So... apparently I'm "bothering all the neighbors."
 

Warning: this is mostly a rant about neighbors, but it does have a bike/trainer pic, and... yeah that's about it. Mainly just me venting, whining, complaining, ranting, or whatever term you like best.

Got our new 1upusa trainer in the mail about a week ago. My 130lb wife has ridden it a few times during the day. One day she rode it right next to me as I watched a movie in the living room. It is super quiet.

But, apparently my 230lb ****** on it bothers all the neighbors. Last night around 0830 I set it up on the KINETIC mat in our bedroom and jump on it for the first time. The Cateye sensor that came with it says I'm anywhere from 18-21mph during the entire hour long workout. At exactly one hour I jump off - covered in sweat, and feeling fantastic! I walk out to find our living room tv off and my wife asleep on the couch. As I go to nudge her there's a loud knock on the door. By the time I walk 50 feet to open it there is nobody there, but I hear someone's door quietly creak shut. There's the following note on the front door held with tape: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...C/DSC_1087.jpg

This is as ridiculous as the TWO times an old lady downstairs "anonymously" put post-it notes on our vehicles asking us not to park in "her" parking spot anymore. We do not have assigned parking. Period. We knew it was her because she used to always park in the same spot, and I eventually had to call the police because she blocked me in one night and refused to move her car, and I had been alerted and had less than 1hr to get to base for a flight to Germany. Now this? Leaving a note, knocking, and running? What happened to conversing face-to-face?

Background on us: we live on a 3rd floor condo that was finished in August. We had it built with hardwood floors, but ended up removing them due to not wanting to bother our downstairs neighbor. We make certain our children(3 and 1) are quiet, and don't go running, stomping, screaming, etc. We only watch movies during the day when normal folks are at work so the surround sound won't bother anyone, and even then we keep it low. We adopted a 5 year old black lab about a month ago, and she has yet to bark even once(seems very timmid/abused). I'm 23. Wife is 24. I'm in the Air Force Reserves(full time/activated the last 3.5 years), and a DoD police officer for a civilian job when not flying for the AF. Wife is a stay-at-home mom who spends all day with the kids either at home, or at parks/beaches. Other than family, and one of my co-workers, we've never had extra people over. We sound nightmarish, right?:rolleyes:

We do everything we can to be nice/non-confrontational, but I'm beginning to think due to our age, and the overall snotty hoyty toyty attitude of the people living out here, that it's hopeless. Here's to hoping one day I'll play the lottery, win, and be able to buy our dream home out in Colorado with no neighbors to worry about, and plenty of open roads to ride...

Cliffs: 1up trainers rock. Being fat makes them loud, though. Love my family - hate my neighbors. Looking to move.

Pic of how I had it setup tonight:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...C/DSC_1082.jpg

Sounds like it's time to put a playing card in the spokes, mic it, and play it through the surround sound.

This is why I hate living in a community with a homeowner's association. I got a letter complaining that I did a brake job in the parking lot on my car.

Screw 'em, you pay your mortgage and take care not to be a nuisance. Some people just thrive on misery. Doesn't mean you have to play into their game. Ride your ass off. Also, thanks for serving.

There's occasions when I want to get revenge, and lots of it, but now that we have kids I'm trying to act more like an adult - albeit hard at times.:lol: Don't even get me started on HOA's!:roflmao2:

Hopefully my wife or I can find out who left it, and find a solution. That's what would've been nice about them sticking around... could've found out what was making the noise(assuming my butt on the trainer as it was the only thing "on" in the house), and a way to remedy it(ie, move it to a different room, ride it at different hours, etc.). Instead, I'm stuck with a piece of paper letting me know I'm a loud PIA to all my neighbors, but with no means to fix it.

Hopefully it doesn't rain later today, and the rain from yesterday dries up so I can just go back outside and ride. The 1up was more for my wife anyways since it's harder for her to get out and ride due to my work schedule, and the kids sleep schedule.

I need a beer...

If you live in a condo or apartment and live upstairs, it is not the noise.. When I lived in a similar situation when my roomy or I rode the trainer, the person who lived right below us, apartment literally shook.. She said it felt like and tiny earthquake and everything in her house shook..

That may be the issue..

