Trainers and tire wear

[DavidC]

What are people's experiences with a situation like this: warming up on a trainer (i.e. <30 minutes) on a standard non-race tire? Dumb: you're just wearing away the tire, so you'll flat real easy in no time when you ride that tire on the road? Or no biggie: as long as you aren't racing 365 days a year, the tire will be fine for road riding / don't waste money on a trainer tire? Other?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[gasman]

What kind of trainer ? My ancient Blackburn magnetic resistance trainer eats tires. Not because I'm strong but because of the amount of heat buildup. Regular road tires , used of course, would last maybe 2 hours before they would bubble up. My trainer specific tire has lasted 3 seasons so far.... but I avoid the trainer as much as possible. I'd rather ride in the rain on my full- fendered bike.

I'm not sure why you would want to use a good tire on most trainers.

[Dead Man]

Not worth it. You should be able to pick up a dirt cheep rear wheel and throw some crappy old tire or a cheap trainer-specific tire on there for less than burning up your good tire is gonna cost you

[charliedid]

Just buy a trainer tire

[DavidC]

Not worth it. You should be able to pick up a dirt cheep rear wheel and throw some crappy old tire or a cheap trainer-specific tire on there for less than burning up your good tire is gonna cost you


That was plan A. But thru axle road 11 speed wheels are not cheap and easy to find. At least for me! So plan B was this thread, racing on Bike A, and using rear wheel from Bike B for trainer. But to avoid changing tire to trainer tire each time I ride Bike B / race, I am instead asking this question.

If nobody chimes in with, "I've done that before—if you do 25 minutes on the trainer 20 times a year, it's a drop in the bucket compared to lots of road miles," then I guess I have my answer ;)

[Dead Man]

...thru axle road 11 speed wheels are not cheap and easy to find.


that's what you get for buying all that gizmotion


Here's some more gizmotion to further gizmo you out: https://www.amazon.com/15mm-Thru-Axle-Adapter-Conversion/dp/B00IQG6JNM

I've probably got a 10s rear with a campy 11s cassette (spaced the same as shimano 11, if'n you didn't know already) for $50 or less - now that I see you're local

[Peter P.]

I've never experienced any excessive tire wear problems using a trainer.

I use a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine.

Decades ago, I used the Turbo Trainer and Turbo Trainer II.

What am I doing wrong?!

[DavidC]

Here's some more gizmotion to further gizmo you out: https://www.amazon.com/15mm-Thru-Axle-Adapter-Conversion/dp/B00IQG6JNM



I've probably got a 10s rear with a campy 11s cassette (spaced the same as shimano 11, if'n you didn't know already) for $50 or less - now that I see you're local


Thanks, hadn't see those gizmos. But (a) that's for the front, even though I assume rear ones exist, and (b) the issue is not converting to QR, it would be taking a cheap QR wheel and converting to fit on thru axle frame.

[R3awak3n]

when I had my kurt kinetic it definitely ate tires. I just put a cheap or old tire on, much better.

ah how I love my kickr and dang, we already talking trainers, its only september :(

[11.4]

You won't have problems if it's just for occasional warmups. Sure, you can potentially get a little wear, but it won't be much if it's even identifiable. The warmup is part of racing. If you have a spare wheel, obviously, you can put a somewhat heavier tire on it, but who wants to buy a through-axle wheel and then put a trainer tire on it, except mid-winter?

[regularguy412]

I've worn out a mag trainer, a fluid trainer with adjustable resistance and am now on my third trainer which is a Kurt Kinetic. It's on its 4th year. I've never had any of those trainers burn up tires. I always use old tires that I've retired from the road on my dedicated trainer-only bike.

I'd advise to be sure that the tension against the rear tire from the resistance contact roller is great enough. My rule of thumb is to crank in the contact tension such that when I grab a spoke and sorta turn the tire back and forth quickly (total distance moved in one direction and then back is about 2 inches). that there is practically no slippage when changing directions. A little slippage is OK, but ya don't want the wheel/tire to rotate more in one direction without the contact roller 'staying with it'.

Mike in AR:beer:

[kppolich]

+1 for picking up a cheap rear wheel, dedicated trainer tire, lower level cassette, and quick release for your trainer. Save your tires and wear for the road where you need it.

KK Road machine user here, using the cycleops trainer tire for over 3 years and its still going. Not bad for a $20 investment. Smoother, quieter, and no noticeable rubber on the floor.

I would swing by your LBS and see if they have a trash rear wheel and give it a go for trainer use only.

[Bentley]

They clearly wear tires out faster. Basically you are "pinching" a fully inflated tire against the resistance wheel, typically takes 10 to 20 mins to come up to temperature.

