A Rat Doesn't have to Rattle!!!

[Bettleguise]

Here I am, ready for another EPIC commute to work, summoning the great cyclist of all time, Merckx, Lemond, Armstrong, the Queensbridge my Alp de Huez.
But race organizers have decided no radios today. No ipod. So instead I listen to the many rattle sound my bike is making. Here are some.
Brake cable rattle against fork.
Fender rattle on truss rods.
Headlight rattle against fender.
Tanks rattles, rather creaks against frame.
Seat creaks.
Racks hits rear fender.
Rear fender hits frame.
rear fender light rattles
and the biggest noise of all is the chain slapping against the chain guard.

The silent fixed gears pass me always, at the start of the accent. I ride their slipstream and pass the weaklings getting the king of the mountain points. But what a racket the bike's making. It's almost embarrassing, it is embarrassing.
I think the reason people took of all the tanks fenders and guards was because they rattled around so much. Or rubbed against the wheel and chain and crank. Easier just to remove them than fix them.

So 'd like to read a little brainstorming session about what you all do to limit the noises coming from the bike and keep things tight and solid. Bikes with fenders, racks and guards and other add ons.
I found rubber washers to be pretty useful. Cold shrink tape. Lock nuts and washers. I'm thinking some kind of rubber on the inside of the chain guard might work, maybe rubber undercoat paint.
Is it possible to have a silent, fully equipped balloner?

 

[socal_jack]

I've used undercoating spray inside the tanks otherwise they resonate in a tinny way. Somebody else here used the same stuff on the underside of fenders, I'd imagine it'd work on the chainguard as well. Rubber grommets at the fender atrachment points might help. I usually don't run chainguards or fenders since, well .... we don't really get any weather.

 

[Bendix]

drives ya nuts, don't it! my most common rattle is on new cruisers with loose rivets holding the fenders to the mounting brackets. pull 'em and pound 'em

 

[deorman]

drives ya nuts, don't it! my most common rattle is on new cruisers with loose rivets holding the fenders to the mounting brackets. pull 'em and pound 'em

Drill 'em and screw 'em.

 

[deorman]

Had this discussion earlier, even if everything is tight and doesn't rattle, there will be some noise from vibration as noted by Socal Jack. I think that the undercoating idea was stated by others as being effective. You could use little strips of old inner tube between areas of contact, zip ties are good at taking care of slapping cables.

 

[JoKeR63]

Lube it!

I use automotive brake caliper silicon grease on parts like seat post clamps, sissy bar mounts, springers, etc.
I'll also use spray lithium on seat frames (you know, that clamp at the front that always creaks ).
And make sure that fender braces and the like aren't contacting the frame except at attachment points.

Noises drive me crazy!!!!!!

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Do the ol flip them upside down and turn the pedals and figure out what it needs to not have the chain hit the guard. It can be bent or washered over to not rub. Sometimes its a matter of tightening the chain some to fix. All bikes require adjustments to be right. :wink: Most of mine are like a mouse walking across cotton.

 

[Buck Masterson]

sometimes a good old fashioned squirt clear silicone between metal parts works great, such as between the rack and the fender. Then if you don't want it on there anymore it comes right off with a finger nail.

 

[Bendix]

drives ya nuts, don't it! my most common rattle is on new cruisers with loose rivets holding the fenders to the mounting brackets. pull 'em and pound 'em

Drill 'em and screw 'em.

on your own, puttering around the garage, sure, but realistically that's just wasted time on a new bike build in a busy shop. in that same time you can serve another customer that day- a flat repair, a wheel true, etc....a quick rap w/a hammer and punch and those fenders are set for years.

 

[deorman]

Yeah, I was speaking in terms of personal rides. You can also slide a rubber band up around the braces, push them in a little and up inside the fender, this bogus method works for about 2 months. :lol:

 

[karfer67]

i hate my bikes when they rattle. the fork on pay it back was one such bike. because i did not have time to machine bushings for the shock it has a tendency to move a bit and rattle probably why i dont much like that bike lol. where as bikes like 'the higgins" or the ratty truck are dead quiet and stealthy. and believe it or not even the new bike "the galt town hooligan" with all of that maddness is a very quiet bike other than the skip link setup but then again there is no amount of work to be done to shut those up and i love that noise they make. anyone who has ridden next to it can attest to this. so i agree take the time to make sure everything is tight and right !!

 

[roadmaster]

i am sort of ocd about little noises like that, too. anything more than the hum of the tires and the drive of the chain is annoying. i ride with fenders and stuff all the time and when it comes to fenders, i put a little cut out piece of rubber (like cut from an old tube) between any metal to metal contacts on the inside of the fender (and out of sight) between the fender and the attatched braces. this not only helps silence them , but also dampens road noise or drivetrain noise that tends to echo out larger fenders. the same principle applyes for loud chainguards. this has helped me with alot of fender and chainguard rattles. just find the metal to metal contacts that are rattling and is a little silicone lube can't quiet it, try my little trick.

 

[Bettleguise]

Yeh, thanks guys. The fenders on the 39 Columbia are actually quite flimsy and light weight. Gonna break out the rubber washers and the undercoat paint and see how it works.
Chain tension is a weird issue cuz tight is right but too tight is bad and slows you down. And the chain gets tighter and looser over one rotation.

Some time you riding here in New York and here that horrible sound of metal on metal, rattling your way. That's usually a Mexican delivery guy with a bike chain on his front basket. I think they use it as a bell of sorts. Kinda funny but it does let me know their coming. So if your bike is noisy like that, people might look at you funny but they will get out of your way.

No body mentioned headsets. Maybe it's a given. But I can't exactly tighten my headset tight enough to be silent without it being too tight to steer properly. Might have to go with loose ball bearing, or even change the race/or cups. Still a loose headset sounds crappy and scary almost.

 

[socal_jack]

ONe more thing is I get this door edge trim at Pep boys for the edge of the tank, put on with a little RTV keeps the tank to frame rattle down. Looks something like below(also see undercoating Dupli-color brand I believe);

Is it your headset or the stem? Sometimes you get a 21.1 stem in a 22.2 ID fork steerer tube and they rock back and forth a bit. Headset should tighten up without a problem or there's a fitment problem there.

 

[Bettleguise]

You wouldn't get through no airport security with that little device bro! Of course you could sneak past them because it's so quiet. To be honest, the tank noise went away once it put grease on the bolt.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

How about some expanding foam spray inside the frame? rubber washers are useful, as well as greasing everything before asembly to eliminate squeaks.

For the next RRBBD05 you will have to include a ride by video...rattlers automatically get -10 votes!