Lately I’ve been riding my 50 yr old British 3-speed “Emma Thompson Bike” around town. It’s been pretty hot and a slow upright bike keeps me from rushing and breaking a sweat.
But she is a bit… well… loud.
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When riding a wheel on Sheffield steel folks definitely hear you coming. But the Boston area roads don’t help the situation. They are pretty rough. So I wondered if I could measure the state of the roads by the sounds that Emma Thompson Bike makes? 
im a 50 +…. British Bloke who rides a bike i make loud noises too….. i guess it’s a british thing…… have fun
The Sturmey-Archer hub on my 1970 Moulton Mark 3 sounds like a tin of nails, but it is my pride and joy to ride.
Sounds like grinding sand or a mini rock (pebble) tumbler? Probably some broken bearing balls that should be replaced lest they do further damage. Otherwise those hubs are quite bomb-proof, I have a ’71 myself.
Thanks for including Beacon Street in Somerville! I think that may actually be the worst road in the Boston area for biking!
I think you are right on the money about the street vibrations; I really love the Columbus Ave and Mass Ave bridge ones! Thank you so much for your hard work in putting these together.
I love these pics! We can all relate!
I guess we have either really good streets, or really good bikes, here in TX. I suspect it is the latter because I bought 3 sets of head/taillights in 3 months because the brackets or lights were breaking from road vibrations before I found a brand that held up. Separate batteries and light heads helps a lot.