Cycling UK Forum

Just been out on the 26" wheeled psychedelic GT bike shod with 1.5" Schwalbe Marathon Racers (semi slick). It rolls very nicely on tarmac and is very comfortable. BUT the noise is annoying - tyre hum. My other bikes have 700c and 32mm tyres (Schwalbe Marathons and Vittoria Randonneur Pros) - they are blissfully silent. Given that the width difference is nominally 6mm, when does the the silence kick in? Suggestions for 26" QUIET slicks, please.

I'm surprised,I run a pair of M/Racers 700x35mm on one of the solos and they very smooth and quiet.I can't see 26x1.5in being any more noisy,what pressures are they set at?

All tyres make a tiny bit of noise; flicking them a couple of times with a fingernail usually elicits a 'bing-bing' noise (especially with a thin walled tyre with a skimpy inner tube) and some tread patterns on some roads make a drumming sound as a consequence.

Having said this I've used tyres with very similar tread to the latest marathon racers and they have not sounded like an old Land Rover tyre or anything like that. Like R2 I'm surprised.

It is this one, right?

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/schwalbe-marathon-racer-hs366-folding-tyre-26-x-150-inch-(40-559)-prod13139/

cheers

They are steel beaded Marathon Racer HS 366s and they "hum" noticeably regardless of differing pressures. I tried some Panaracer Hi Road 26" X 1.75" - and they were much worse! I cannot hear any tyre noise from my 700c x 32mm.

I'd suggest there are two types of noise from bike tyres (as opposed to things like the crunch of gravel under them) and I think both are the result of tyre pressure but in different ways.

Properly inflated tubs make a distinctive noise and I've always assumed that it was caused by the high pressure. At the opposite end of the scale knobbly tyres make a sort of rumbling noise (I think it's referred to above as like a Land Rover) and I get the impression that the noise is worse if the tyres are under-inflated (I don't ride with this type of tyre - it's just my observation of others.)

The Marathon Racers have minimal tread. The noise is not at all like a knobbly "rumble" (which would send me completely mad ), it's more of a "hum". Just remembered when I briefly flirted with an ICE trcumbent Trice with 20" wheels and ordinary Marathon 1.5" tyres - that produced a very similar hum, but X 3. I've played with the pressures and it doesn't make any appreciable difference. As mentioned I tried even slicker 1.75" tyres and it was much worse.

Just measured the tyre width as 38mm. Shod on 24.4mm Rigida rims.

6mm worth of hum! And today was windy - ie noisy

My Schwalbe Kojak 26x2.0 slick tyres are surprisingly noisy, a constant sort of hum but not annoying to me. They are noisier than any semi-slicks I've ever had and I think it must be because they are not 'rubbery', the compound is quite hard.

The harmonious singing of 150 psi tubs on sprint rims was all part of the attraction back in the 60s and 70s.

I'm stumped,my 35mm Racers @ 60f and 65r PSI definately don't hum and a pair of Kojaks 35mm at the same PSI don't hum .In fact I'm often quite pleased how quiet both bikes are when shod with these tyres.I also run both bikes with 35mm Landcruisers and 35mm Mondials(at 55f and 60r as they have a bit thicker side wall),the L/cruisers are quiet for a tyre with an agressive tread but the Mondials less so with a slight hum on tarmac,especially the textured green granular type.
None drive me mad,that could either mean I am already or my Tinitus has a use after all

I'm stumped/surprised too. This bike and these tyres have always made this noise on both very smooth and more granular tarmac. I just haven't taken it out for a long while until yesterday when it reminded me and set me to thinking WHY? Pressures yesterday (lower than previously) were 3.5 and 4.0BAR

Would a 1.35" x 26" slick be the point where sweet gliding is resumed?

And yes, it was loud enough to be heard over my tinitus and a 20mph headwind! Returning home without pedalling, it sounded as if I was being propelled with the aid of a dynamo (which reminds me of a naughty ditty by the late Frank Zappa )

I find 559 x 40 Vittoria Rubino Pro Slicks pretty quiet on my RoadRat (roughly 45psi front, 55psi rear) on most surfaces.
Tyre noise can be the casing 'ringing', either in response to the tread pattern (eg Marathon Racers regular tread blocks: 406 folding version definitely 'hums' IME) or the relatively broadband excitation from the road surface. The casing construction would have an effect - more damping should reduce the ringing. Another source is air ejection from between the tread blocks as they distort in contact with the road, though I wouldn't have thought this would be a problem with M Racers.

squeaker wrote: ....broadband excitation .....

-sounds like misuse of the internet to me..

...incidentally I agree with your comments re the tyres.

I wonder if fitting a heavier inner tube would quell the noise?

I used to like the sound my tyres made with thin latex tubes inside them; before you could buy them, I used to take the latex tubes out of old tubs and use them in HPs. It made a big difference to the noise! Psychologically I thought I was going faster, too, since I'd learned (in a 'Pavlov's cyclist' kind of way) to associate that sound with going quickly.

cheers

Brucey wrote:

squeaker wrote: ....broadband excitation .....

-sounds like misuse of the internet to me..

...incidentally I agree with your comments re the tyres.

I wonder if fitting a heavier inner tube would quell the noise?

I used to like the sound my tyres made with thin latex tubes inside them; before you could buy them, I used to take the latex tubes out of old tubs and use them in HPs. It made a big difference to the noise! Psychologically I thought I was going faster, too, since I'd learned (in a 'Pavlov's cyclist' kind of way) to associate that sound with going quickly.

cheers

6oz Clement Silks with 150+ psi on smooth tarmac at 7.00am on a calm summer's morning with the 52x13 spinning - like the sound of ripping calico

Sorry for slight hi-jack, just an old man reminiscing.......................................

Brucey wrote:I wonder if fitting a heavier inner tube would quell the noise?

180g Nutrack innertubes fitted - which has to be heavyweight? Not that I've ever weighed tubes before, just that picking up the box with a spare in, makes me wonder why bother with light tyres

Kaysbloke wrote:Sorry for slight hi-jack, just an old man reminiscing.......................................

It would be cruel not to allow a reminisce or two

Calico ripping eh . . . . . . ?