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Quietest bike trainer
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I need to buy a bike trainer.

I know there are a lot of threads out there on this, but I am currently without a computer and reading via phone so it's hard to find them. Also I know new things come out all the time so older info might be less relevant.

I have a lot of time indoors in the evenings I spend on Netflix or reading, but not anything productive (athletically speaking).

My twins are in bed around 8pm, my wife travels a lot for work, so a lot of evenings I am locked in at 8 PM until I go to bed.

So I need a bike trainer. The most important factor is it needs to be quiet. I need quiet above any other fancy bells and whistles.

I will be riding in my office next to twins' bedroom. We have fairly thick walls and doors to both rooms, but I don't want to risk waking them. If you have toddlers you know how hard it can be to get them to go back to bed.

Secondary options (nice to haves) would be some type of software with routes or something live, but I plan to watch mostly action movies or whatever is on Netflix to kill the time.

I will only be riding my TT bike, and it's highly unlikely anyone will use it other than me.

A guy in my tri club suggested the Tacx Bushido, but I watched DC rainmaker ride that on his website, and it seems loud in a very high-pitched way. I have no experience with it in person.

I've also looked at the wahoo kickr and of course computrainer.

Any suggestions for the world's quietest bike trainer?

~~~~~~~~~
Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins
Last edited by: Mendeldave: Aug 23, 15 18:40
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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I ride the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. I consider it very quiet although I have nothing to compare it to.

I'd liken the sound to a very, vey low hum, almost like white noise. I frequently ride and watch the tube and don't need to crank the TV (which is about 15 feet away) to hear it.

I'd think once you are spinning the constant hum will be no trouble for the little ones to sleep through. I'll bet my set-up makes a more disruptive noise when I shift than when I am spinning.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [DJRed] [ In reply to ]
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Another +1 for KK Road machine.

I use it in the room right my just about 2 year old daughter and I've never woken her up with it... just make sure your gear changes are quiet. Pair it with Trainer Road or that other new fangled thing where you race others for the immersive electronic experience. I just listen to Pandora's workout stations on cheap Amazon BT headphones. Eminem and AC/DC are perfect.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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I have twins as well, and 3 years ago they were newborns and I also rode right beside their room. I used both a Fluid2 and KK, and both were quiet enough to not wake them. I also found that a super loud fan helped to normalize any odd noises. But my twins did a fantastic job of staying asleep, and we were never quiet around them. They just got used to having background noise. Good luck! It gets easier as time goes on.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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Another vote for KK. I'd describe it, also, as a low hum. I have noticed that different tires are a little quieter/louder. Seems like the old hard case Bontrager I used to have was a little louder and the, likely softer, Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick is quieter. I had a CycleOps Fluid 2 prior and just didn't like it. Equally quiet though which is what you were asking about. Prior to that, a Minoura Mag trainer which was still probably quiet enough for sleeping kids but louder than either of the two fluid ones.

Hope this helps.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [ssmith2] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks guys this helps a lot!

Any idea on the cost for the specific model of the above mentioned machines? Ideally I'd like to get one on Amazon prime so I could get it in the next two days since my wife is traveling right now for the week and I could really make use of it.

~~~~~~~~~
Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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They should be about $250-$350. I'd check all the other cycling sites as well since they sometimes have better prices.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [ssmith2] [ In reply to ]
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what? i have a kk and it's loud as shit when i push anything close to 175 watts. forget intervals.

if you want a quite trainer go for the tacx neo or the elite muin (whatever). those are true silent trainers. yeah, they are expensive but pissing your wife and toddlers off is not worth the money saved.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [ahhchon] [ In reply to ]
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ahhchon wrote:
what? i have a kk and it's loud as shit when i push anything close to 175 watts. forget intervals.

if you want a quite trainer go for the tacx neo or the elite muin (whatever). those are true silent trainers. yeah, they are expensive but pissing your wife and toddlers off is not worth the money saved.

I can't speak for your experience, but mine is pretty darn quiet. Most of my workouts lately are tempo efforts at around 200-250 watts. Maybe it's all relative.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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I have the CycleOps Fluid 2 and think it was around $250 and also had the rack for front tire for another $25 or so. I've had no issues with noise waking my family - granted my girls are 3 and 8. I found it was generally abrupt noises that woke them when they were little not the thrum of steady white noise. In fact the trainer may well help put them to sleep.

I use this with trainer road and Netflix on my iPhone but note that as of yet trainer road won't run while your watching Netflix so you'll have to toggle back and forth or use another phone, laptop or TV.

I got a workable Koomus mount for like $20 that mounts easily and works with my iPhone 6 and 6+ nicely.

“Bloom wherever you are planted"
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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As someone else mentioned, I have a KK and quiet would not be my 1st or 5th description. However, maybe it is compared to trainers in general. If you ask my wife, she could go on for hours on how loud it is.

