Was well up for a turbo session this evening but when I home there was a note through the door from the flat downstairs complaining about excessive noise after 8pm yesterday… that’ll be my Zwift race then 😀

I’ll pop down to see them tomorrow but I want to come up with some options/a solution if possible! Worst case scenario I set up the turbo in my work gym but that’s obviously less flexible than using it at home.

I have a Kurt Kinetic Rock n Roll with a trainer tyre. It’s not particularly noisy so I guess the problem is mainly vibration. I have a proper Cycle Ops mat but that obviously isn’t doing much. I was actually looking into maybe getting a Tacx Neo anyway which is supposed to be the quietest turbo available, plus it’s direct drive which may help as a bit of googling reveals often the problem is the tyre/turbo interface if it’s not setup perfectly.

Some kind of additional matting might be helpful, like a washing machine anti-vibration mat. I’ve also seen suggestions for cork or even concrete blocks! No problem with spending a bit of money on something that works, don’t really want to hack off the neighbours! It would need to be something I could stash away then easily set up as the turbo won’t be out all the time.

Any thoughts?

Tricky one that….turbos need to be on a solid base, which means a lot of vibration will be passed through.

You could try building something yourself. A design that springs to mind would be a large plywood sheet with half a tennis-ball stuck on each end. I’ve seen similar things done using squash balls cut in half, but not for bike related purposes.

You’re right in that a lot of the vibration comes from the bike and tyre interface. Also, a fair amount of the noise comes from the wheels/spokes cutting through the air, although this isn’t the main cause of vibrations through the floor.

Could you position the turbo somewhere else in the flat, e.g. above your neighbour’s kitchen ?

I could, don’t know if that would help though as the kitchens are small & right next to the living rooms. Might be able to pass it off as noise from the washing machine though!

I thought a direct drive might be a lot quieter (and maybe it is); just found a review of the Tacx Neo though where someone specifically comments on the “disturbing vibrations” it generates for the room below 😥

Found this http://www.floormats.co.uk/structural-protection-rubber-mat-20mm?gclid=CNPRkZSkvdACFQaeGwodvnINBw (one review says he bought it to use with his turbo & it worked well) and this https://www.polymax.co.uk/anti-vibration-rubber-mount/rubber-pad/rubber-anti-vibration-mat, can anyone comment on effectiveness or suggest something they know works?

I get more noise from the bike than I do from my Tacx Neo, although the plastic casing does creak a bit. With a decent rubber mat under it, I can’t imagine much noise transmission through the floor.

Ended up taking my bike & turbo to work today as I want to do another Zwift session tonight! Will probably try to pick up a Neo if there are any decent discounts on Friday and give that a go at home, see if there’s any improvement.

Neo has about the least moving parts of any turbo, should be the quietest by some way. Turbo mats are good for reducing vibration noise too (I got the SportsCrafters one cheap from Planet X.) Make sure your chain is properly lubed, that’ll help too.

As mentioned above, a large majority of the sound will be from the floor / turbo interface.

I have a set of Tacx antares rollers. On the rare occasion I use them in a garage on a concrete floor, they are virtually silent and can comfortably talk at a normal level over them.

Put them inside the house on floorboards with rubber washing machine mat and they are pretty noisy – to the extent the girlfriend does not like being in the house when I’m on it! Accordingly we are looking to move house and buy one with a garage…

If you live in a flat, I suspect it’s a pretty antisocial activity for those living underneath you! Can you do it when they are at work?

Edit: misread your post.

to the extent the girlfriend does not like being in the house when I’m on it!

🙂

Mrs Blobby has to put up with my turbo setup of two 18″ floor fans and one of these in the house…

I think just about the loudest turbo you can get! With in ear headphones at full volume I still struggle to hear what I’m listening to sometimes 😕

Go to your local carpet store and get some good quality (not cheap ****) underlay. You probably want enough for a double thickness.

Go to your local carpet store and get some good quality (not cheap ****) underlay. You probably want enough for a double thickness.

I’ve seen this suggested a lot online but I don’t know whether people have tried this and it actually works (specifically for deadening noise/vibration affecting the floor below) or it just sounds like it should work!

If you live in a flat, I suspect it’s a pretty antisocial activity for those living underneath you! Can you do it when they are at work?

Yeah, you could be right, judging by the number of threads about this online if you search! Doing it during the day not really at option for me, I can always set the turbo up at work though (which is what I’m doing today) so I can still use it, although obviously less convenient!

I thought about this a while ago, because the turbo trainer sits in the garage & I wondered how I might convince my Wife it would be acceptable for me to have it in the house….

I could probably try to create some kind of vibration isolating floor to put the turbo on.

A couple of thick bits of sheet, like plywood with some kind of anti-vibration feet in between.
You’d have to roughly match the loads to the feet capacity etc. but it shouldn’t be to hard to get something that works.
For the bottom sheet that sits on the floor, I’d probably make loads of cut-outs in it too, to reduce the contact area with the floor; it would just be a thin web of material strong enough to hold the ant-vibration feet in place. The top sheet would be solid.

