Love the quiet of a freewheel and friction shifting
 

Went for a ride today on my old Peugeot and I was amazed at how much pleasure I got from the quiet-ness of the drivetrain. No ratcheting noise when coasting, no clicking sounds when shifting, gosh it was nice. I was on smooth pavement with vitually no traffic towards the end of the day.

The old bikes aren't as light as the new ones, they're not as stiff, don't climb or sprint as well, but they win hands down in the quiet category. Also win in the low maintenance category.

Get yourself a fixed gear, and you can be 100% ninja.

Wildwood, thanks for sharing your ride. Vintage light weights are not about the weight, stiffness, nor climbing or sprinting, but all about the fun. They win hands down in the fun catagory. Hang out over here for a while and you'll realize why.

Fixed Gear on a vintage road bike = someone who can't use downtube shifters ;)

I spent the past wet weekend in my garage stripping and cleaning the drivetrain on my Carlton. Sounded lovely this morning.

I put about 95 miles on my (new to me) old Raleigh Super Course. I had the same experience. It really added to the enjoyment of the ride for me.

The only cassette hub in the family fleet of 10 bikes is quieter than all the freewheels. It's ungodly quiet. I can hear the Biopace chainrings pulling on the RD.
Can't argue with the rest of your statement. My daughter and I were out this weekend, she on her Ficelle and me on the Atala, both freewheel/friction.
Top

You mean that few moments of quiet once the gears are trimmed in the one combo that has no front derailleur rub (until you get out of the saddle). Yeah, that's nice.

Riding vintage bikes, I am frequently passed by riders on modern ones. I find the "click" of the cassette on carbon fiber bikes to be quite loud, louder than my old freewheels. It isn't so bad on aluminum frames, but the carbon ones sound like plastic when they are coasting. I don't like that sound.

Nothing like the sound of riding a vintage steel bike with the wind at your back and hearing the wheels hum on the pavement. It doesn't get much better than that.

Funny, I spent an hour yesterday working on my Suntour Winner Ultra 6 freewheel. It sounded like a concrete mixer. I don't know what the heck was in it, but I kept dripping lubricant in and it got better. There were probably about 600 miles on it.

Hmmm...I like a lot of things about my vintage bike but I can't say that it's quieter. My freewheel clicks the same as a cassette hub. I remember reading somewhere that Shimano makes a silent cassette hub for police bikes that is available only to law-enforcement agencies.

Shoot, I've got a brand new Surly...with a silent cassette and flawless friction shifting(Rivendell Silver.) :beer:

And yet, whether we like it or not, VLWs are quite commonly lighter, stiffer, and better at climbing then most modern machines :)

-Kurt

Doubt that it is for PD's only - I had one of those hubs a while back. I agree that most conventional cassettes sounds like an amplified recording of a squurill biting into a nut...

However, I can't entirely agree that most freewheels are silent either. Closest I've gotten to that was a gummed-up (with both grease and cat hair, yech) Sachs which retained its "stealth" sound after flushing it. Every single Regina I've tried sounds as if there is a woodpecker on my rear hub. Shimano's UG freewheels are slightly better, but not by much.

What type of freewheel is the O/P running?

Take care,

-Kurt

I can't really hear anything cause the wind noise in the ears blocks everything out.

**********************************************************************

The "click" of a cassette has nothing to do with the material the frame is made out of. How in the world could it?

:rolleyes:

Mine isn't one of the 'silent clutch' PD hubs, just a standard old HG-50 (the one that takes both Uniglide and Hyperglide cassettes). I have two other HG-50 hubs, and neither is as quiet.
I agree with Kurt about Regina freewheels. I sometimes hear that noise in my sleep:D
Top

The sound of a freewheel, along with road vibrations and any other noise will resonate through a frame, no matter what the frame is made out of. I believe Koala's point was that the sound resonates through C/F frames with a different, and somewhat less pleasant sound then aluminum or steel.

Top, I've been swapping out most of the FWs in my fleet for the Shimano 600s, so the sound of the Regina hasn't haunted me in a while. However, yesterday, I took a neighbor's '85/6 Somec around for a spin - I could hardly believe my ears at the very moment I began freewheeling - I had forgotten how utterly noisy those things are.

-Kurt

What about Atom freewheels ? Got one on a 1980 BSA Weekender and its the noisiest freewheel I have ever had,no problem..... until you coast!!!

385xza

I guess it depends on the frame and drive-train components. Went for a ride on my '82 Univega Superstrada and boy was it eerily quiet. It doesn't feel heavier than my '02 TREK 1000 but at 63cm versus 58cm size and a full Shimano Dura-Ace drive train, including the weird DynaDrive pedals, it is sssssssooooo comfortable and smooth that it's hard to put into words. You really have to experience it to understand it. All bikes and riders are different so keep that in mind about my perspective. PG.

Theres a guy in my towns cycle club with a new bianchi and his cassette is REALLY loud, everyone else rides newer modern bikes and their cassettes aint any louder than my freewheel, so I really think it just depends on the freewheel/cassette. I personally like them to make noise (just not too loud of course), I think my marinoni has a regina and I love the sound of it... just gotta get out in the very early morning when the wind isn't so bad so I can hear it!

Ok - maybe..... but having extensive experience riding all manner of frame material, I'm still not buying it. My first-hand experience tells me otherwise.

I've got a carbon bike that is whisper quiet, a steel bike that goes clackety-clack, and others that buzz and are otherwise up and down the scale. The "click" sound the cassette or freewheel makes is completely dependent on the hub construction, and the pawl/gear arrangement.

The loudest hubs I've ever heard are Chris King cassette hubs. There's even a widely known nickname for their sound: the flight of the bumblebee. I'd say more like a swarm of bumblebees right next to your ears. Some people are impressed with the sound because of the bling factor (they're very expensive hubs).......I'm not, they'd drive me nuts-

I put a modern Shimano 7-speed 11-28 (but still called mega-range) on a wheel. Dang that thing is quiet and smooth. A new chain works wonders also.

My (not very) noisey regina freewheel tells me how fast I am coasting :P

After a while of listening for my speedometer, switching to a suntour (freewheeled) bike seems like I'm going slower.