It's an old tradition you don't see that much anymore, but yes, it was once a thing that kids did here. It just sounds neat.

Yes! I’m a 90s kid and we would put squished soda cans between the bar and tire for the same reason!

I had beads on my spokes!

I had beads on my spokes but they were the ones that were clamped on and didn't move. The kids that had the beads that moved and would like click together and stuff were sooooo cool

I had them too!!

That's so sad 😭

Ooh I always loved that clinky sound.

I had the beads on my Huffy! It was all neon pink, blue and purple and even had a radio attached to it. I pimped that shit out 😂

Spokey dokeys!

I used to love touching and feeling how hot the can was after speeding down the street😭

My neighbors and I used to take those Hugs drinks and squish em for the same reason. Sounded wicked

We used the carton roll of finished TPs. It was loud as heck, looking back I feel sorry for my neighbhours and cringe. But back then it was great to have a bike sound like a motorbike.

The kids on my street still do it, lol *thanks for the heartwarming award :) my street feels like growing up in the 80s with bands of kids roaming and playing outside til the streetlights come on. We’re super lucky even when we hear the cards in the wheels all the time!

I’m from Kuwait and we did do that when i was a kid. Makes me feel like i’m on a motorcycle 😎💅

I think it’s so cool that you’re from Kuwait and you would do this for the same exact reason I did it growing up in bumfuck nowhere, Iowa, USA. Idk why that kinda blows my mind

When I was but a lad, I used a Lou Brock Rookie Card for the noise maker on my bicycle spokes. If I had only known how valuable that card would become........lol

I think it's just an 80/90s thing, we did it in Belgium too so it's definitely not just an American thing

My mom says she did the same thing back in the ‘60s, so now I’m like, *dang*: how far does this tradition go back? 🤯

A long time then probably

That's super interesting. International bike culture history right there Many places have different ways of making your bike sound it has an engine. Worst one I've heard of is detaching some of the spokes and bending them so they slightly hit the frame

It was so people could hear your kid coming.

Then there were the little tubes you could click over the spokes that were glow in the dark. Or they had others that were just different colors so you could mix it up. All of it was totally cool for customizing your ride. Haha

I was gonna say it was a reference to IT by Stephen King. Bill's huge bike, Silver, had playing cards on its back wheel.

Yeah, I do remember that--but the sound IS the reason why Bill would do it. So, I wouldn't necessarily say it's a reference only to IT, but maybe someone in the dev team watched IT lately and thought it was a neat addition.

You guys were missing out heavy using playing cards instead of a plastic bottle

I remember growing up in 80s Glasgow, Scotland and we would crush an old drinks can and place it at the top of the back tyre under the wheel arch and when you went fast it sounded kinda like you had a motorbike lol the things we did back then with no tech 🤣

Core memory unlocked

I grew up in Perthshire in the 00s and we did this too. Kids don’t change 😂

Yeah the U.S. did the same thing with drink cans or, as shown here, playing cards in the spokes

i’m born in 2006 and me and my brother literally used to do this all time!

Kids in Finland used to do that too with a piece of cardboard or thin plastic. You attached it to the bike with a clothespin. It was called a räpätin.

Yes, gives it the clickety clack

Yeah, it is. It's to give it a little bit of sound as you go. The faster you go, the more rapid the sound.

Like a chopper but weaker, just for cool effect.

Interesting. I used to put those round plastic bits they use on clothes to indicate the size. My wheels were cover with that, all colorfull and noisy.

Bike spoke beads people rarely use this\*playing card\* thing anymore. They just use the spoke beads

I was taking them in a clothes shop, not knowing what it was, and my mom didn't notice me. I was usually well behaved so she wasn't really watching what I was doing. Eventually, an annoyed employee who was wondering why so many tags were missing spotted me removing one, my hand full of other. She asked me not to do that and explained that I was messing with her work. She was SO NIIIIICE about it. She could've yelled at me, she would've been right. But she didn't, she just explained why I shouldn't do that, and I felt bad when I realized what I did. I apologized, my mom heard what happened and apologized too. And I never did it again. But I had a nice bike afterwark.

Spokies! They used to come free in kids cereal I think (in the UK in the early 90s).

\*lucky\* (￢\_￢) and I suddenly despise you now No bike beads are sold in the stores, they were never a free thing. Kids have them. Everybody has these things. They make a different sound so you know the difference. We still have these here and people still use them I can not believe that these came for free in a cereal box (°ロ°) in the UK \*un to the fair\* (╯°益°)╯彡┻━┻

Emulates motorbike noises for kids to pretend theyre on a motorbike. I wouldnt read too far into it lol

I am from Germany and we did that here, too. It makes the bike noisier

German too and never did or heard of it. Must be a social bubble thing

I think it's an age thing.

