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Does indoor trainer damage your bike
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I know each bike manufacture has a stances towards indoor trainers.

Does anyone have any actual experience with indoor trainers damaging their bikes?
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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It's safe.

Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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The indoor trainer itself should never damage your bike.

However, be wary of sweat dripping onto bolts and screws and especially the moving parts of the front brake. Even if you spray off the bike after each workout and dutifully wipe it down, even a single drop of sweat that goes missed as it has seeped into a joint can freeze the bolt/screw/part if you don't move it around for a few weeks (which often happens during winter when you leave the bike on the trainer.)

If you store your bike in a garage where there can be condensation in the colder mornings, you really have to watch out for this, as salt + condensation rapidly accelerates rusting on nonstainless parts. I was surprised at the parts that got me last time- it was actually the small wire tightening lever on my FB that fused - couldn't even see where it fused, but it was permanently stuck.

Make sure you protect the front-end from sweat as much as possible if you're a big sweater. Towels are good enough for most, but I use a cockpit cover that really covers the entire front end, and even then, I have to be wary of corrosion.
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know about the bike itself, but I've damaged the cheap plastic acorn nuts on my rear quick releases.
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for your detailed reply

I am indeed a heavy sweater - up to 2l/hr!

How should I deal with the sweat if it gets onto the BB and cockpit?

What's a cockpit cover?
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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http://lmgtfy.com/?q=cycling+sweat+cover
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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Hi CaptainSnail,

Well, yes, I have a Wahoo Kickr, and it kinda damaged my bike. Kinda my fault though. While parked, my triathlon bike is always on the Kickr, ready for me to ride my next indoor workout. After a few days/weeks of doing this, it is best to check the skewers if they are still tight. Sometimes, the constant vibration loosens the skewers, until eventually, it will give way and you will fall on you face, while you are still clipped on. This happened to me once, good thing I just snapped the deraillieur hanger and not the carbon frame. Of I went to the local bike shop and had the hanger replaced.

Moral of the story is check the tightness of the skewer on each ride!!

An age group triathlete just like you.
TopTriGear - https://www.toptrigear.com
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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In about three years I totally destroyed a Wattbike in hot and humid Singapore. Even with the comprehensive plastic cover and wiping it down each time, I was unable to stop the torrent of sweat from getting into the bolts, the electronics and onto the (theoretically covered) chain....to say nothing of the wooden floor around it. I would hate to subject a roadbike to those conditions...
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [Barrtim] [ In reply to ]
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So basically I need to have a dedicated bike for the trainer
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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Do you live in hot and humid Singapore?

Just use a towel
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [walie] [ In reply to ]
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I live in hot and humid location similar to Singapore
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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You are fine if you use a bike thong and a towel. The bike thong will keep sweat from the midpoint toward the cockpit, but they do not protect the cockpit, front brake, and wheel bearings. I drape a towel over the center of my cockpit. I get almost no sweat on the bike. Before I was using the towel, I pretty much ruined every bolt on my stem and cockpit in under a year. Now, they are all beautiful, all the time.
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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CaptainSnail wrote:
So basically I need to have a dedicated bike for the trainer


The correct number of bikes = n+1 anyways. Get another one.

________________________________________________
Last edited by: odpaul7: Apr 1, 17 14:45
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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CaptainSnail wrote:
I know each bike manufacture has a stances towards indoor trainers.

Does anyone have any actual experience with indoor trainers damaging their bikes?

No issues other than a couple of marginally rusty stem bolts. It puts more strain in the frame, the frame is likely to be able to cope with it.

https://www.pbandjcoaching.com
https://www.thisbigroadtrip.com
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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The only thing I have done is rusted out the bearing assembly in the headset. If you are biking outside and it seems the front end is stiff to turn thats your problem. Just got new bearings and I was good

CaptainSnail wrote:
I know each bike manufacture has a stances towards indoor trainers.

Does anyone have any actual experience with indoor trainers damaging their bikes?

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CeeDotA] [ In reply to ]
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CeeDotA wrote:
I don't know about the bike itself, but I've damaged the cheap plastic acorn nuts on my rear quick releases.

That's why you use a steel trainer skewer.
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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I wear a light mesh base layer when I'm on the trainer, which catches a lot of the sweat before it gets on the bike, and still provides enough ventilation to keep me cool. The one I use is the Performance Bike house brand. I also drape a towel over my neck, which catches more sweat, and you can always take it off if you need to. As far as damaging your bike on the trainer, this gentleman is a former carbon fiber specialist for Boeing, and is certainly one of the leading authorities on all things relating to carbon fiber and cycling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qsLYlVWkbQ

Long story short: he doesn't think it's a problem.
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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I make an indoor protection cover for your indoor trainer. Check us out

http://www.mrvelodesign.com
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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As mentioned, sweat is the biggest threat to your bike while on a trainer.

The stress/strain on the frame probably isn't any more than it'd see on the road, but it might be different. Specifically, some parts, like the seatstays will see some stress in tension instead of compression, which it would never see on the road. This shouldn't damage the frame, but it could cause an existing weakness to fail.

I have an older Litespeed Tachyon where the seatstay to dropout weld failed, only really noticed it getting on and off the bike on the trainer. With the wheel/axle/dropout being held in place, leaning or rocking side to side puts tension on the chainstay.

Fortunately, Litespeed has a lifetime warranty, unfortunately, their definition of lifetime isn't the same as mine. :-(
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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Watched a riding buddy destroy his frame by using it on the trainer.

The bike was a Scott Addict road bike. It is the lightest bike Scott makes, billed as the weight weenie bike. He is anything but a weight weenie. He was north of 250lbs at the time. He clamped it into his trainer and got to riding. He tends to rock side to side while on the trainer. I watched as his frame flexed back and forth against the trainer. By the end of the winter he had cracked both seat stays and the frame was ruined.

I don't know if it was his weight, his riding style, a combo of both, or something else. But riding it in the trainer definitely wrecked that bike. Scott gave him a new frame under warranty, but he does not ride that bike in the trainer anymore.

I have a Scott Foil, I am very careful to not rock side to side while on the trainer and I am 170lbs, no issues so far for me. Rollers are a great way to reduce all stress to the frame, but they can be harder to do a structured workout on.
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [aarondb4] [ In reply to ]
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Great to know. Thanks for sharing. I can see why rocking or standing efforts can be very harsh on the frame.

How did the fail happen? Failing while on the trainer is one thing... failing while on the road is a whole different thing!
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Re: Does indoor trainer damage your bike [CaptainSnail] [ In reply to ]
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Luckily he noticed it when he pulled it off the trainer, no major mishap aside from the ruined frame.
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