# How do I keep trainer from ruining my tires?



## velorider (Feb 4, 2007)

I have a Tacx Flow trainer so it's not a cheap one. I set the contact of tire to roller so it's the lightest possible where I'm spinning in the big ring and little cog and still when I'm done there are bits of rubber everywhere and now I wouldn't want to use that tire on the road. Is there a way to set up the trainer so it doesn't chew through my tires like nobody's business on every session?


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

velorider said:


> I have a Tacx Flow trainer so it's not a cheap one. I set the contact of tire to roller so it's the lightest possible where I'm spinning in the big ring and little cog and still when I'm done there are bits of rubber everywhere and now I wouldn't want to use that tire on the road. Is there a way to set up the trainer so it doesn't chew through my tires like nobody's business on every session?


"so it's the lightest possible"

There's your problem. The tire is slipping against the roller because the contact is too light, and that's rubbing and wearing the tire. There should be some significant compression of the tire. It should not slip, even under the highest torque you can deliver.

That said, trainers often wear tires faster than riding on the road, and many riders use a different (heavy, cheap) tire for the trainer. If you don't have a spare wheel, switching back and forth can be a nuisance, of course.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

agreed, your tire is slipping.

I don't buy special trainer tires to use, I just use old road tires that are too thin for the road anymore, but make sure if you do this you clean the tread really well and remove any embedded objects in the tire. Also per your instructions that came with the trainer, do no use knobby tires, only smooth tires should be used...a smooth tire with a file tread design is ok, or a tire with small fine cut design works too, just avoid any knobby profile.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

Trainers destroy tires. You can either use a special trainer tire, or just use old tires you don't want to use on the road anymore.


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## QQUIKM3 (Apr 20, 2008)

*Perhaps. .*

Buy some rollers.


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## Tri Slow Poke (Jul 22, 2006)

T0mi said:


> or just ..... ride outside.


Wow. Was that REALLY necessary??? 

To the OP: I ended up buying a cheap rear wheel from Ebay, mounted a Conti yellow trainer tire, and switched wheels between riding indoors.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

I haven't had any issues of tires being destroyed by my trainer. In fact I was using a MTB on the trainer for the first 6 years I had it, and it was the same tire used on the trainer all of those 6 years plus being used on the trails and streets! (a wide semi smooth with no knobs, a Kenda Kwest tire). I now use an old Specialized Armadillo All Condition tire on my road bike with the trainer and no unusual wear either. I also don't get rubber debris anywhere either. It's all whether or not the trainer is set up per the instructions, and if the roller on the trainer is worn and has any grooves in the roller that could eat the tires. But after 8 years of owning my Fluid 2 the roller looks great. Maybe if you use a tire with some sort of pattern on the tread that contacts the roller you may have issues, but I've only used smooth road tires, the MTB Kenda Qwest tire has a design but I think the rubber on that tire is so hard that it just doesn't wear like that.


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

Agree with tightening the contact. I've used Conti GP4ks and Gator Skins without the tires being destroyed at a horrible rate. I generally prefer to use last season's tires, which are conveniently on the bike at the end of the season. Probably get new Gator Skins at the start of outdoor riding next spring. 

However, if you plan on doing lots of endurance riding, hard to beat a nice set of rollers. I still use the trainer for high resistance workouts, intervals, and for warming up before ITTs/crits. 

I tend not to ride a whole lot outdoors due to my job hours.


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## Camilo (Jun 23, 2007)

froze said:


> *I don't buy special trainer tires to use, I just use old road tires*


If you don't have any old tires (who doesn't?), just buy a $6 cheapo from Performance... or a trainer tire. It's not a good idea to use your good tires on a trainer (unless they're not good tires anyway!).


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## Lotophage (Feb 19, 2011)

ditto on cheap tires. It's not like you have to worry about ride quality. 

Just get the cheapest wire bead tires you can, wear them out, repeat.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

T0mi said:


> or just ... ride outside.


^ This.


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## MShaw (Jun 7, 2003)

Riding outside is always preferable. After all, its what we all like about riding!

Riding inside = teh suck. BUT it makes you stronger! 

Speaking of which, its stopped raining here outside DC and I'm fixin to go for a ride!

M


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

MShaw said:


> Riding outside is always preferable. After all, its what we all like about riding!
> 
> Riding inside = teh suck. BUT it makes you stronger!
> 
> ...


If you put in the appropriate time and intensity, indoors vs. outdoors isn't a huge deal. Sure, it's boring indoors, but if you put in the time, it's no biggie. Suffering in a negative and strong north windchill doesn't make me any stronger than riding my rollers.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

Pretty much, you don't. The less expensive trainers with tiny rollers will heat up and wear out tires faster than larger diameters, but they are all tireeaters.

