The case of the whistling bicycle
11-01-16, 05:20 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
The case of the whistling bicycle
New bike, a fixed gear. It's black, it's cool and rides like a Ferrari.
Lowered the stem and took it for a ride. Strange flute sound emanates from the front end. Hmmm.
Tape over the bottom of the head tube. Nope, still sounds like Jethro Tull out of key.
Tape over the hollow bolt heads to. No dice.
Tape over the front of the stem. Bingo!
The design of the stem was acting like the chamber of a whistle and making a sound like when you blow over the top of a Coke bottle.
I've not seen, errr, heard this before. I've seen a head tube make some noise, yes, but not a stem.
Now my Ferrari has a piece of black electrical tape over the front of the stem. What to do, what to do....
Not actually soliciting advice, just musing......
Lowered the stem and took it for a ride. Strange flute sound emanates from the front end. Hmmm.
Tape over the bottom of the head tube. Nope, still sounds like Jethro Tull out of key.
Tape over the hollow bolt heads to. No dice.
Tape over the front of the stem. Bingo!
The design of the stem was acting like the chamber of a whistle and making a sound like when you blow over the top of a Coke bottle.
I've not seen, errr, heard this before. I've seen a head tube make some noise, yes, but not a stem.
Now my Ferrari has a piece of black electrical tape over the front of the stem. What to do, what to do....
Not actually soliciting advice, just musing......
11-01-16, 07:28 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,624
Bikes: iele Latina, Miele Suprema, Miele Uno LS, Miele Miele Beta, MMTB, Bianchi Model Unknown, Fiori Venezia, Fiori Napoli, VeloSport Adamas AX
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1324 Post(s)
Liked 927 Times
in
640 Posts
Remove the tape and squeeze in some silicone.
Cheers
Cheers
11-01-16, 09:35 PM
#6
Me duelen las nalgas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Texas
Posts: 13,513
Bikes: Centurion Ironman, Trek 5900, Univega Via Carisma, Globe Carmel
Mentioned: 199 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4559 Post(s)
Liked 2,802 Times
in
1,800 Posts
Tape over your ears. Fixed.
11-01-16, 09:50 PM
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 663
Mentioned: 14 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 238 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Ha! Something similar happened while fishing/canoeing. Kept hearing a singing, whistling sound and pitch kept going up and down. Turns out the eyes on my fishing poles was catching the wind and the different sizes were creating the different sing song pitches, lol.
11-02-16, 05:41 AM
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
02giant,
That's a brilliant idea!!
That's a brilliant idea!!
Replace the tape with one of these;
11-02-16, 06:03 AM
#11
Sr Member on Sr bikes
I have a helmet that frequently whistles because of the vent holes in it. Perhaps you could get the same helmet so that it and the stem can harmonize. Add in a frozen chain link, or deteriorating bearings for percussion and you've got yourself nice little one bike symphony.
Dan
Dan
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
TejanoTrackie
Singlespeed & Fixed Gear
58
01-05-12 09:26 AM
