Silent Bikes - What tricks do you have to keep your bike quiet through the season?

I'm with you on not being able to tolerate creaky bikes.  Some bikes are certainly quieter than others.  I've had a Transition Sentinel for just over a year and I'm about ready to sell it because it creaks and I can't get it to stop.  My Ripmo V1 is a quiet frame.  I've had that bike almost 7 years and haven't taken any of the suspension stuff apart 4 years now and it still makes no creaks and no noise.  I bought the Sentinel because the Guerrilla Gravity I had before the Sentinel had a creak I couldn't get rid of.  Now considering a Banshee Titan frame. I keep two primary bikes and alternate between them riding, so the Rimpo still gets rides, but it just doesn't make noise.  I do yearly bb service and per-ride chain/stanchion clean/lube.

teflon tape on the bb threads

glued in the headset cups with Loctite 641 retaining compound
 

Bikeyoke Willy keeps dirt from getting into the seatpost and the main pivot

Hate a noisy bike. Ochain and STFU did wonders as well, now all I hear is tires on dirt and the oil flowing through my suspension. 

Thanks for starting the thread Jeff. I was wondering exactly which white teflon grease noideamtber uses. I need some. I've tried a few products without finding the desired results. I'm always doing everything I can to quiet things down. I have my Zerode G3 running silent. The biggest challenge was the Dorado lower guard vibrating against the upper tube because of the brake hose and the brake hose itself. For the guard, I added velcro to the upper tube for the full length of travel. For the brake hose I cut a a large washable straw that was pretty thick over the hose running in an extra guide to stiffen it so it glides through the guide. Looks odd, but working perfectly. https://a.co/d/86nCUI4

I haven't washed her since opening weekend at Legacy bike park. Great times in the mud. I wish they had a wash station.

Not sure if its called something else in other countries but I use mastic tape all over my bike to quiet stuff down.  Helps deaden cables hitting the frame, water bottles rattling against stuff or even making a discount VHS chain slap device for the chainstay.  Also holy fuck how do I make these images smaller.

I leave enough slack on the internally routed cables to pull them both directions a smidge and put a wrap of electrical tape in the right spot so that it's snug against the frame entry port.  This applies to bikes like Santacruz which have fully internally guided routing... but have a bit of a loose fit on where the cable enters the frame.  

Soft side of the adhesive velcro is obviously a savior in many applications and does well to not collect dirt/mud and wash off clean if it does.  

I've used moto skid plate foam (very open cell foam) to stuff into the head tube and up into the bb area of certain frames to stop cable rattle but also damp noises from reverberating.  This also works with certain ebikes like the transition relay, which aren't fully guided and have a removable battery cover.  

Tesa fleece tape works great for this as it's soft. It's the tape found on OEM wiring in cars. https://a.co/d/4g4blCp

I've tried it several times over the years, but prefer the soft side of 3M industrial velcro. The mastic tape doesn't adhere as well, and it ends up dirt colored. Velcro sticks and is easy to clean. It also takes more abuse in wear prone areas.

There is few products out there that can be used universally alone or in combinations to take care any noise anywhere. 2228 mastic tape, single sided stick on Velcro, jagwire internal routing damper foam. Where to apply it depends obviously on the bike, good indicator is where do you see wear marks from chain or external cables. For grease, no need to use Teflon based anything, any thick sticky grease will do the trick, easy to get in Europe for example is Mobil xhp 222. Works for every bearing you want to keep water protected and long lasting,even though its a bit too thick for hub bearings if you want the fastest rolling wheels.

I bought a couple packs of YT Capra cable grommets (they're kind of teardrop shaped) and install them everywhere that brake lines enter and exit my frame when the bike is brand new, before I bleed the rear brake.  Kind of a pain, but worth it.  SRAM hose bumpers where the front brake rests against the fork lower.

I put a thin coat of marine-grade grease on saddle clamps and the top couple inches of the inside of the seat tube.  Marine grease on the inside of bearing dust covers and the inside edge of bolt heads.