Something like the flanged mountings on this datasheet:

http://www.avindustrialproducts.co.uk/documents/Page%2025.%20Flanged%20Mountings.pdf

6 of the FM25 mounts in the 40 shore hardness would probably do the trick – 2 a the back, 2 in the middle & 2 at the front.

£10 each on their online shop inc. VAT, so £60 for the mounts and another £30 quid or so in board to give it a whirl….hmmmm.

possibly with the whole thing sitting on one of the anti-vibration or foam mats I linked to earlier? Do you think you’d be OK just doing the area under the turbo? Probably not too much vibration coming from the front wheel right? Or are you thinking under the whole bike?

A search for “flanged mounting” 😀 on eBay reveals these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Set-of-4-x-Anti-Vibration-Mount-Flanged-Circular-Pedestal-Mounting-M12-240Kg-/162260687025?hash=item25c77d98b1:g:8moAAOSwPcVVriI5 actually from the eBay shop of the company you linked to. 4 for £20 ish delivered. Others available at different price points in their shop too.

You could probably get cheaper than the ones I have linked to.

Not sure those ebay ones would be suitable though; they’re 240kg load PER mount. So they are going to be pretty stiff. 4 of those = 960kg of load bearing capability….

It’s a compromise between having something stiff enough that it doesn’t wallow around like being on a boat at sea when putting some effort in & being so stiff it transfers all the vibrations you are trying to damp.

Thinking about it a bit more, I’d probably be looking for something that gave me a total load rating of perhaps twice the expected static load; so rider + turbo + bike – say 90kg? So 180kg load rating for the complete set of feet….?

This site has a load of options & it tells you a bit more info that you get from the stuff on ebay. They looks to be part of Automotion components who we use at work. They’ll probably have a min order fee of £25 or something….

http://www.antivibrationcomponents.co.uk/en/catalog/standard-parts/anti-vibration-bumpers/anti-vibration-bumpers/p2025

http://www.antivibrationcomponents.co.uk/en/catalog/standard-parts/anti-vibration-cylinders/feet/p2020

http://www.antivibrationcomponents.co.uk/en/catalog/standard-parts/anti-vibration-cylinders/male-male/p2010

some of them options could be interesting when trying to get the power down 😀

May make it feel more reslistic lol

horse stall mats seem to be recommended for under running treadmills

It’s the turbo type, first and foremost. I have a substantial rubber gym mat under a basic tacx and it’s still noisy – it’s in the attic and you can hear it in the kitchen when watts are being laid down.
Given the shared floor with the neighbours I think the most silent turbo possible is the way to go, rather than elaborate sound-proofing of a normal turbo.

Thinking about it a bit more, I’d probably be looking for something that gave me a total load rating of perhaps twice the expected static load; so rider + turbo + bike – say 90kg? So 180kg load rating for the complete set of feet….?

So are you suggesting making a platform to go under the whole bike rather than just the turbo?

I don’t think there’s much you can do about a conventional trainer. The noise and vibration mine made in the garage was enough to disturb my wife inside the house in an upstairs room!
I now have a Neo, which is much quieter, but not silent. I wouldn’t like to guarantee that it would not disturb someone in a downstairs flat. Sometimes even low level noise and vibration can be annoying if there is a suitable transmission route.

I thought about this a while ago, because the turbo trainer sits in the garage & I wondered how I might convince my Wife it would be acceptable for me to have it in the house….

My wife has no objections to me turbo training in the house as long as I set it up somewhere she can watch and I have my shirt off.

My wife has no objections to me turbo training in the house as long as I set it up somewhere she can watch and I have my shirt off.

Not sure that would compensate for the sweat, snot, spittle, and occasional vomit.

I now have a Neo, which is much quieter, but not silent. I wouldn’t like to guarantee that it would not disturb someone in a downstairs flat. Sometimes even low level noise and vibration can be annoying if there is a suitable transmission route.

I reckon I will get a Neo, try to build some kind of vibration-deadeding thing & have another go at home. Worst case I just use it at work instead.

zilog6128 – Member

So are you suggesting making a platform to go under the whole bike rather than just the turbo?

Yeah, just get the whole lot off the actual floor & it does away with having to raise the front even higher that you would normally have to.

I envisaged a plank around 6ft long (could match to length of bike+turbo, plus a bit) by around 3ft that the turbo & bike sits on with another plank underneath & the mounts sandwiched in between; hence my comment about 2 isolation mounts at the back, 2 in the middle & 2 at the front.
The bottom plank would be heavily webbed, so it will be barely in contact with the ground to reduce the contact area.

You could also put some kind of matting on the top plank to improve grip between the turbo trainer & the plank & provide a bit more isolation….

Yeah that makes sense ta. Should probably be able to knock something up for £100 or so. Whether it would actually work is another matter! You gonna try first? 🙂

zilog6128 – Member

You gonna try first?

I did think it could be worth a go, but more from a tinkering point of view, than actually needing it.
I think I am resigned to the garage for the foreseeable & it makes sense to be honest – nice & cool in there & concrete floor so very little noise….

So, in reality I probably won’t get round to it…. 😀

I was going to suggest a few of those foam tiles you get for camping, Halfords sell them and a sheet of Ply over the top. It’ll add up to about £40 and shouldnt look too shabby.