devianb

Normally when I ride I listen to music so most of the noises my bicycle makes are tuned out. I forgot to recharge my mp3 player so I had to do without music, and that is when I noticed a few noises that tend to bother me.

The biggest one is the whine of brake pads/discs when first wet.

I have a Ringle free hub which is pretty loud at higher speeds.

Going over large bumps makes my kickstand jiggle and make a little thud sound.

Used to have chain slap noise when using the lowest gears, but that problem has been solved.

Items in my wedge pack make the occasional taping sound when bumped about.

All of these I can get used to, but for some reason the noise of fender attachment hardware would drive me crazy, which is why I keep them off unless it is really nasty out.

So what sounds are annoying everyone else?

Yan 

The battery rattling inside my flashlight (fixed by wrapping masking tape around battery);
My fenders vibrating (hardware is tight, noise is from oscillation of rubber mud flap);
My cleats squeaking.
The rattling of my tools.

Elderberry

Up until a week or so ago, the creaking, screeching, and otherwise awful noises of the obliterated bottom bracket on my utility bike. New cartridge unit took care of that and now it's eerily quiet. Sometimes I let my front derailleur drag on the chain just so I can hear SOMETHING.

GodsBassist

My bottom bracket has been clicking on one of my bikes. It's in the shop right now getting a sealed one. I like eerily quiet bike noise.

lil brown bat

My bike is eerily silent.

GSmith

Sounds drive me insane, so my priority is almost silence over performance, although I find they come hand in hand. My commuter MTB develops a sporadic, unexplained, uneven click every once in a while. I had the bottom bracket replaced once but other than that the guys at the LBS didn't know what to do. Hard to replicate when you want to, also, like anything you're trying to get fixed of course.

Right now the MTB is in disrepair, sadly, because I bought a shiny new CAAD5 - but I plan on overhauling the rusty bits ASAP, it makes several noises right now.

DataJunkie

Part of my drive train or pedals has an annoying click on my geared bike. However, I am the only one who can hear it. Eventually I will find it.

truman

My 4 yo hard-used Izumi Vagabond Mtn shoe has developed a broken cleat mounting plate and makes a nasty snapping sound under moderate pressure on the downstroke. I wouldn't be sad except that they've phased them out and the replacement model feels friggin awful. Also, it's clear that BB time has come for the tourer and the geared 29er.

d2create

My bike has to be whisper quiet. I can't stand any kind of rattle, squeak, etc. Same with my car.

rumrunn6

my current bike, I have to say is whisper quiet. I can't take any credit for it, I just cleaned it up and changed some parts, and did the regular lubing etc. but this bike is my most quiet. the funny thing it is a '70s era Schwinn Varsity old steel 10-speed. and now the slightest sound gets me agitated and I have to check it out. this morning it was the plastic bag over my rack trunk that dropped down and was rubbing on my tire - fixed that and it was quiet again.

I stopped using my LeTour due to a new creak that I need to troubleshoot. I really should because that bike is lighter and faster.

nick burns

Traffic noise. It would be a very pleasant commute without it.

Griffin2020

My bike is also eerily silent. The only noise I get is the tires on the pavement, which varies with speed.

On Saturday, I was not far behind a guy whose bike squeeked on every roatation of the pedals. Not sure if it weas the bottom bracket or one of his pedals, but it was about to drive me batty.
The worst part was that I thought at first it was my bike, and I started to get upset...as I said, my bike is very quiet, and I like it like that.

genec

+1000


As for the bike... one of them was making an awful creaking noise until I realized it was just a loose bolt in the 2 bolt seat post. Tightened that up and no I am silent.

mjw16

Currently, my creaky rr. wheel (loose spoke nipple (s) on my Mavic Open Pro), rattling of rr. brake lever (cable needs to be replaced, lever doesn't snap back as it should).

Irritating.

Shimagnolo

Shh!...Shh!...Shh!...Shh!...Shh!...Shh!...Shh!...Shh!...

Funny story from a couple weeks back:
I was riding along and suddenly heard that dreaded sound, so I cursed under my breath and braked to a stop.
To my astonishment, the sound continued.
I looked around, and there was a prairie dog about 30 feet away, looking at me and going: "Shh!...Shh!...Shh!"
I never heard a prairie dog make that sound.
I can only guess he was trying bark, but had a problem with his throat.

melkman

harley's and civics with loud exhausts

Shimagnolo

On the way back from Lyons on Sunday, my road bike developed an annoying click that was synchronized with the crank. I stopped several times trying to diagnose it w/o success.

Last night I was looking over Sheldon's page of squeak/click troubleshooting, and he mentioned saddle issues may be timed with the crank. So I went out to the garage and started poking around at the saddle, and think I may have figured it out: The saddle bag has two plastic buckles that may be tapping against the rails.

CliftonGK1

Squeaky chains, creaky cranks, the persistent chk-chk-chk-chk indicitave of a poorly adjusted STI shifter or somebody who doesn't know how to trim a shift, the similarly persistent ssst-ssst-ssst of a slightly out of true wheel making the tire rub against the fender.

I stopped to help someone adjust their fd last week because as I rode past, their drivetrain sounded like a handful of bb's in a garbage disposal.

making

Screeching car brakes and horns, behind me.

canyoneagle

I am also one who prefers a whisper-quiet bicycle. To me, bicycle bliss is hearing nothing other than the sound of a properly-lubed chain whirring on clean cogs and the hum of the wheels on the pavement.

Things I find particularly annoying:

- Squeaky Cleat/pedal interface.
- The many noises eminating from poorly adjusted/maintained bicycles that I encounter.
- Fender bangs and rattles

Non-bicycle noises I can't stand:
- The annoying buzz of fart-can mufflers on certain cars
- the occasional metallic screech of train wheels as they pass (ugh - worse than fingernails on a chalkboard)
- The cheesy rattling of car body panels that accompanies the muffled bass coming from within cars with ridiculous stereo systems. This usually accompanies the pieces of shiznit cars with "fart cans" described above, yo.

mtnwalker

Drivers who yell "GET THE F*** OFF THE ROAD!"

edit: Another thing that bothers me are leaves that gets stuck between the tires and the brakes causing a load hissing noise similar to when you've had a flat.

Shimagnolo

Or even worse, (from an experience last year), a driver who slows down to match your speed so the hillbilly b*tch in the passengers side can get right in your face screaming that repeatedly.

DataJunkie

I forgot one
Something in the freewheel on my fixed gear bike started to go.
Every bump resulted in an annoying rattling. I broke out an old rear wheel, stuck a cog on it, put spacers on the axle, and started using it instead. I could not find a tool in stock at any bike shops to remove the bmx freewheel.
FG bikes should be silent and it is finally.

DX Rider

My bike is fairly quiet, sometimes I get grit stuck to the sidewall of the rim when it rains and it drags along the brake pads, which is annoying as hell.

TRaffic Jammer

That damned spoke in the rear wheel, on the radial side, that keeps working it's way loose.