For me, the sound of gravel pinging off a titanium tube. The Buzz of a perfectly lubed Chris King hub on a perfectly round wheel. The pinging sound that Hope floating rotors make when cooling down.
The buzz of knoblies when I've been riding the road bike.
The silence of road tyres when I've been out on the MTB.
APF
Di2 gear shift
Deep section carbon wheels
Riding gravel and stones and hearing them clattering.
I must ride with the wrong people, this is all that springs to mind
Tubs singing when you really get going.
my whoops in my own head and "ooooft" when i hit jumps and scare myself 🙂
The crunch of snow or the silence of fresh snow.
The momentary silence as your wheels leave the ground and then the resumption as you land.
The screech of shimano brakes when the calliper has leaked.
The 'patpatpat' of a tyre right on the limit of grip as you brake hard into a corner. About 41s into this
the sound of a industrial box section orange five/patriot banging and clanging like a steel filing cabinet falling down a flight of concrete stairs.
The sound of cracking that gently warmed mid ride trail beer using one of my various bike components with handy beverage popper.
The sound of my front door closing as I head out. After this almost every sound is a winner in my world.
The ripping sound of a rear tyre with a squared off corner when it loses grip 🙂
So many good sounds. Maybe a shift after I've just perfectly indexed my gears, or a freshly cleaned and lubed chain. Or when I'm cycling home late at night and I can hear the sound of my road tyres on smooth tarmac, something that's usually smothered by city noise.
Least favourite sound: the squeal my front brake makes in the wet - I cannot get rid of it.
The sound of cooking bacon from my ice spike tyre front drowning out the the chatter of the rear Jumbo Jim... Shame it makes anything but downhill quite hard work on the commute!
The calls of curlews and lapwings up high in the North Pennines.
the way the frequency of the pawl click changes as you corner
the wind rusting through the trees
Rasping farts after consuming high carb drinks never gets old.
Hearing the wind in your ears as you start a well earned descent.
The diminishing rumble of traffic as you head off road.
The 'electric tram' noise as knobblies pick up speed.
That 'woah' shout and nervous laugh when your riding buddy has a near miss, but you know they're okay.
The pinging of tyres through a rock garden
The simple warning shouts used in a fast moving road group to keep everyone safe. Everyone relying on one another for group safety.
The call of 'last man' on the chain gang, when you know you have to pull your finger out and up the pace again...
Di2 front mech auto trim.
Deep section carbon wheels on a smooth surface.
That moment of silence as you get air off a nice smooth gravel track and the soft whoompf of landing.
The mewing call of red kites - admittedly this is a sound more limited to mid-Wales.
Hope pro2 buzz.
My rumbling stomach.
Dawn chorus.
The thrump of slapping a loamy turn to perfection....brah 🤙
That "Oof!" when your mate behind you hits the deck.
The karunchhk of riding over frozen puddles, breaking the ice, but staying dry 👌
Floating rotors tinging, in the otherwise perfect quiet, as they cool down at end of a fabulous descent
The sound of that first SPD 'here we go' click as you set off for the day 🙂
Whiring of a chair lift roller with the gentle tinkling of alpin cow bells below.
I like a good freehub and all the rest of it.
But what I really like? The forest/wilderness sounds when you stop for a second at the bottom of a trail after all the noise and concentration of the descent, it really emphasizes how nice and peaceful the places we ride are.
Your front tyre breaking through the icy crust on top of a puddle.
A Hope hub buzzing away - even better when there's loads doing so at the same time.
A 100psi 25mm road tyre on a smooth road at 25mph.
Scree being dislodged as you brake making a turn...
The last puff of the chainsaw when I've just cleared a section of new trail, and the ensuing excitement of getting to ride said trail, and the lingering smell of 2 stroke that accompanies it all....
The momentary silence as your wheels leave the ground and then the resumption as you land.
^This^
That ‘woah’ shout and nervous laugh when your riding buddy has a near miss, but you know they’re okay.
^That^
and
the almost schoolgirlish giggles after sharing the experience of cleaning a new downhill section crazily fast with your riding buddies.
Chesil Beach stones under fat tyres.
I love the soft ‘chirp’ of suspension dampening on fast repeated hits. That and the silence of a well sorted bike coupled with the sound of tyres struggling for grip on proper natural trails
The distant sound of the morning commute on a dual carriageway, as you whizz down a bridleway.
The silence when you actually fix the creak that's been bugging you for the last three months....
The sound of your mate yelling "My Gran can ride faster than this", a split second before he wipes out and goes over the bars.
The sound of nobbly tyres on loam.
And that shared giggle through the group when someone has a 'moment' 🙂
the noise my v brakes make when grabbing the wheel on my commuter in the wet.
The ripping noise of tyres going through an ice-encrusted puddle.
The rumble of a group on the banking of a velodrome.
That ‘gripping’ noise when you rail a berm really fast on hardpack.
Silence.
Or the bacon-frying crackle of studded tyres on tarmac.
The change pitch from the free hub as you take off
The rasp of tyres holding grip under compression as you push into the apex of a turn.
The schrumpffffff of tyres in a compression or berm
The sliding door of an uplift bus
My own ridiculously girly giggle when I get away with things
The sound of the woodwork as I ride along it. Glockenspiel. Love it
Owls 🙂
The crack of a tubeless tyre as it snaps onto a rim.