Not a big time trainer user here but used to use junk road tires -- switched to Kinetic's trainer tire. It is actually really sticky, and so I find I do not have to crank the heck out of the resistance unit to prevent slipping... I also noticed the big deal with using a road tire was that it was after 10-15 minutes and the tire was really hot that the rubber-melting-gunk wear was the worst, and it would start to get slippery again. The trainer rubber stays sticky even when at ful l temp, so was worth it to me. YMMV


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## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

I've got a set of rollers, but the aluminum one from Performance Bike. My tires turn all silver by the time I'm done riding, not sure if its wearing out the tire or not. Definitely looks a bit different than normal road wear though. Don't see any rubber flying.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

dcorn said:


> I've got a set of rollers, but the aluminum one from Performance Bike. My tires turn all silver by the time I'm done riding, not sure if its wearing out the tire or not. Definitely looks a bit different than normal road wear though. Don't see any rubber flying.


If they're turning silver, my guess is that metal is being transferred to the tires, rather than rubber being transferred to the rollers. So your tires are getting bigger. Not sure how aluminum-plated tires perform on the road . . .


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## Peter P. (Dec 30, 2006)

There's no reason why a trainer would wear out a tire faster than riding on the road.
The trainer's roller is smoother. There's less mass to accelerate.

Maybe all that rubber you see on the roller after a trainer session is exactly what's left on the road when you ride?

Has anyone here actually worn down a rear tire to the threads from trainer sessions?

I think all the excessive wear stuff is a myth.


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## froze (Sep 15, 2002)

Peter P. said:


> There's no reason why a trainer would wear out a tire faster than riding on the road.
> The trainer's roller is smoother. There's less mass to accelerate.
> 
> Maybe all that rubber you see on the roller after a trainer session is exactly what's left on the road when you ride?
> ...


I agree. Even if you did wear a tire down to the cords, so what? It's not like your riding on the street exposing the tire to flattening debris! Obviously with the cords showing would be a good time to slap another used tire on it. I've never bought one of those trainer tires, I always have used tires on hand I can use.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

Been using the same Conti Hometrainer tire since 2008 on my trainer bike set up on a Computrainer. I don't think it wears out.


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## spookyload (Jan 30, 2004)

I do not recommend using tubes with patches on a trainer. I had a patch fail from the heat build up.


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## BetweenRides (Oct 11, 2005)

Peter P. said:


> There's no reason why a trainer would wear out a tire faster than riding on the road.
> The trainer's roller is smoother. There's less mass to accelerate.
> 
> Maybe all that rubber you see on the roller after a trainer session is exactly what's left on the road when you ride?
> ...


Excessive wear is due to heat build up. I've been putting in 3-4 months of indoor computrainer classes each year for the last 6 years and have seen many a road tire ruined during sessions. Trainer tires are cheap and last for several years. They are made with a special rubber compound that resists heat, wears well and actually grips the roller better than a regular road tire. I have used both the Tacx and Conti yellow and black versions - like Conti best.


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## Tom Sneakers (Oct 14, 2011)

Hmmm, and Hmmm again. I too have a trainer and all I've ever used is a well worn tire as well and never noticed increased wear. Of course a well worn tire is a, well a well worn tire, and so it won't last long anyway just as it wouldn't last long on the streeet. I know a trainer tire is cheap, but I don't see the point of it when a normal rejected for the street tire will make through the winter on a trainer. 

My trainer gets hot, but I can't recall it getting any hotter then a tire riding on a 95 degree day riding on black top .

Maybe us riders who had no problems are cranking too slow of a speed, we're probably doing less then 150rpms because we're not monster riders. All kidding aside, maybe it's the trainer? I ride a Cycleops Fluid 2, I wonder what others ride that have or haven't had problems???


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## dcorn (Sep 1, 2011)

JCavilia said:


> If they're turning silver, my guess is that metal is being transferred to the tires, rather than rubber being transferred to the rollers. So your tires are getting bigger. Not sure how aluminum-plated tires perform on the road . . .


The silver wears off pretty quick when i hit the road.


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## nightfend (Mar 15, 2009)

The dedicated trainer tires work great. I have a Continental indoor trainer tire, and like others have mentioned, I've never had to replace the tire in the 2 years I've had it. They are made of a heavy duty rubber that doesn't wear out very quickly. 

So if you are doing indoor riding on a regular basis, either get a dedicated beater bike just for indoor trainer, or at the least, get a dedicated rear wheel for the indoor trainer.


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## overgeared (Mar 22, 2011)

this wont be possible with all type of trainer but you might be able to roll a couple of layers of some insulating tape around the roller where the tyre contacts. it wont affect the quality of the contact but you're more likely to wear away tape than rubber. replace the tape when you wear a groove.

as an aside i would not agree that "riding outside is always preferable". there are some types of interval training you can do better and harder in a controlled indoor environment.


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## Blue CheeseHead (Jul 14, 2008)

froze said:


> agreed, your tire is slipping.
> 
> I don't buy special trainer tires to use, I just use old road tires that are too thin for the road anymore, but make sure if you do this you clean the tread really well and remove any embedded objects in the tire. Also per your instructions that came with the trainer, do no use knobby tires, only smooth tires should be used...a smooth tire with a file tread design is ok, or a tire with small fine cut design works too, just avoid any knobby profile.


+1 on using old road tires. Great way to "recycle".

In any casebBuying a trainer specific tire is a waste of money in my book. You can buy a folding Gatorskin for about 20% less than a trainer specific tire.


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