Wil Davis

(as if I don't have anything better to do…)

Here goes - well, it is Halloween, but this problem started about a week ago. Two weeks ago, I bought a CycleOps Fluid2 from amazon.com (it actually came from Performance Bicycle - I found it using pricegrabber.com, and this was one of the best deals…) - well, it arrived in a couple of days (very impressive service) and I set it up and used it with my Schwinn Super Sport - no problems, great work-out, much more boring than my usual rides, but both my cats found it very entertaining. I then tried it with my mountain-bike, which I'd fitted with some slickies from Nashbar. After about 30 mins, I noticed all this gunk on the roller of the Fluid2. Ugggh! but it was very easy to remove with some iso-propyl alcohol - but the curious thing was that at certain speeds, the Fluid2 was now making a whirring-shrieking sound - if I slowed down, sometimes the sound would remain, and at very slow speed, it sounded something like the ticking sound made by a free-wheel. Very confusing - gunk? speed? what the hell is happening? No gunk from the old tyre I'd fitted to the Schwinn, so I suppose the brand-new slickie on the MTB might have been shedding some of the releasing agent used in the manufacture of the tyre - but what about the noise (no noise when I used the Schwinn, by the way…). I could make the noise go away (for a while anyway) by lightening the pressure of the roller on the rear wheel. So, I thought it was a pressure thing - and was happy to leave it at that.

Now, tonight - I decided to do a work out so I put the Super Sport on the trainer and was mortified to find that The Shriek had returned! Damn!

Well, at least the noise was there all the time now - it had ceased to be intermittent, which was A Good Thing. I called the CycleOps tech support number, and left a message (which included a live performance of The Shriek, on their answering machine…)

So here I am with this noise generator, wanting to get some exercise, and not wanting to PO my cats (or my neighbours), so what to do?

Well, I had a think… and found that if I removed the flywheel/fan thingy from the spindle of the trainer, the noise went away! Great! Total quiet! …but hot trainer! Damn! OK, so I don't think it's the trainer itself. I tried refitting the flywheel and found that if I tightened it just enough so that it wasn't loose, but certainly not really tight, then, amazingly enough… …no shrieking!!!!! The flywheel retaining nut is a captive-nut, which means it shouldn't work itself loose - but, hey I've just done over an hour on the thing and it's been as quiet as it should be. Oh, ,by the way - one full turn from the point at which the tyre touches the roller, is quite sufficient to prevent slippage, and I think might be the secret to minimize tyre wear (notorious on trainers…)

- Wil

(both cats are quite bored by it now - they totally ignore it, but are still careful not to get too close…)