Weather has been so awful of late I decided to buy a Turbo Trainer and got a Tacx Satori with the magnetic resistance.

Using a road bike on it, at low rpm there’s a quiet hum which not unexpectedly rises in volume the faster I go. No problwm with that, however the thing that is annoying me is that as I buid up speed, a second rumbling vibration starts to build, but disappears again at higher rpm. At its peak it is really loud and very annoying. It’s not related to resistance level (ie if I stay in one gear, it kicks in and disappears across the same cadence range regardless of resistance setting. Ok, I can get up to a speed past the level that it happens at, but at some point in my workout I will hit a speed where it starts again and I’d like a better option than speeding up more or slowing down more!

It kicks in whether I am speeding up or slowing down. I’m not using a special trainer tyre, but a completely bald slick. I did notice when looking at it that there is slight buckle in my wheel, and possibly more significantly, the wheel is not perfectly circular – at one point the radius of the 700 wheel/tyre is about 2mm less than at most other points.

Everything is properly tightened up and there are no issues with play in the wheel bearings.

Anyone else experienced this and got pointers/suggestions to solve it?

1) will higher/lower tyre pressures help?
2) would more/less pressure on roller help?
3) would trainer specific tyre help?
4) would getting the wheel running more true help, or will I need to buy one of those special extra round wheels that the British track squad use?

Thanks for any tips/help!

How smooth are the wheelbearings ? I have the same vibration as well and the turbo wheel i use, the bearings seem more rough than when i first starting using it. I was going to strip, regrease and see if that cured it. The wife uses a different bike on it and doesnt have the noises.

Hmm sounds like a speed related resonance.

Probably not going to fix this – but getting option 3 & 4 sorted will help.

Sometimes it just can’t be fixed and at certain speeds and with the mass of your trainer/bike/you you will hit this resonance peak.

Thanks, guys.

Thrustyjust – bearings are smooth and no play.

JAG – It does sound like resonance doesn’t it? I seem to remember reading somewhere that just about everything will resonate at some frequency and I might just be a unlucky that this is happening at about 20 mph when on the trainer. But I’ve never had it on the road. Is it a common phenomenon on turbos?

XC-Steve – already doing that – problem is I can hear it way above what I’m listeing to AND feel the vibration. So can my wife, 2 rooms away when it kicks in! (cue nsfw comments….)

my cycleops trainer does something similar.

I’d start by getting your wheel trued.

Ah right, not sure about having a true wheel tbh my trainer wheel (and normal tyre) don’t suffer these effects and its as wonkey as a MP. What sort of floor do you put it on? I’m normally in the garden with mine on a concrete floor so dulls quite a lot of the noise. Worth getting a rubber matt or something similar?

XC-Steve: Floor was the something I missed out. It’s a concrete garage floor

Putting a rubber mat or similar under your trainer should reduce the amount of noise and is also likely to change the natural frequency of vibration, so the point at which you get resonance should also change.