I use old, mostly worn tires for this, I don't do anything till they show "cord", good way to get your money out of a tire.

[justindcady]

KK trainer user here. Life dictates that I put more time on the trainer than out on the road. Do I have a separate wheelset for the trainer? No. Any wear I have observed does not concern me at all.

Having proper tension will go a long way towards tire life, I'm sure. I inflate to 120psi and do 4 turns of the tension knob from the first contact of roller to tire.

[11.4]

Remember he has through-axles. That means he probably has to get a new wheel and it probably won't be cheap because discount hubs for through-axle are still a bit scarce and questionable.

And I've worked with team members with trainers and we've taken widely varying tire wear problems and reduced them to a tolerable level with consistent and slightly higher pressure, reasonable choice of tires, and proper tensioning. The most awkward thing about trainers like the KK or 1UP is that there's no way to ensure consistent tension against the tire. We put torque wrenches on them to even out load on the tire and it helps a lot. This also affects hugely how consistent your workouts can be. Wahoo Kickrs were really the solution to this, along with their clones, and I'd really point at those if you're considering a trainer. I wish someone would come up with one for track bikes.

[carpediemracing]

I've been primarily on trainer since beginning 2015, doing only races and maybe 10-12 rides outside since then. I've been on the same tire for most of the time, a training clincher that has plenty of life in it (same one I trained on when I go outside).

Other than a bit of a sheen the tire is fine. Sheen wears off before I get 200 yards down the street.

Tire is a training clincher (Maxxis ReFuse?) so it's not a delicate tubular or whatever.

I've saved a bunch of cut tires for the trainer but I think they'll harden/crack before I can get to use them.

I do sprints regularly on the trainer (Zwift, typically hitting 1000-1200w and sustaining 800-1000w) and have to crank the roller tension to keep the tire from slipping. On Zwift the increased roller tension seems to translate to a 35w penalty at 150w on the CycleOps (I have to pedal at 185w to register 150w on Zwift), perhaps as much as 55w at 150w on the Fluid2 (205w to register 150w). With a wireless SRM my power is now broadcast and it's within a couple watts.

I've used CycleOps Fluid2 and KK ROad Machine resistance units (both in CycleOps frames).

[PaulE]

I've never had any trainer tire wear issues with either a Kurt Kinetic or a Cateye CC 100. As others have said, the key is proper tension. When you've cranked up the tension to what you think is good, give it another turn or two. Also pump the tire up to whatever the sidewal says is the maximum pressure for that tire.

[Ti Designs]

My tire wore my trainer out. It only took 12 years...

[froze]

I have a CycleOps Fluid Trainer 2 and it doesn't eat tires any faster than the road does, nor does it leave fragments of tire on the floor, and yet I've read forums where readers had the same excessive tire wear on my trainer as you do on others! So why doesn't mine do that you all scream? Because it's all about proper adjustment of the rear tire against the roller which means follow the directions given for whatever unit you have. If the wheel is perfectly round all you need is light enough tension for the tire to grip the roller when hammering without slipping, once you get just past the slipping point stop adjusting the pressure of the roller against the tire. The newer version of my Fluid 2 has an easy to adjust pressure adjustment, you simply turn the adjustment wheel till it clicks and it's done, sort of like a torque wrench set at the correct value, they did this because users weren't following the directions and needed to make the adjustment thing idiot proof.

Also you need to make sure your tire pressure is checked every time you ride the trainer, because a loss of pressure over time will make the wheel slip on the roller. My trainer recommends for 23c to 25c to run 90 to 100 psi before adjusting the tensioner against the tire. I run 95, I split the difference! But on the road my tire pressure for a 23c is 110 based on the Michelin tire pressure calculator set at 45/55 f/r weight distribution, so with the trainer it's 15psi less than on the road.

In regards to tires, I only use almost worn out tires, tires that I would not use on the road again the next season. I have a rotation thing I do, when the rear tire starts to get too thin and getting more flats I remove the tire and put the front tire to the rear and new one on the front, while the old rear tire gets set aside for the trainer. One word of caution using used tires, you have to make sure that all embedded stuff is taken out of the tire, and you have to scrub clean the tire of all dirt, why? because embedded stuff left in the tire and or dirt on the tire can, over time, put a wear groove in the roller.

[Wasatch]

I've never experienced any wear issues with my Kinetic. Generally by the time I hit the winter indoor training season, I use my tire from that season, then when outside season resumes in the spring, I'll throw some new rubber on.

Doesn't make sense to me to buy a trainer tire when I can just use my old, used tire.