything wooden it turns your entire room into a massive speaker cone.

Download a sound meter for your phone, record the sound at specific distance, and then compare to other peoples Crono Fluids. It'll give you an idea if it the trainer/setup or your own expectations of how loud a quiet trainer is.

Johnny_Cage

There is no adjustable resistance I meant.

Would putting a concrete slab down help any? (even in a laminate room)

What about the slight seam of rubber on the tyre?

Would the noise drop when the tyre is broke in?

Or I could try lightly sanding it off?

diy

Have you got any old tyres - I used old road GP4000s which are too slashed to bits to be trusted at higher road speed but perfect for the trainer.

diamonddog

Laminate flooring will amplify the noise, try a rubber training mat. As mentioned above turbos are not particularly quiet when pushing hard.

Johnny_Cage

The noise seems to be coming from the tyre, so I don't think a mat would help any, there aren't any vibrations.

I use a trainer tyre, I tried an old road tyre and it was much louder.

diamonddog

Laminate is not very good at deadening noise so requires any help you can give it as the noise is transmitted through your turbo frame and resonates via the flooring, so a mat may help a bit to soak up some of the noise. TBH whatever it is either rollers or turbo it is never going to be that quiet, I have an Elite turbo and it, IMO, is not that bad but still not what I would call quiet.

Johnny_Cage

I have noticed that when I am in the biggest and bigger cassette cogs that the noise is really low - you can basically only hear the operation of bike itself - chain squeaking round etc (not the trainer/tyre)

The further down I go into the smaller cogs the noise gets significantly louder, and there is lots of noise from the trainer/tyre and vibrations etc.

Is there a reason for that?

I am not differing the speed at which I pedal, I am only changing gear... anyone know why there is a big difference in noise?

ai_1

Johnny_Cage wrote:

I have noticed that when I am in the biggest and bigger cassette cogs that the noise is really low - you can basically only hear the operation of bike itself - chain squeaking round etc (not the trainer/tyre)

The further down I go into the smaller cogs the noise gets significantly louder, and there is lots of noise from the trainer/tyre and vibrations etc.

Is there a reason for that?

I am not differing the speed at which I pedal, I am only changing gear... anyone know why there is a big difference in noise?

If I understand you correctly, you're saying that for a given cadence, higher speed (wheel speed) is noisier? Is that it?

It would seem obvious that higher wheel speed will exacerbate any noise generated between the tyre and trainer or within the trainer and also increase their frequency. If the resistance is speed dependent as it certainly is with fluid or turbo trainers (may not really be with magnetic) then you're also putting more power through the whole system, a small proportion of which will end up as sound. It's not that complicated.

Johnny_Cage

The wheel speed isn't increasing. I go down one gear and instantly there is more noise.

ai_1

Johnny_Cage wrote:

The wheel speed isn't increasing. I go down one gear and instantly there is more noise.

Sorry I'm not following.
If you change gear at the same cadence the wheel speed will change. That's the whole point of gears!
If you're shifting say small to big at the front and going a couple of sprockets bigger at the back in order to get a similar gear ratio using different cogs then the only source of extra noise I can imagine would be from the drivetrain due to a different chain line and chain speed.
What sort of noise is it? Can you not tell if it's coming from the tyre/roller interface, the drive train or within the trainer resistance unit?

diamonddog

The noise increases as you push the harder gears, my Elite turbo does exactly the same and has done since I've had it. If you are spinning an easy gear the noise will decrease slightly.

Johnny_Cage

The noise appears when I shift from 4th to 5th. It happens even before the whole of the chain has shifted completely into 5th.

I could pedal fast in 4th and have not much noise, then shift into 5th and pedal slowly and have more noise than 4th.

It's coming from the turbo/tyre.