I bought some moto foam off Amazon and cut pieces of it to fit in the space above the lower link on my Heckler SL ebike (between link and drive unit).  I also used it down where you remove the frame guard in the space between the drive unit and battery, and up near the head tube under the display, to keep the wires from rattling against the frame.  That bike is super quiet now.

One thing that drives me nuts is what feels like the never-ending process of figuring out exactly the right amount of headset preload with Chris Kings.  I use their headsets because I got tired of Cane Creek ones rusting out.  The CK doesn't do that, but it does seem really sensitive to preload and even then, what works for a few weeks will not be enough later as the bearings seat in.  I feel like once a month I have to loosen the stem bolts, turn the headset preload 1/8th of a turn, then tighten up the stem again.

This weekend I got an alarmingly loud click/creak from my bars when the flexed. Turns out it was my Maven lever reservoir touching the bar bend and making a racket when I pulled up. Def look out for that one!

My ALU SC Chameleon has internal routing and no tunnels which make ton of noise with cables slapping around inside.  I ran the brake and dropper post cable housing through some low density silicone foam insulation tubing. Completely killed the cable rattle. 

Wrap the chainstays with a cut up Nokian Gazzaloddi and zip ties...

I use the soft side of Velcro tape. Literally can put it anywhere that the cable touches the frame or the chain. It deadens the noise very well.  I even put it on the sides of chain guides where the plastic rubs  the chain.

Don't "Smash the bike with a pressure washer" is probably the #1 tip.

We've had zero issues with bearing life or even paint for that matter and im going to say it: 100% success rate in washing with a pressure washer(being a basic one on 'fan' mode.) without 1 bearing failure from water.
Build your bike to make it easy Maintenace for a customer

the mtb industry moved away from exposed bearings many years ago so this issue of pressure washing risk of bearing rust should be next to gone if using a proper shielded washer/thick grease.
 

I need to try the elctrical tape trick for cables on SC bikes like talked about above.

Ochain and STFU drastically reduced the noise of my bikes. I do use velcro in other spots as well

Any bikes I've owned with internal routing, but no guide hoses, one thing that works for me is to use small sections of polyethylene pipe lagging pushed into the tube that press the cables against the side of the tube and stop any rattle. Plastic pipe can then be fed in to push the lagging back out in the event that removal is needed (can you tell I'm a plumber by any chance?😅). A similar idea to moto foam, but way cheaper.

Then you need to tighten the preload 1/4 turn - headsets are one thing people often don't tighten enough, and do need a minimum amount of tension to function properly. That goes for all brands, although CK will probably feel loose more than others which can have no play but still not enough preload. Those can still move in use though and cause some gnarly gouges on the steerer. A headset shouldn't be completely frictionless - theres no need and it means all the surfaces aren't fully in contact. A slightly loose bearing is far worse than a slightly tight one (that goes for most rolling bearings)

I often use moly grease or anti seize on threads because the particles are more resistant to washing out and stay inside the thread. Especially for materials prone to galling like aluminium and stainless steel. And use a torque wrench! A lot of people think they are to prevent overtightening but they are just as important to not undertighten, which is how bolts can work loose or allow flex which creates movement, play and creaking. 

A lot of pivot bolts use single shear alloy bolts which are prone to loosening under load too - those usually need loctite and proper torque. There are a lot of things that feel "tight" but are still well short of the correct torque and will make noise even if theres no play.