The ping of a tyre as it deflects off a rock.
The sudden speeding up of the freewheel buzz as you take off.
The rush of air sound as the dropper drops.
The whurrrrr of a pedal assist motor. 😜
“Get a car you knob”.
Little do they know...
The ping of a stone being launched at warp speed out of the side of the tyre
The calls of curlews and lapwings up high in the North Pennines.
This (but in Scotland) was my first thought when I saw this thread.
The sound of a fast moving peloton, sounds good while in it but sounds awesome when watching one pass.
The sound of deep carbon wheels, reminds me of a lightsaber.
The moaning of my mate in the coffee shop about having not put enough air in his tyres....(it’s not the lack of air, it’s just not the conditions for his XC race tyre)
SPD engaging
Tubeless tyre seating
Everything going quiet when the bike leaves the ground
The sounds of my kids laughter ahead of me down the trail.
I love the hollow sound of tyres rolling across dry compacted soil, especially on the exit of a berm. I also love the smells (not dead shrew, that follows you for ages) of the woods and the moors, they change depending on the weather and the season
Up until 2 minutes ago, I’d have said the sound of tyres ripping round a berm.
But now it’s this.
Tyres rolling over rock hard frosty grass
The absolute roaring silence of the sky on a cold and frosty night ride, as the stars look down.
Getting told off by woodpeckers when you surprise them.
Riding over the top of the Downs when a sky splitting lighting bolt rips the sky open above you. Not so much a smilie but a scream of defiance back at it.
The high speed “pop pop pop” of Onza Octopus tyres on wet rock.
The absence of noise when both wheels leave the ground. Mmmmmm....
The "Angry Bee" as I freewheel down a long descent.
"the air of heaven is that which blows between a horses ears"
OK it's a Mary townley quote, so a bit horsey but that's why I ride a bike.
Also, hope hubs.
The THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD-silence as a ski lift goes under the first pylon out of the station. That, to me, means the game is on. I can be skiing, boarding or have my bike with me, I don’t care, I’m on my way up a mountain and it’s gonna be fun coming down.
jedi
Member
The sound of the woodwork as I ride along it. Glockenspiel. Love it
I too love this!
Tioga Disc drive
--- End thread ---
Tour de France theme music.
Silence on my fixed wheel.
The bell in a race
A coffee machine at a stop
A trispoke wheel - well three in my case
fasthaggis
The sound of that first SPD ‘here we go’ click as you set off for the day
the day or maybe longer
that's the one for me...."I love the sound of cleats in the morning" .....if Apocalypse Now hadn't been about a horrifying war
the sound of my hope hub, the song of a yellowhammer and that inner ear buzz of silence when you stop at the summit on a still day...
Ice Spikers on sheet ice. And that weird whoomphing thing riding over undulating ground in summer where it's hard to tell what's sound and what's sensation.
The CLUNK when I change to a smaller sprocket under power. Great when it's my power, harbinger of doom when it's a strong rider at the front of a chain gang.
My friends reacting to the trail by making interesting high pitched noises!
The 'tearing velcro' sound of tyres scrabbling for grip on grassy off-camber corners
The starting whistle and the sound of 25 spd's clicking into place
the sound of a industrial box section orange five/patriot banging and clanging like a steel filing cabinet falling down a flight of concrete stairs.
Nob!
For me It would be the sound of the till going 'KERCHING!' when Ton fancied a new bike 🙂 😉
But really...just the satisfying 'click' of a Shimano cleat clipping in, or the 'clicktion' of my Hope rear hub.
Or the racket my 5 makes on rocky descents....
The crunchy sound of riding through dry autumn leaves (rarely heard this year, unfortunately ...)
The receding sound of the breathing of the commuter you've finally, managed to drop after pedalling furiously for 3km just before you were about to turn off & collapse in exhaustion ...
The sound of silence when you've been trying to fettle and align your cable disc brakes (cheap commuter obvs!) where previously there was a persistent 'ding-ding-ding' ...
The ceasing of the sound of releasing air when the sealant in your tyres seals up a puncture ...
The absence of creaking when you've regreased your BB ...
The sound of not too distant traffic running parallel to a sweet bit of urban wooded Singletrack that you're charging along rather than taking your chances with the traffic ...
The sound of genuine apology from a dog-walker whose hound has just taken you out by charging into your front wheel ...
Riding up a bridleway, all the summer wildflowers/grasses/seedpods are knee high and playing a musical tune as they bounce off the spokes.
Nothing like it for taking your mind off what is normally quite a steep climb :). I'd love to have got a sound clip but never experienced it at the same volume/note again!
The silence when you actually fix the creak that’s been bugging you for the last three months….
WINNER! I'd swear a bike even *feels* better once de-creaked.
Big +1 for Lapwings and Curlews, which I currently associate with the top of Langside road between Braco and Comrie, a lovely wee road climb I do quite often.
The 'ping' of a lightweight clincher with latex tubes when you flick it with your finger, a noise which just *sounds* fast and light.
The sudden silence as both wheels leave the ground.... not often and not for long in my case!
The shutting of the garage door, signifying I won the internal debate about going out and now it's going to be fun.
The shout ahead of "woah oh ....." followed by a giggle from a mate who went into a corner way to hot