recommend a mat to put underneath my bike trainer

[mattkime]

i got a complaint from a neighbor about the noise (when i'm on my game i get started at 7am). The fact that my alcoholic neighbor is apparently a light sleeper seems ridiculous but whatever.

i'm looking for a rubber mat that absorbs vibration from the trainer. i'd prefer something smaller - it doesn't need to cover the whole footprint of bike + trainer, jsut the trainer itself.

this is the trainer i have - http://www.amazon.com/Kinetic-Rock-Roll-...dp_product



any advice?

[WHiiP]

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Joe-Anti-F...ome-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1393246749&sr=1-3&keywords=thick+kitchen+mat

Cut in half and glue together for a ¾" mat.


Or, this http://www.amazon.com/Rhino-Mats-SS-2436...ome-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1393246889&sr=1-5&keywords=thick+sport+mat

[Robert M]

Matt,

I hate to say it but I don't blame the person for complaining. 7:00am? For many people, that's unreasonably early for any kind of noise, let alone the noise and vibrations from a bike trainer. I'd be complaining to you and, if necessary, the management company and/or landlord, without hesitation.

My wife used to live in Queens and prior to moving in with me, she had an upstairs neighbor with a bike trainer and a treadmill. Both machines had mats. They helped reduce the vibrations but did nothing about the noise of the machines themselves.

So, unless you train at a more reasonable hour and/or have a good relationship with your downstairs neighbor, you may still get complaints from him or her, even if you use matting to dampen the vibration.

Robert

[ztirffritz]

Look for a stall mat at a farm supply store. Same material. Much cheaper.

[mattkime]

>>They helped reduce the vibrations but did nothing about the noise of the machines themselves.

I'm not sure what those machines were like but mine doesn't produce a ton of noise / vibrations so i expect a mat would resolve the issue.

The machine is quieter than the fan.

It did have an annoying squeaking problem but i solved that recently. And that was an ancillary issue unrelated to the main function of the device.

[clay]

You may need something under both the trainer and the rest of the bike to decouple the floor/bike surface. Vibrations/noise WILL be transmitted between any part of the apparatus that's touching the floor.

Look for something like what WHiiP linked to, or in the options here:
http://www.uline.com/Grp_36/Mats?keywords=floor+mats

Just get something that's big enough to go under your entire setup. Shoot...maybe even put 2 different layers of material to better prevent vibrations/noise transmission between the surfaces. Like a moving blanket right next to the floor, a padded mat of some sort on top of the blanket, and then your bike/trainer setup on top of the padded mat.

Of course, how much effort/expense you go to for this depends on how much you care about reducing the noise that your neighbor hears... For under $100, you should be able to get a nice padded mat, and a blanket or something else to go between it and the floor.

[BernDog]

Why not just get a set of those "puzzle piece" interlocking floor mats you can get at any home center? Cheap. Done.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Trademark-Tool...c/19716778
For example.

[decay]

just crack up the Motorhead music and your neighbor won't hear the vibrations from the bike!

[RAMd®d]

You may need something under both the trainer and the rest of the bike to decouple the floor/bike surface. Vibrations/noise WILL be transmitted between any part of the apparatus that's touching the floor.

This.

Maybe some carpet swatches or remnants from someplace, then a rubber pad on top of that.

[mattkime]

>>You may need something under both the trainer and the rest of the bike to decouple the floor/bike surface.

like tires?

:emoticon-animal-022: