The rotating knob at the back of the trainer adjusts the pressure of the roller against the tire. Think of it as how hard your tire presses against the ground.

There is a little bit of judgement involved in getting that right. Too loose and your tire skids on the resistance roller when you accelerate. Too tight and you find little flakes of black matter (rubber) laying under the resistance unit from excess tire wear since the tire is being forced against the roller too hard.

I find that if I tighten the knob until the roller contacts the tire, deforms it slightly, and then grasp the wheel with my left hand while holding the resistance roller with my right hand that it should require some measure of tangible force to rotate (skid) the wheel on the resistance roller. In other words, the wheels is really hard to rotate with one hand while I am holding the resisance roller with the other.

The tire needs to be adjusted against the roller not-too-tight, not-to-loose.

Now, remember: This adjustment shouldn't be something that necessarily influences your resistance. At least not primarily. The thing that adjust your resistance on your new trainer is exactly the same thing that adjust your resistance when you ride outdoors: Speed. The faster you go the harder it gets, and the faster you try to go faster the harder it gets...

I hope that isn't too convoluted.

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Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Perfect, Tom. Thanks a ton -

teege