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Did my first triathlon today, which was my first experience of getting up close and personal with TT bikes. It was worth getting overtaken just to listen to the noise of those wheels whomping along. The speed the quick guys were going was phenomenal.
Whats your favourite noise in cycling?
Those 2-3 seconds of silence after hitting a jump on a flowing trail before the tyres land and reconnect with the ground
The sound of my 8 year-old son laughing his head off as he picks up speed going downhill.
Yup..genesis has it..end of thread
genesiscore502011 - MemberThose 2-3 seconds of silence after hitting a jump on a flowing trail before the tyres land and reconnect with the ground
Change that to 0.2 seconds for me "gravity & big bloke" does mean I stick to the ground well 😉
The sound of triathletes mangling gear changes just before the dull thud of their bodies hitting tarmac 😐
Or [url= http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/Schladming-RAW-with-Adam-Brayton,22922/joebo,1905 ]this[/url]
Or [url= http://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/member/Schladming-RAW-with-Adam-Brayton,22922/joebo,1905 ]this[/url]
That is a great vid. On a similar theme I always liked [url=
[/url]from NWD10
Is a tie between the OP's (I was gonna post "the growl of a deep section wheel" on the basis of the title without seeing the post) and the silence of getting airborne. Especially if you ride a fat bike or noisy super tacky tyres.
The sound of a nicely made gate catch dropping when you swing the gate closed.
The opposite is when you come to open one and it just drops to the ground with a clang.
Always been the song of a skylark for me, it's mesmerizing and usually means the climb is done 🙂
When you stop on the moors & all you can hear are Curlews.
Rear cassette engaging, loud clicking from a freewheel.
Sound of tyres over loose gravel.
Also what genesis said although my experience usually has the sound of wheels washing out, the thud of a 13 stone rider hitting the deck and gentle whimpering following it.
Just back from riding in the Yorkshire Dales. My first thought, before opening the thread, was the call of the skylark & curlews we had listened to on the moors between Ribblesdale & Littondale.
Glad to read bigh & Essel are of the same opinion 🙂
the hiss of road tyres on really smooth roads
the buzz of mtb tyres in a compression
The silence that envelops you when enpbraced by a tailwind.
The rattling of Lakeland slate under you wheels.
The sound of the door opening on the pie fridge, behind the bar of the Church, after a Prestwich Monday Night Pub Ride 🙂
The satisfying 'click' of an SPD cleat engaging as you head off out!
Or 10 minutes into the ride if you're Matt Stephens.
This and a Hope hub.The rattling of Lakeland slate under you wheels.
Always been [s]the song of a skylark[/s][b] the whomph, whomph, screeearch of the windfarm [/b]for me, it's mesmerizing and usually means the climb is done
The scrabbling noise Mtb tyres make when you get both drifting at once in a corner.
Made all the sweeter for me by its rarity.
The sound my bike makes when nothing on it is squeaking or rattling. Made all the sweeter by its rarity.
Hope hubs..There's one long road decent I do on a favourite loop, and once you've spun out the top gear on the mtb, listening to the pitch of the sound go higher as you consider whether to put the brakes on to shave some speed off or not.
Or up on the moors where the only sound apart from you is the sound of the wind, or the odd sheep.
The sound of a proper elite peloton.
The whirring sound you get when braking on some nicely warmed up rotors on a really fast road descent.
The tiny electronic zzt of a Di2 front mech self adjusting.
The sound of nature when you properly get away from it all, stop and all you can hear is a cuckoo or the curlews or an owl.
The sound of a proper elite peloton.
I'll add to that one, the sound of a true pro DH rider on the limit during a run - it's a soft rumble then a whoosh as they go past. Compare that to an amateur where everything is creaking and clattering and banging and squeaking.
For me, the combination of tires scrabbling when hitting a berm fast with that hope sound. That or the unclipping from spds followed by locking the rear wheel when drifting a corner properly (far too rare an occurence for me...)
The on/off clacking of a Hope rear hub being ragged through twisty single track for me.
It always seems to urge me on: "Go on! Faster! FASTER!"