Thorough cleaning when assembling is important too. A bit of care at the beginning goes a long way to prevent issues

this is my favorite topic hehe... heres my top 5. IYKYK

#1 Derailleur Lockout - I made a video a while back on the "hall lock mod" no more b-tension slop, absolutely guarantee this makes your drivetrain last longer too. NEWER SRAM DERAILLEURS (mech/axs) NEED NO PARTS, just need to file down the aluminum spacer to  14.05-14.1mm. this one is #1 because it solves so many problems at once. chain dropping, cable suck (when suspension moves; cable is pulled through internal routing- mainly on santa cruz's) chainring wear, loss of confidence sprinting after a rough section etc...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IChC4h8WDkA see comments too

#2 is a Lower Chainguide - HAS TO HAVE a pulley. i heavily customized one to keep drag down. narrow wide is a must. mesh teeth as close as you can without causing rubbing from chainring to pulley. i have a deviate lower chainguide with dremeled out shimano cleat spacers to extend bolt holes to fit a t-type 14t narrow wide pulley... fun stuff LOL

chainslap is a killer, when the derailleur is all floppy, plus chain growth, plus lower chainring slap- eesh makes for some serious noise. chain fully loses tension, even causing cassette to rotate forward making it even harder for the drivetrain to recover on successive hits. like "packing" but just on your drivetrain haha. lock that derailleur and get a lower guide. as a mechanic i was even able to callout riders foot positioning based off their chainring wear. this is a MUST have

#3 is Flex Tape & Velcro Tape - soft side ofc (must be 'velcro' brand or it sucks) put this stuff everywhere like @carlinojoevideo mentioned. flex tape first to provide some damping, plus it ridiculously sticky watch out.. if you do it clean enough (like pictured above) you can hardly notice it.

#4 is Brake Pad Rattle- still working on a legit fix. but every brake is different. main tip is DON'T use galfer pads. not only do they suck lol, they're all really small tolerance and rattle like nobody's business. i ended up using an old brake pad spring and ziptied it to the caliper, loading/clocking  the pads forwards. see this photo of my previous TRP brakes. this was the most permanent fix I've ever done. i currently have Intend Trinity's, i use some leftover o-rings from suspension service kits to loop around the pad retainer bolt to load the pads down, not possible on other brakes. this works and looks great but the o-rings deteriorate very quickly and need to be replaced often once they start cracking.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pzb2pSMgAu8 

 #5 is Cable Management make your shifter & brake hose run parallel and ziptie them to each other at a few points between lever and frame entrance. this keeps them stiff and prevents slap. run dropper cable where it nests the most comfortably- sometimes above, sometimes below brake/shifter cables. then put velcro where they could rub. ziptie dropper to front brake if it works, only where the hose exits the lever, this helps them both stay propped up/stiffer to prevent duh slappage. use small Zipties and link them together- start one, and loop another through it, pull them tight with Knipex pliers

to this day, STFU was the worst product i tried haha, hard plastic and chain slap, ugly and not effective- no no. total band-aid to the bigger problems. still haven't been able to get my hands on VHS tape sadly I'm sure it's great if your bikes clearance permits it.

bonus tips....

-copper paste on anything that's press/clamp/static/threaded. it doesn't wash off like grease does... ie.- headset cups, BB's, seat rails, basically all hardware, stem clamps, pedal spindles etc maybe not through axles or crank spindles, this ain't grease

-seat dropper rattle. just get a newer one, any new post is tight and dialed now, especially V3 fox with energized bushing

-don't use aluminum derailleur pulleys.... okay this one is pretty obvious, right...?

-trial and error- you need to ride to find out what's making noise, look for wear marks and paint chipping. go back through with flex tape and velcro. 

cheers guys have a fun park season.

For items pressed into carbon frames, use pipe dope instead of grease. It's a kind of gooey, white paste that comes in a little jar with a brush from the days before teflon tape was invented. I'm shocked, as a plumber, that you didn't come out with this one Veefour.

Last year I moved into a condo and had no storage available for my bikes/tools/gear. I was pretty bummed about this, but found a storage place a mile away away that has local trails that I can drop into right outside the gate. I utilize a 10'x10' climate-controlled space on the inside of the property which is actually pretty great. The only downsides are no power outlets (there are plenty of hallway overhead lights and I have battery-powered magnetic lights up on the walls to use as needed) and no water access. I had to figure out how to do a waterless wash and initially used Muc-Off's Waterless Wash. It was okay, but still a bit messy. Then a friend who did two years of van life where he never washed his bikes clued me into Honda Spray Cleaner and Polish. This stuff is amazing and will easily clean up the nastiest grime using only a microfiber cloth. 