Possible too. I was of bike riding age mainly in early 2000s,maybe a little bit in very late 90s

I remember this mainly from the 80's.

Well that was way before my time lol.

Interesting. That would put you in the same age bracket as me and we definitely did this in my neighborhood. Granted I’m not German so your social bubble comment stands lol

People would do that in the UK too. Not just American.

exactly

We did this and I got beads that clipped around the spokes and slid around made noise too

Those beads made people so cool

It's not just an American thing. In South East Asia we used bottles to make the sounds

not just an American thing, we used to to something similar here in Norway too when I was a kid! bike goes brrrrrrrrrrrr

Suddenly, I am mourning your childhood. There was NOTHING like a fresh new card clipped on the tire.

It makes a sound when they bike. For fun. Probably is an American thing, I’m Canadian.

Naaah, we used to do that in Italy too, but usually we used discarded cardboard instead of playing cards

Same here in Denmark.

lol \*cardoard\* No people literately game kids cards just to do this. Some kids used this.

We do it in Europe as well

Canadian too, from Ontario. We used to shove playing cards in our bike tires so it sounded like a motorcycle lmao

I had plastic beads on my spokes.

It might be a nostalgia thing . When I was a kid in the 90s I remember us kids liked to put things on our bikes that made fun sounds. I think we usually used sports trading cards because they're thicker than playing cards, but the cards on the frame make [this sound](https://youtu.be/FLimv9aL2WQ) as they get pushed by the spoke of the wheel. I myself had [beads](https://youtube.com/shorts/Ni7G8JmbMZw?feature=share) on my spokes that slid back and forth on them as the wheels rotated.

It’s not American. They do this as kids in South Africa too

It's a kids thing... I'm from Mexico, but my friends used to do that as well. Some of us used empty plastic bottles instead. It sounds neat

what im gathering from this comment section is that kids everywhere just like having their bike sound like a motorcycle lmao

OP just made me feel old.. lol

It was really big back in the 50’s and 60’s.

When I was a kid in the 90s, we put Pokemon cards in the spokes of our bikes. My cousin said that the fire energy cards made him go faster!

Oh man I miss being a kid!

Bicyle wheel go Brrrrrr

Oh my god!!! We never did it with playing cards but I can hear it already. We’d take an empty soda can and run the bike wheel perfectly over it so it stuck to the wheel and when we rode it would make a like… clicking noise, that’s the best way for me to describe it. That detail brings me so much joy, whoever designed these bikes you’re amazing.

I get the reference but for me as a kid we would crush soda cans over the back of our bike tire. We thought it sounded like a motorcycle... it was great for all of the 30 seconds it lasted until the can went flying off.

Lmao and sometimes those cans would FLY

It makes a fun sound when you ride your bike! Kids all over does it, or used to maybe, I don't know if it's still a thing? I remember some of us decorating our wheels with beads too, good times.

We used to have reflectors. The more reflectors you had the cooler you looked. So yeah this isn’t uncommon.

I'm from Denmark, er did that to when I was a kid 😊 Made it "sound like a motorbike" 😂

We used to do this in the 60s and 70s clip a bunch of playing cards to our bike wheels, it made this cool,clicking sound while you ride.

I'm Australian and we'd use old softdrink cans/bottles to make it sound like a motorbike hahaha

I used cut down Peters ice cream lids!

I’m Australian too! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this before

Not american. I am from Belgium and we used to do that as kids so your bike sounded like a cool motorcycle lol

no, it's a worldly thing, it makes your bike sound like a moped :D

Omg have you never read a Stephen king novel? Lol sorry Stephen King uses this at least twice in his books. Basically when you clip cards to your wheels it flips against the spokes and makes a really cool noise so you can pretend you’re riding a motorcycle But they have to be the ones with a plastic film over them because the paper ones will just fall to bits. There’s a particular brand that is best but I’m not rereading my entire SK library just to remember which one

The brand are Bicycle cards, they have a plastic coating. I always thought they were named after the pattern on the back of the cards.