I will say that I use it regularly next to my daughters bedroom while she sleeps and it has never woken her up (15 months). However, she is a champion sleeper and we were never quiet around her when she slept.

Sorry that I cannot offer quiet options. I would say KK is a good trainer and has been quiet enough for me when training while the family sleeps.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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Check out 1up USA. You could be in the twins room and they would still not hear it. No frills but a sturdy trainer made in the USA. Excellent warranty too.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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I have owned and used a KK road machine, Wahoo Kickr, and computrainer. I think the Kickr was the quietest by a decent margin. If your drivetrain is silent all I could hear is a rushing noise, but not noticeable in any other room of the house.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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Giant fluids are really quiet
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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Fluid trainers are generally the quietest, and KK's are the Cadillac. They last pretty much forever and get replaced for free if they ever (rarely) break. Any trainer can still be loud, especially if you are on a wood floor. Concrete surface is ideal, but not an option for most of us (I don't have a garage). You will probably need to make some effort to isolate the vibration. Most people make use of extra carpet or foam mats to help with this. For my apartment vibration from the trainer/rollers is the biggest noise source. I would use my rollers more but anything over 200w seems to hit the resonant frequency for the building and everything shakes to pieces with a deep-pitched rumbling. Thus, I spend most of my time on the KK.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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I have the bushido. Currently, I'm living in a small family run "hotel" in Germany. I'm on the top floor and I ride the trainer a few days out of the week due to the limited free time I have available. Always late at night or early morning.

I tried to YouTube sound comparisons for trainers, but in the end I bought this one due to availability. It's been great and is fairly quiet, even when ramping up the watts. I'm able to watch Netflix on my cheap computer without external speakers and I don't seem to bother my neighbors. Reviews on the trainer are hit and miss but it's been great for me.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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Been happy with my Cyclops "The Silencer" so far.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [burninglegs] [ In reply to ]
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my cycleops power beam is quiet

Yellowfin Endurance Coaching and Bike Fits
USAT Level 1, USAC Level 3
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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I use the Turbo Elite Muin. The box fan is the loudest thing in the room.

http://www.elite-it.com/...-trainers/turbo-muin
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [ahhchon] [ In reply to ]
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Wow some great input. Thanks guys.

I was up all night reading DC RM's reviews for most of what's been recommended here.

I'm thinking the KK might do it. It's pretty cheap. The Muin is the other I'm thinking. They sucker is silent and only a bit more on Amazon. (577?). Does it come with the cog? Pic shows it but another review mentioned you need to buy one.

The Tacx neo is wicked cool but that will be too much. Looked like it was maybe close to $1500 or 2 grand?

Pushing one with no rearwheel definitely seems quieter (though not that lemond!). But I wonder if it will be a pain in the butt to take my wheel off every time. Dunno.

I will be watching movies with it and don't really need to worry about power output, so I would like to know how fast I was going and how far, but really I will be going for overall time in the saddle so I don't think I need the fancy bells and whistles something like the wahoo or Bushido. But the courses they offer are cool.

As with everything on slow twitch, I came here looking for advice, got a super helpful land slide of it, and now seem to have lots of answers but even more questions than before. Hoping I have a slow day at work today so I can resolve this order something ASAP!
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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Rollers. Mine squeak a bit with the bike tires, but I think the solution is to put the rear roller pair closer together.

Note that rollers can make quite a racket if you fall off, so I recommend having something to hold onto nearby :)

STAC Zero Trainer - Zero noise, zero tire contact, zero moving parts. Suffer in Silence starting fall 2016
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Mendeldave] [ In reply to ]
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Just to add to the opinions.......

I have KK fluid trainer, Kickr and E-Motion rollers. The quietest to the loudest in what I perceive.

1. E-Motion rollers
2. KK Fluid Trainer
3. Kickr

The KK and Kickr are about the same in perceived db's, but the Kickr has a higher pitched whine. The Kickr whine can be softened by changing to the small ring or easier gearing and adjust the electronic resistance or the ERG mode can increase it for you.

None of these trainers are louder than the cooling fans that I use though. My personal problem with the KK trainer was how it felt while training. The Kickr and E-Motion rollers just feel so much better that training inside year round is a lot more pleasurable. If that doesn't seem like a statement of insanity :-)
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [ahhchon] [ In reply to ]
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Ditto. My KK trainer sounds like a small crop-duster taking off from a runway. I don't use it inside because how loud it is. I do have hardwood floors, which I'm sure helps the acoustics, but I came to this thread to see what my other options are because of how loud it is.
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [Satyr] [ In reply to ]
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Mine is kinda loud too. I use weight lifting rubber tiles to dampen the vibration

Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/
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Re: Quietest bike trainer [sfdhoseman] [ In reply to ]
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sfdhoseman wrote:
Check out 1up USA. You could be in the twins room and they would still not hear it. No frills but a sturdy trainer made in the USA. Excellent warranty too.

I second the 1Up. Very quiet.
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