The cannons going off as you top ten or KOM a segment 
In reality my little lad laughing like a minion as he rags his bike round the woods
Best - The sound of nature and slight rolling noise when riding a stealth bike.
Worst - Hope hubs, hate them 👿 (and likewise other equally demented bee sounding hubs).
Somewhere in between - the sound of fat bike wheels rolling 😀
+1 the sound (and feel) or being in the air.
And anyone who wears headphones on the trail... WTF? May as well sit at home if you have to listen to music to enjoy being outside 😛
People cheering you down a race track even though you're just some random fanny.
Standing at the bottom of the wall at fort william wall, it's not just the sound, the ground shakes. I can't spell the noise, it's like a really long bass drum hit
The sound of laboured breathing as I top out on the 10th interval.
Broken plate noise of a slatey descent or as you've said the whurv whurv of deep section wheels.
The best sound in cycling, is when cruising downhill and your speed perfectly matches the tailwind. Everything falling silent. Except the sound of the tires.
Best on a smooth, grassy surface.
The sudden rumble-silence-rumble when your wheels leave the ground and then touch back down again.
I'll add to that one, the sound of a true pro DH rider on the limit during a run - it's a soft rumble then a whoosh as they go past. Compare that to an amateur where everything is creaking and clattering and banging and squeaking.
I dunno, some of the fast lads at Fort William last week sounded like someone kicking a dishwasher downstairs when they were in the rock gardens, it always surprises me how loud they can be hitting stuff and still keep flying.
The sound of setting your bike up perfectly. No squeaks or creaks or chains trying to locate on cogs.
That and the sound of one of the knoblies on your tyre pinging when you hit a rock or root on a techy bit.
THe noise of riding the North Shore with the xylophone-esque rumble from the cedar slats.
The sound of the post-ride pint glass being placed in front of the thirsty muddy/dusty rider.
Drac - that's superb! You're absolutely right, there's nothing quite like it. It's been a while (2 years), but what you wrote takes me right back and brings a smile with the memory.
Used to really like the sound of a Hope hub, now the silence of my DT350's is fantastic. Rolling through some lovely singletrack and just gearing the tyres grip and the faintest buzz from the back end.
Also love hearing my Formula 2-piece rotors pinging after a big decent.
My DT350s have become a bit noisy now. I got them for the relative silence and they were quiet. I think just needs a little oil in there.
Cow bells below and the gentle whir of cables and pulleys about you. The feeling of sunshine on your back and the smell of dry alpine countryside.
The way the pitch of your tyre rumble raises slightly as you load them into a berm. Even better once you get the entry spot on and can pump the berm as you hit the apex.
Subtle but very satisfying
And yeah, the rumble of deep sections being ridden at speed.
Hiss of hot discs
Road content
The 'click' closely followed by the 'clack' of the next cog being engaged with absolute precision on a well set up set of gears. No indexing , no whirring , just a finger flick, and a new gear appears.
The patter of tyres over small roots on loamy soil.
That kind of "thwonk" noise as a single tyre nobble decides it's going to pop from one side of a root to the other.
The sound of my eldest saying "can we do that last stretch again" or "can we do another lap" 8)
The hum of a silk tub on a velodrome
"of course you can get another bike, I don't mind"
Klaxon
the sound of absolutely **** all but the sounds of the birds when you stop on a rural bridleway in the middle of no-where... and the sun is shining.
Spokey dokeys.
Cow bells below and the gentle whir of cables and pulleys about you. The feeling of sunshine on your back and the smell of dry alpine countryside.
Good call.
- When your wheels are off the ground
- Nature being very quiet on a winter ride, expect for the odd bird or owl.
- The pitter patter of rain on your kit on a winter rider during a steady climb
- Tyre noise when it digs in on a fast berm
- "Rider left/right" coming up to an overtake during an Enduro 8)
- Sound of the stream cascading down a steep hill during a rest
I've always been partial to a bit of chainslap actually. For some reason it's one of the few sounds that makes it through the fog when I'm focused going downhill. That, and the sound of tyres drifting and skipping through corners.
