Should be quieter, but that is about it outside of wearing down your other tires. I use the same tires for on trainer/road then throw on race tires.

This is what I figured. I kind of thought running the same road/trainer tires would be fine. It seems like a real pain to swap back and forth with the rear tire, especially this time of year when it's fall and you're not in full blown trainer mode yet.

I bought a crappy rear wheel and put a trainer tire on it and leave it by the trainer. Then I just swap out rear wheels when I need to. I don't know the validity of the trainer tire vs. normal tire argument, but can say the wear hasn't been much on the trainer tire (maybe I didnt ride enough!).

Once the weather turns and you know you are going to be training 100% indoors it would probably be worth throwing on, but I am with you on it being way to much work to switch back and forth this time of the year.

A trainer tire is not necessary.

But, the trainer can wear down a regular tire pretty fast so you could end up throwing away some money if you have decent tires on your bike and hit the trainer regularly. Trainer tires also do work just a bit better than a regular tire as they are built to that the heat and generally have a more consistent performance with regard to grip on the roller.

Also, in my pre trainer tire days, I had issues with my tire throwing off rubber dust which did a number on my carpet. Definitely consider a trainer tire if you are riding in the living room ;-)

In the short run just run your regular tire. If you get into the trainer enough hat you are using it regularly, it is worth the investment to set up a dedicated rear wheel with a trainer tire on it. If you don't already have a second set of wheels laying around, you can get the cheapest rear wheel you can find, buy a cassette (you need a spare anyway) and a trainer tire for less than $150 if you shop well.

Trainers can really wear down tires and create worn/weak spots; which at minimum cause the tire to have ripples in it. Once in a while they wear out and the tube comes thru and blows up in spectacular fashion. Just a heart test on the trainer, could be much less fun on the road. I'd definitely go with cheap wheel/tire for use on the trainer; leave your road wheel and tire for the road. I actually am using an old gatorskin tire on my computrainer; which has lasted forever. I bought a Continental trainer tire 2 years ago, but my gatorskin is still working fine! Based on previous trainer tires, that is by far the longest use I've got out of a tire on a trainer.

go with a slick, or at least semi-slick, training tire, such as vittoria zaffiro, and you'll be fine

In the summer months when i retreat to the trainer i don't bother changing my rear tire. Once it hits later in the fall/early winter and 90% of my rides are indoors i switch to a dedicated trainer tire. It's a one time cost of $30 or $40 and so far has last 3 winter seasons which is easily 200+ hours. Prior to this I would just use a regular tire on the rear and would go through one every 2 months or so as it would wear down fast.

As a point of reference. I have 7000+ miles on a bontrager R3, 75% of which have been on the trainer and it is still in fine shape. Maybe we have different definitions of long lasting? Or maybe this this tire just doesn't get eaten up like others.

Some tires don't last on the trainer, it makes the tread start to separate. Others do just fine. You could pick up a cheap wheel and make swapping much simpler.

Might be a bit quieter and will save you wear on your nice tires (and thus $). The Continental Home Trainer tire is pretty tough to get on/off the first couple times but loosens up thereafter.

They do last longer and they handle heat build up better, which results in less flats. I wouldn't change tires in order to have that advantage though. The only way I make use of one is with a dedicated trainer wheel to throw on the bike. Some people just keep around worn tires from the summer months and use them during the winter on a trainer wheel and this seems to work pretty well too. Most of the people who advocate for trainer tires spend considerable time (like 150+ hours per year) on the turbo or have a dedicated bike+trainer set up so there is no switch out concerns.

This is also what I do. My current trainer tire has nearly 3,000 miles (158 hours) and its hard to tell if its worn down at all.

For the longest time I just used a regular road tire that had some gashes in it from outside rides (so I no longer wanted to use it outside) on a dedicated trainer wheel. Never had issues. Then two winters ago I picked up a Schwalbe Insider tire and it lasted about 20-30 hours on the trainer before it developed bulges. Next I tried a CycleOps branded trainer tire, it lasted a bit longer but then started to split down the middle on me. I decided "if ain't broke don't fix it" and went back to a regular road tire have been 1.5 winters with no issues, no slippage.

When trainer season starts, I take off my Hed race wheels and put my box wheels on my bike. I've got enough old tires that have been retired from racing that I just put those on the rear wheel. Makes good use of tires that I don't want to use in the road anymore.

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"For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't understand, no explanation is possible."

That's quite good. What psi is it inflated to when you use it on the trainer?

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I have had good luck with Vittoria rubino and zaffiro tires. They seem to last forever and I average about 7 hours a week on the trainer year-round.

mwanner1 is right... use an old slick and you'll be fine. ebay, craigslist, etc... you can find it for cheap. I have a dedicated trainer wheel with a slick on it that I'm not afraid to use on the road or the trainer. It's been wearing fine. I do about 4hrs a week on the trainer and maybe 2-3 on the road...

Do the opposite... buy a shitty rear tire and change it out to a nice tire for races.

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