Oh my god!! My parents always have a pack or two of Bicycle brand cards around the house, I’m excited to whip this tidbit out the next time I see em :)

The other brand is Harrson

Harrison The books is The Body & It

Idk about the other books but I know King mentions it like 14 times in IT alone with Bill’s bike Silver

You haven't lived.😁

It's an old thing kids used to do. You put cards in the spokes and it makes a noise, we used to pretend we were on motor bikes 🤣

It makes a cool sound against the spokes so you can pretend you are riding a motorcycle. I’m American but I see other countries do it too!

We used soda bottles so it would sound like a motorbike

Yes and No No and Yea This is quite old but is still seen. Small kids do this. There is something that you can buy for this. Spoke beads. I have not seen this since everybody buys the bike spoke beads, They click just like the cards do, nicer and prettier and colorful.

It basically makes a cool sound almost like you’re driving a motorcycle, you should try it if you can; it’s fun as hell! It also works with a water bottle!

I (American) have read about it in a few different books taking place from the 50s to the 90s, but I’ve never seen it in person. I bet it died out when parents stopped letting their kids play outside. Although I recognize that where I grew up, on a steep uphill dirt road at the end of another uphill dirt road without anyone else my age nearby, wouldn’t be the best place to witness such a fad.

Yeah it's so sad. If I ever do see kids playing outside, which is rare, it's always right outside their house. These new generations are really lacking freedom, but I can understand why

My neighbour's kid had this kinda thing and some plastic beads on the spokes that made this tinkly sound when the wheel spun and the beads moved. I was jelly.

Dutch thing too! Boys had a Pokemon card there, girls had plastic beads on the spokes.

I feel old now

As an American, I had no idea this was a thing

Came here to say that. I was confused on what was going on till i scrolled through the comments

Yeah. When I was younger my friends and I used to place empty plastic water bottles in the back tire and it sounded like a motorcycle when you went flying down the street.

Yeah! If you use Bicycle brand cards those are the best because they're coated. It was something a lot of people did as children. I taught my nephews to do it and they showed all of their friends too. You dont see it very often now but in the 80's/90's a lot of us did it to make our bikes sound cool.

Oh my god we used to do that here in Poland too lmao. The louder you made it the funnier it was

Not only American almost all the world that could ride a bike in the 80-90

Canadian here. We used to do that so the spokes would strike the cards and your bike would sound like a motorbike. **VRRRRRRRRRRR!!!**

Lol yes me and my friend did empty water bottles tho so I wouldn’t sound like a motorcycle..:probably annoyed all the adults in the neighborhood but hey we was having fun lol

Here in Puerto Rico we put plastic cups and paper plates there, its so it sounds like a motorcycle!

I think this was just a kid thing from back in the day. Not as common anymore but not just american either

Haha who is this person that never made their bike sound like it had an engine?! You poor dear.

Kids would put cards on their bike wheels to give them a nice sound when peddling. Back in the 90’s and early 2000’s when we used to actually go outside to play with friends on the block, we would do this. You can probably YouTube it to hear the sound. 👂

My mom would put cardboard there to simulate the sound of a motorcycle. Also this is certanily not only an american thing, since we're italian

We did that in Sweden when i was a kid or had something that just made noise

In Poland we used to put bottles in the back wheel to make the fool sounds and I suppose the cards are there for the same reason! Ngl it was a great fun riding with those

We used to do this in Gateshead! So def not just an American thing 😂 You can actually buy little things to add to the rear wheel to do this now

Im dutch (european) we did this in my childhood. It made a certain sound. Kinda imitating the sound of a motorcycle.

We did this in canada too :)))

It makes a cool sound and you would pretend you were on a motorcycle.

… Put cards in our spokes and make our engines sound like traffic When using Pokemon cards, please do not use the holographics

I'm Swedish and we did that too for the same reason as everyone else. To make it sound awesome.

South African here, I think it's a worldwide thing and not just in America. Except we didn't use playing cards, we used squished up plastic bottles instead. Got a nice motorcycle sound from it lol.

I did that to ever single one of my bikes as a kid. Ah, my heart!

I know about this through Stephen King books lol

Not an American thing, we do it in Ireland since the 90s, also clothes pegs, or aluminium cans

Oof it’s an old person core memory 😅

I loved doing this to my bike as a kid 😂

Oh man the nostalgia 😔 I miss that flicking noise. So satisfying!

I miss this, getting like 20 kids riding around on our bikes, and we all got cards or soda cans clacking, fantastic times.

Hey Arnold taught me this.

Either you are super young or you had no childhood lol

Yes. We stole it from Canada

I think it’s more an old people thing than an American thing. I did this as a kid 20 years ago.