Spectators at races can be good too. A guy I know always brings his two little girls to heckle the riders.
The gasp of triathletes in an offroad event as you ride up an "impossible" hill while they're all walking. Aye good swimming, folks - see you at the finish.
EDIT: But really the sound of nature at the top of a big climb / imminent descent.
The sound of a stubborn Tyre snapping onto a rim bead when you have pumped up to 60 PSI already and still going...and were waiting for the inevitable explosion, burst ear drums and getting covered in Stans jiz
jekkyl - Memberthe sound of absolutely **** all
Almost, but for me it's raining falling.
Life's pretty hectic for me at the moment - work's a shouty madhouse, home is a wonderous song sung to the tune of kids bounching off the walls, the TV on base, the Radio on guitar and washing machine doing the drums even driving between the two offers little rest as I've usually got to be where I'm going before I've left and, well it's 2016 - there's not such thing as a 'quiet drive' anymore - there's traffic everywhere.
I usually ride with my Mates and it's great, we're all busy so we have a bit of debreif and rarely is anyone nagging to keep going because they've got to be back for something.
But for true zen I go for a solo ride, ideally in the rain, stop at about whatever my half-way point is and it's compeltely silent, except the rain.
For me it's the sound of a jump being landed properly by someone who knows what they're doing on a decent bike i.e. not me
I agree with the most above. Plus the "pssst! psst! psssst!" sound of the suspension forks...
The sound of deep section carbon wheels when you're hammering along a nice flat road on a windless day.
Woooosshhhhh, wooooooosssshhhh, wooooooossssshhhhh.
The suspension fork comment reminded me of the noise my then new Romic made in my old Enduro. Proper "Ker-woosh-ker-woosh". It sounded expensive, like my old Bulb hubs.
The sound your Garmin makes when you switch it off at the end of a race.
Like a lot of others, that moment of silence just before your wheels touch down again.
But also, one noise that I can count on one hand how many times I've been privileged to hear is on an early winter morning, still dark, deathly quiet on a silent bike and all you can hear is the tyres crunching on the fresh snow.
[quote=monkeyfiend ]
But also, one noise that I can count on one hand how many times I've been privileged to hear is on an early winter morning, still dark, deathly quiet on a silent bike and all you can hear is the tyres crunching on the fresh snow.
That's a good one, another I like is the sound of leaves rustling on a dry autumn day. Best example of it I can think of is the Rob Warner bit on Chainspotting.
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The sound of the tyres compressing into a jump, then the silence, then the sound of clattering metal and breaking teeth on landing 😆
The tick-tick of rotors cooling after a long, steep descent. Don't know if this is specific to Hope floating rotors?
The sound your gears make on your 15 year old bike when you've just replaced everything and got the indexing right again (I imagine); the zizzing sound your Hope Minis make when they're really working;
and +1 the sound of silence.
I have two:
A decent set of carbon rims, 110psi in the tyres, and that 'hollow' sound you hear when riding.
And, that zipp/spin loose gravel exiting the rear wheel whilst hacking the CXer.
The wildlife is always a bonus, but this time of year I'm a huge fan of skylarks and curlews too.
Many of the above.
- the cooling metal noise of Hope floating rotors
- that moment where you're travelling exactly the same speed as the wind and all falls silent
- those precious few seconds between take off and landing
- the 'phump' noise suspension makes as you bounce/skim over a rooty downhill section
- the quiet 'clck' of a perfectly timed upshift on the road bike as you add a few more kph
Watch that Raw100 video on the home page. Those tyre sounds are amazing.
The clanging of my knackers on the top tube in a misjudged landing.
Oh, you mean the best noise, not the loudest? 🙂
The scrunch of my fat tyres on deep frosted virgin snow
The whisper of drifting snow in a silent icy haar
The howl of the wind through the fence lines
Think they've already been said really so something slightly more obscure - the not quite silence of a fixed wheel drive train when you're tanking along just on top of the gear.
The first time you hear the TV chopper approaching from miles away on a stagerace after waiting for hours in the sun or rain.
The silence following the initial hiss of a puncture as the latex actually seals it for a change.