divineAndbright

Here is a bit of weird post, but I had to ask- anyone else fascinated with the sounds of cycling? Freewheels while they are coasting, clinking chains, the sound of your tires humming on smooth pavement at high speeds, shifting of the gears (yay friction!)? I read over the years here of people liking "quiet" bikes, so much that they wax their chains so they don't make any noise, though personally i've only come across one chain which actually seems to make any noticable sounds and thats a chain made by Izumi I have, the rest are rather dull and quiet (unless they're starting to get squeaky and need some lube!). Anytime someone likes a fix gear here its cause they are quiet.


I made a little video of some cycling sounds from some old films.. if only there were more out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HvbpcuAQi8&fmt=18


So what are everyones favorite "sounding" parts?!

daidalas

Love the coasting sound mr. orange/white makes at 41 seconds in. reminds me of casting a fishing line at some peaceful location. Great video by the way!

USAZorro

If I'm riding on a relatively still day, and it's not noisy, I can hear the chain getting picked up by the chainring.

I like the swoosh-swoosh-swoosh-swoosh sound that gets made when someone takes the first few hard pedal strokes when accelerating. I think it's the tires that are responsible.

cudak888 

I love every bit of the "good old" sounds - with exception to Suntour freewheels, which drive me up the wall (though their sound does encourage me not to get lazy), and the hiss of herringbone tread, which tricks me into thinking I'm about to fall on sandy pavement.

Downshifting my '61 Campagnolo Gran Sport derailer is particularly a welcome sound, and FD upshifts with the GS is also fun

-Kurt

retrofit

+1

stan
.

SoreFeet

I like the quick and accurate friction shifting operations. Its pretty impressive.

g-funk

the tick tick tick of a sturmey archer 3-speed hands dows has to be "the" sound of vintage bikes. That and the chunky shifting of a NR rear D

spider-man

+1. I love that sound. I prattle on about it so much that my wife can now identify a passing Sturmey-Archer-equipped bicycle by sound.

LesterOfPuppets

Surely the sound is faked in most of those shots, as the audio typically consists of all motorcycle and wind noise. The video is still awesome, though.

I love the sound of Sturmey Archer 3-speeds myself. Shoulda never sold my old Raleigh.

Popeyecahn

The rain soaked rider followed by the motorbike and the Volvo support car had me chuckling, I wasn't sure if he had on a jersey or not! And then the vintage bird squawk just a scene or two later, gold!

Wino Ryder

The low key "clickety-click" sound of a campy 'Record' hub while you're gliding down a quiet lane with the cool breeze in your face.

To me its one of the biggest turn-ons of cycling.

rodar y rodar

Not a "vintage" noise, but the sound of tires cutting through a flm of water on a wet street. Very interresting idea, dAndB.

Exit.

I like the sound of the buckle on my Chrome bag, because it always means I'm getting ready to go for a ride.

In a similar vein, the smell of gas and burning rubber at drift or drag events is super awesome.

jebensch

I can't add much since it's hard to hear anything over my own huffing and puffing at the helm, but I can offer that the famous Tie Fighter noise from Star Wars was the combination of tires passing on wet pavement, with the wail of a baby elephant.

Oh I do like the sound of surface changes, like coming off a planked bridge onto pavement. Ahhh....

OLDYELLR

Great clip, divineAndbright! I just love those sounds.

Yes, back in the 'fifties you could always tell when someone was riding S-A gears from the sound, without looking. Also the Simplex and Benelux derailleurs had plain round, not toothed, pulleys, so you could tell them by the constant whirring sound. Fixed wheels were almost silent in comparison, except for the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the tires. Oh, and then there was the slower tick-tick-tick of the Lucas cyclometers which everybody tried and then threw away after they got tired of the ticking.

Noah Scape

That opening scene from A Sunday in Hell: 1976 Paris-Roubaix is very soundful.

Charles Wahl

Kurt, you must not love your Suntour freewheel like I love mine. I keep it oiled, and it's one of the quietest, best mannered things. When it needs more oil, it reminds me, gently. The sound is purposeful, and yet modest and unassuming. Nothing like the offensive "plague of locusts" freehubs on carbon bikes.

I'm always listening to the bike -- chain moving over the derailer pulleys, snap of tires spitting aside some debris, or plowing through leaves -- I've even gotten used to the Brooks saddle creak that emanates from the handlebar area. Since I oil my hubs, I can hear the bearing balls dropping when moving at slow speed on a smooth surface. It sounds much different when there's a wall on one side, or even a curb reflecting the sound, compared to being on a road surface with shoulder.

Weasel9

As much as I like my old bike sounds, I actually think my favorite is riding a fixie on a quiet day and being a totally... dead... silent... while on my bike.

RobbieTunes

My well-packed 1988 Shimano 600 hubs make no sound at all when coasting, and I like that.

Other than that, the sound of tight and true spokes singing in a corner. Some wheels have 'em, some don't, but they're killer to hear.

Rabid Koala

I love the hum of a good set of wheelsand high pressure tires. I recall it being louder when I rode tubulars, but that was 34+ years ago. Of course, I seldom hear it unless the wind is at my back.

Rober

The 'clunk' sound of the chain moving between the sprockets on my 5-cog cluster and the 'ting' sound of the chain moving between the two rings on the front.

Road Fan

YES! SA 3-speeds, Regina freewheels, and tubular tires, that distinctive "zszszs"!

Road Fan

I think my ears were better 34 years ago, eh?

RobbieTunes

Speed may have something to do with it. I heard it a lot more when I was young.

ogbigbird

for the most part, the only sounds i can deal with are tires cutting thru wet pavement and i actually dig the tick-tick-tick of any one of my 5 s.a. 3speed hub. consistant and soft. the sound of any older freewheel set ratchetting as the rider spins the cranks backwards or mearly coasting also screams c & v, especially if there is a metal spoke protector disc between the freewheel and hub.