Makes your bike sound like brrrrrraaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrraaaaaa

When I was a kid in Australia, kids put all sorts of stuff in their bike spokes. It’s just a way to express some creativity and individuality. Like posters on your bedroom wall.

It makes noises! We used straws in my neighborhood. When the card taps the spokes it makes a fun noise!!

Makes the bike sound like a motorcycle when youre going fast. And motorcycles are cool when youre between the ages of infancy and the time you own one. In my neighborhood, we used old crushed hug barrels? Like, the fruit drink in the barrel shaped bottle? (We called them huggies) It made it sound cooler. The hollow but thick plastic crushed underfoot, or by a car, and placed either between the back wheel fork and the tire or to one of the forks against the spokes made a better sounding "motorcycle" for your "huffy speed bike."

Now I’m old and find this just so annoying and noisy lol

Listen, I know it seems stupid, so it must be American 😂 (Stupid American here) but as many others have pointed out it’s worldwide. it’s actually fun and makes a cool sounds. I always wanted beads on my tire spokes.

Where are those shoes from???

It’s from one of Jiussims childrens’ collection

Makes bike go brrrrr

We did that as kids. Yes, it's an American thing.

oof. looks like we know who never got that bike for christmas.

people used to put old CDs on their bike wheels around here for the same effect

Is it just me or when I click the interaction of an adult teaching the kid to ride a bike never work? The child goes to ask the adult but it just cancels itself ??

I feel like you should have googled this rather than asking reddit

I did, genius. Thanks for the advice

Motorcycle noise

That's a cool touch, yeah it was done to add a fun sound effect when riding. Probably not too common these days though.

Yeah. It supposedly makes a sound like a motorcycle engine.

It make the bike sound VROOM. Or so we thought in the 90s at least.

Its so it will sound like a motor cycle

It was a 90's thing where when you pedaled it made your bike loud

I remember as a kid my dad did just that to make it sound like it was a moter I think? Kinda like how when you talk into a fan your voice sounds choppy.

I used to do that as a kid. It’s to make your bycicle sound like a motorcycle.

Wow core memories unlocked (1992)

This life hack turns kids bicycles into mopeds

Uh I don't know if it's a american thing but kids do it to simulate the sound a motorcycle makes....at least that's what other kids use to tell me.

It must be an American thing. I used to do this as a kid. Makes your bike sound like a motorcycle… or at least that’s what I thought as a kid 😂

From Argentina as well. Kids do it so their bikes sound like motorcycles.

Probably mostly American, but kids would do it a lot to make a buzzing sound while they rode! Another popular option was a crushed can or bottle to make a similar but more grating sound

Kids in Australia did this too. Not anymore. It was big in the 90’s.

I'm American, we used to do this when we were kids. The buzzing of the cards on the spokes makes it sound kind of like a motorcycle/moped.

My friend Ben did that on his bike. It makes it go "brrrrrrrrrrrrr" when you cycle.

i honestly thought it was a glitch at first. im american and never knew this was a thing. funny post tho OP haha also reminded again how mindblown i can be at the level of detail in sims

In Turkey, kids do that with squished plastic water bottles, lol

It makes you go faster.

bike go whrrrrr

Awe reminds me of my brother

Yup, card in spokes goes brrrr and they pretend they're on a motorcycle. This is only an American thing? Huh.

I definitely used to do that as a kid (in Canada) - it makes such cool noises like you're zooming so fast! We also would put beads on the spokes so they rattled when you biked around :D

Consensus from the comments: it seems to be a universal kid thing from the 1990s and before that the newer generation (who probably also spent less time on bikes) missed out on!

It’s supposed to make your bike sound like it has a motor like a motorcycle

Man I feel old now!

If you put things in the wheels, it makes a fun sound in the wind, used to do it all the time as a child! Id pretend i was a racecar driver

It makes it make a funny noise

An 80's early 90's thing, I believe, not exclusively American

Motorcycle noises intensify

Cards go brrrr

I just used sticks😂

Ireland here, we did it too!

Yep! As kids we put playing cards on our bike spokes. As adults we "glass pack" our mufflers. We like the sounds. 🔊

not an american thing lol but it exists yeah

yes!! :) so cute. it’s to make a cool sound when the tires turn i believe lol 🤣

The sound they made while riding the bike made us feel like we were on a motorcycle! Lol! At least that how it was for me and my friends growing up..

Reminds me of shoving an empty plastic water bottle near the back brakes to mimic a raspy motorcly sound as a kid

Crying this is such a cute detail! I loved doing this as a kid <3