Quick question about direct drive trainers and noise / vibration..

neeb

I know that direct drive trainers are usually much less noisy than wheel-on ones, but how do they compare for vibrations of the sort that might be felt in lower flats in a shared building?

I have a Tacx Genius smart which works fine for me (especially as I have a separate power meter), although the neighbours do sometimes feel it which means I need to avoid using it late in the evening etc.

Might consider getting a direct drive trainer if it solved this problem, but don't want to fork out if it's just going to be quieter without being less vibratory.. The neighbours think it's my washing machine..

pblakeney

A Tacx Neo 2T is nigh on silent with a clean drive train and smooth pedal stroke.
Any high efforts might be different, but my mind is elsewhere. 😉

thistle_

My direct drive seems to vibrate less than a wheel on, but the wheel on trainer didn't seem to vibrate much.
Have you already got a mat to reduce the vibration a bit?

neeb

Yup, I've got a mat, on top of 3cm of high density foam..

Seem to remember reading somewhere that wheel-on trainers were inherently vibratory due to the inertial effect of the wheel itself (acting as a big flywheel basically). By the same principle you might expect a direct drive trainer with a heavy flywheel like the kickr to (potentially) create more powerful vibrations than a virtual flywheel like the Neo 2T

neeb

pblakeney said:

A Tacx Neo 2T is nigh on silent with a clean drive train and smooth pedal stroke.
Any high efforts might be different, but my mind is elsewhere. 😉

Very tempted by one of those. Trying not to be put off by that video on you tube moanining about the bearing replacement.. I like the powered descent feature (which I also have on my Genius smart).

pblakeney

neeb said:

pblakeney said:

A Tacx Neo 2T is nigh on silent with a clean drive train and smooth pedal stroke.
Any high efforts might be different, but my mind is elsewhere. 😉

Very tempted by one of those. Trying not to be put off by that video on you tube moanining about the bearing replacement.. I like the powered descent feature (which I also have on my Genius smart).

Remind me not to look at that video. Ignorance is bliss. 😉

neeb

Basically moaning about how things have gone to pot since Garmin took over Tacx, and in particular how the main bearing is rubbish and you can't replace it when it wears out because the tool isn't available. But it looks like it's done its job and Garmin are responding. They can't not, really..

bobmcstuff

My kickr is pretty quiet. My wife uses it in the upstairs spare room and from the kitchen you can tell it's on - but the noise from the TV show she is watching is louder. Not really a lot of vibration that you would notice.

pinkbikini

neeb said:

Yup, I've got a mat, on top of 3cm of high density foam..

Seem to remember reading somewhere that wheel-on trainers were inherently vibratory due to the inertial effect of the wheel itself (acting as a big flywheel basically). By the same principle you might expect a direct drive trainer with a heavy flywheel like the kickr to (potentially) create more powerful vibrations than a virtual flywheel like the Neo 2T

Vibrations can be weird - you sure that the high-density foam isn’t making the vibrations worse somehow?

My Elite Direto is quiet, but some vibrations occur in certain gear combinations and speeds. Really hard to completely eliminate. There are a lot of soundproofing panel products that might be worth a shot put under the turbo - that might work better than just foam.

pblakeney

neeb said:

Yup, I've got a mat, on top of 3cm of high density foam..

If I was trying something under the turbo to reduce vibration then I'd be looking along these lines -
https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/urethane-pad