So what does this have to do with keeping a bike quiet? Since moving into the storage and now rarely ever washing my bikes with any water or even liquid, they don't make a peep. As for specific bikes that are notably silent, I have become a big fan of Santa Cruz's offerings. I have a 5010 MX and once I initially retorqued all of the pivots after my initial build up I've never had to futz with it. ☠️🤘

While i agree galfer pads rattle, They are some of the best on the market, especially those pads with a different name that are made by galfer..........
the ebike pads are what most should be running.

Regarding using anti-seize compound or copper paste (ti prep?) for fitting stuff in the frame, I was wondering about that, since the copper ti-prep has got to be the single hardest "grease" in my workbench to clean up.  Would you guys use it on IS-type headsets (bearing pressed directly into carbon frame cup)?  I currently use marine grease for that, which is fine for resisting water ingress but isn't as sticky as like ASC or ti-prep.

got this stupid bell for these dumb trails and it drowns out any noises from my bike. 
 

Grease under the bolt heads would effect the torque that you are putting on the bolt, just something to be aware of, assuming you use a torque wrench and care about this sort of thing.

not really, we tested this years ago, whats more important is using blue Loctite and not relying on that rubbish that manufactures use thats not thick enough. you get considerably more effect from thread condition containing older loctite And grease etc - It's more of a 'grease on threads' thing than between the bearing surface and bolt head - dont over think it because when you go down that track, consider thread stretch and all that rubbish especially when Theyve been used alot.
 
I cant remember The last time I had a bolt come loose from a bike I built.

Cool. Good to know. 

I do generally try to clean all the old Loctite from threads before putting new stuff on, but greasing under the heads does kinda make sense as long as the torque values aren't altered that much.

I hate being that guy that drops into the thread like an engi-nerd and pushes his glasses up on his nose and says with a nasal voice.... But here goes. 

Torque values are absolute and 9.9 times out of 10 listed as wet torque values. That is because dry torque values are something specific as there is significant friction with fasteners that is throwing off the stretch to yield torque values. Said another way, unless a torque value is specifically listed as dry, it is a wet torque value. 

Now back to noise reduction. It was said that the stfu bike chain silencer sucks, but I have had that make a huge difference on certain bikes. Particularly, my giant trance x29. If you're noticing chain slap marks on the inside of the seat stay near the cassette, then an stfu (at least the rear most component of it) will make a large noise difference. 

Also, to yes and what @collinmcballin said about lower chain guides, I helped quiet a friend's megatower 2 down quite a bit with one. He had a huge amount of lower chain slap on his crank arm because he rides right foot back. I ride left foot back on my nomad 6, and I don't have any chain slap marks on my cranks (duh I guess). On the mt2/n6 platform, an ochain makes them much more quiet. 

@ebruner, wait which foot you have forward effects how much tension is on your lower chain line? 

haha, I should have given more context I guess, that's what I get for posting on my phone while using the bathroom.  

his right side crank arm looks like the below photo (not a photo of his, just another from a megatower 2 thread), since I ride left foot back, my right side crank arm isn't in the line of fire.  We did all of the pre-cursor checks of failed derailleur clutch etc.  I don't have nearly this much lower chain slap/tension issues on my n6 as he does, but I run an ochain and also ride goofy, so not really comparable.  

Another positive vote for STFU. I 3d printed my own from TPU and it silences the chain. I run a single one just a bit forward of center of the chainstay.

Ah that makes sense! I do a lot of my best work from that same location.  Does the mega have a funky chainline or something?  I'm left foot forward as well and haven't had that issue with my bikes.