Yeah neighbours are sometimes a PITA, often this occurs with people who are new to multiple unit dwellings, they lived in their house for 75 years and then had to move into an apartment because they couldn't look after it anymore. They don't realise that sounds are rarely stopped by the walls and floors between units. They also don't realise that a noise can travel a long distance within a building, and not be coming from where they think it is. I wouldn't worry about it, unless they launch a formal complaint to the building manager or board. As long as noise coming from a unit is during reasonable hours, between 8AM and 10 PM or so, it's usually not an issue. The onus is on them to prove the noise is coming from your unit and that can be very tough to do. Usually ALL the neighbours is one neighbour who likes to disturb the smelly brown stuff.

If you play music really loud you wont be able to hear the knock on the door!!
!

Did you ever notice that kid in the car 1 block away with the boomin stereo. You know the one that had bass that resonated through your house from a block away? It might be a similar situation. When I lived in an apartment there were random times when there would be this tremendously annoying buzz/humming that seemed to resonate through the whole apartment. I went and visited my upstairs neighbor and it turns out they had a fish tank and whenever the air compressor/bubble maker was one it made this annoying resonance. In their apartment it was barely noticeable. Downstairs in my apartment was a different story. My neighbor moved the compressor to an area with carpeting and all was better...

Quit trying to be nice, it is a sign of weakness and neighbors pounce on it.

I am pretty certain your neighbor that left the note lives directly below the room with the trainer.

Just like that boom box, the air space between the joist of your floor and the neighbors ceiling is a echo chamber and the sound below can be very annoying. You being above it will not notice it, if at all.

I have two story house, a very quiet treadmill in my upstairs office space, does not make much sound when in use, when both wife and I are upstairs. One night she was using, I went downstairs to read, and was shock at the low drumming sound the treadmill made.

Sound travels through the floor and if channeled via the joist, it will amplify just like a BOSE wave technology sound system.

I had a similar experience in a warehouse/office building I managed - I pounding sound was constantly reverberating through out the building, a slow dull pound, pound type sound in the low range. We searched the building for the source, stepped outside at each of the doors, and we were certain the sound was in the building, as the only activity outside was a man on a roller smoothing out a area for a new building about a quarter mile away. He would even wave when he saw us, friendly chap:)

After about an hour, we gave up, the source could not be located. About that time the guy from the roller came int he front door, smile and asked if he was causing a problem. One of my staff, no, not you, but then puzzled, said "there was this slow annoying drumming sound, BUT it is gone now!" He smiled, and explained that he was the source of the annoying sound. His equipment was not a roller, it was a compactor, and even though the sound was not noticed outside, it was transmitted through the ground and our buildings roof was trapping the sound making it louder. He apologized, said he would stop for the day and return later after 5 PM to finish. The next day he stopped by with a nice assortment of pastries, and the staff forgave him for the headaches suffered the day prior.

I would talk to the downstairs neighbor, confirm they experience the noise, and then even ask the Mrs. or you to ride your trainer while the other listens with the neighbor to confirm the issue.

Sometimes understanding anothers' point of view and apologizing if at fault may solve the problem if a understanding for tolerance could be learned.

All the best and hopes you and your family will find that nice house in Colorado...

PS: Also a heart expressed THANK YOU for your service.

I Used to have a problem a while back at the old place. Folks owned a pretty big place in a very snobby neighbor hood. The whole neigbor hood was a bunch of snobby pensil pushers and i was just a Diesel mechanic for a living.

I had a big old Diesel Ford truck i was building up and a really old Diesel VW i used to commute in the winter and when the truck was dissabled. Every morning my neigbor would complain as i started any of my cars about, the small plumes of black smoke from my tail pipes. He would complain of the smell, the sound, and how much damage i was doing to the enviroment and the property values. But because both vehicals were mobile and got used regularly and were fully safe for the road he never could do more than complain (tryed). Still it got real annoying so i decided to make his life even worse when i sent the truck to get painted (i was a teenager).

I sent my truck for painting and parked my VW at the shop and started bringing my service truck home from work during the week.

My service truck was MUCH worse than any of my cars lol. It was a retired short school bus with a worn out 6.9L V8 N/A Diesel. It NEVER started without the assist of either (makes the exhaust stink real bad i cant stand it and im a diesel mechanic LOL), and would leave clouds thick black smoke every morning. Also being a N/A motor it was MUCH louder than even my modifyed Diesel Pickup and took alot longer to warm up too boot. The trans in it was on the way out and it WOULD NOT shift till it was near readline.

