How to isolate an exercise bike, reduce impact noise and resonances

How to isolate an exercise bike and reduce impact noise and vibrations
Indoor training bikes and exercise bikes produce impact noise that consists of vibrations and resonances. This type of sound, impact noise or contact noise, means that sound does not travel through the air, but through matter. In case of an exercise bike, or home trainer, impact noise is transmitted to the floor and becomes audible in adjacent rooms, or in the home of the next-door neighbours. Impact noise and vibrations are fairly easy to insulate and reduce as long as the source of the problem, an exercise bike or home trainer, is insulated or isolated with vibration damping and insulation. Let's get into it!

In the images below, that we received from a customer, you can see one set of Regufoam Damper Pads cut into four equal pieces. This is because you need stability and still isolate the exercise bike as optimal as possible. The black 18mm plywood panel is optimally supported, weight and pressure are equally distributed over the Damper Pads.

In this example the total weight, including plywood, exercise bike and the individual, is about 110 kg.
One set of Regufoam Damper Pads was used.  However, this can differ for each situation.

Summary of insulating the exercise bike
The way this product was applied, was right from the start, and successful, but in some cases some experimenting might be necessary, because each situation can be very different. It all depends on the floor and the weight of the person and exercises bike in question. When applying vibration insulation, it's important that the home trainer or exercise bike is stable. This ensures a comfortable and safe workout.

Our customer, who sent us these images, mentioned that he cut one set of Regufoam Dampers into 16 equal parts with a sharp knife, placed the parts on underneath a heavy plywood panel and placed the exercise bike on top of that. To him this gave the best result, which becomes apparent from the pictures.

More vibration insulation is not always better!
If you want to isolate your home trainer or exercise bike, to reduce impact noise and vibrations, applying a lot of insulation material is not necessarily better. When too much material is used, the bike can start to wobble and become unstable. Ideally, vibration insulation in any application should be compressed somewhat under load, about 10 to 15% is perfect. This usually ensures a sufficient amount of insulation and stability. 

Product to isolate an exercise bike
In order to isolate and reduce impact noise from fitness equipment, such as an exercise bikes or treadmill, you can use the Regufoam Damper Pads (4 damper in a set).

Questions? 
Do you have any questions about this topic? Please feel free to contact us!