Man that ever piss him off LOL. Only did it for a month till my truck was finished but sure was funny. Got my truck home and NEVER had a complaint again.

Now i live in a muh better area (less snoby) and all my veichals are much newer but even still i have had that old VW here for a year once and it NEVER moved and i never had a single complaint about it. Sadly my big old ford truck i sold to help get this place but eh.

Get a thick rubber mat (like they use in horse stalls, they're pretty cheap), or perhaps a piece of Homasote to place under the trainer. This will help dampen the vibration.

I am moving to our first house in August, after 16 years of apartment living. I can't wait to be free of neighbors sharing walls, floors, and ceilings, and not having to attempt to keep my rambunctious little boys from stomping, jumping etc.

Looks like OP has a mat. Plus, asserting that "all the neighbors" are being bothered without having the cojones to sign your name to it. That's just stupid.

I live in a "condo style" apartment in a very secluded neigborhood in a quiet community. In the town I grew up the police don't show up for gun shots, but in my new city they were happy to oblige when my neighbor called to complain about my movie being too loud. Never knocked on the wall, never knocked on the door, never called my house, just called the cops. I cant stand people that abuse folks like the police.

Not to go off-topic, but since the OP has received good advice and other folks are telling stories.....

My part of Chester County is very rural, but it's close to the retail and office megapolis in King of Prussia, which is itself a short drive from Philadelphia. So over the years some local farms sold out to developers. It wasn't long before people who had purchased McMansions started complaining to the township that the nearby farms were creating too much noise. In particular the cattle farms were too noisy at night, according to the complaint. The cows made too much noise. The township laughed at them and dismissed the complaint.

I think bab2000 may be on to it.

This video gives a good example of the low noise level. You Tube Video I could see how the vibration might cause a noise being amplified through the floor.

How best to isolate any transfer to the floor other than a mat?

my dad is a carpenter and was asked to build a house for a guy out in the woods basically. After a lot of fights about what constitutes protected swamp land they were allowed to proceed. The whole time my dad is saying, you know that duck farm next door smells REALLY bad. They argued "that's the country" and they found it charming. 10 years later they and the other neighbors have unsuccesfully fought to have it closed down. Guess it's charming for visits (not imo, but i digress), but not to live next to :)

Yuck. I occasionally regret living and riding around the local cattle and horse farms, but I've been spared chickens, ducks, and pigs.

Of course you might simply have an obnoxious neighbor.
But the typical american condo is constructed so poorly (with regards to noise insulation and transferred vibrations), I do believe that it can be disturbing. A few years ago I was under the impression the apartment above mine was inhabited by an elephant and was very surprised to figure out after a year or so that there was only a very petite person living there. The condo construction is often so horrible.

What if you have the wife go outside while you are on the trainer to see if it is louder outside your condo?

HOAs suck. I'd rather live under Nazi rule than an HOA. The one my apartment complex is a part of doesn't allow you to have your garage door open longer to pull your car in or out. They also have a guy and that is all he does, riding around in a car making sure garage doors are closed.

All HOAs care about is increases in property value and what they do to everyone else on the block/neighborhood.

I used to own a condo and one time the local condo nazi's decided everyone had to have white or cream colored blinds\curtains if the window faced the road. I was pissed as I had just replaced all the blinds. So in my bedroom window, I had a new one built that had blue on one side, white on the other. I would face the blue out when I new the condo nazi's would drive around and check peoples stuff, but they always showed white when the condo assn would come and check them out. this guy became apoplectic about it.

Finally the Condo Assn relented when 50%+1 signed a petition to reverse about 75% of the stupid stuff they put into place. At that point, all the assn leaders were retirees that had nothing better to do but cause issues and be a PITA. I finally sold the joint and moved and it was the best day ever.

Which is why most people expect some noise in buildings, at least during hours most people are up and about. What is most likely is that it's a new neighbour who isn't used to apartment living and is more bothered by it then others would be.

Unfortunately, you just have to face facts: stationary trainers are annoyingly loud. Even if the physical noise generated by the trainer isn't bad, the vibrations through the floor are. I, personally, would not own or use a stationary trainer in an apartment building. Heck, I won't use one in my house because I know the noise echos through the entire structure and annoys everyone. In the garage, on a thick mat, is about the only place I'd consider it...

:eek: :rolleyes: