Consider buying a 2nd rear wheel and just going with a permanent indoor setup. You'll need an extra cassette too but, maybe, you already have a spare? (If you don't already have 2 cassettes in the house, it is a pretty good sign its time to replace yours so now is a good time to move old faithful to a trainer wheel . . . )


Get the cheapest wheel you can find, weight does not matter here. Something you'd be embarrased to ride on and you could use for weight training is what you are after. Its often easier to find such wheels at lower end LBSs or, go used. It just needs to be round and fit the cassette you run. If you shop well, you should be able to get a wheel for about the same cost as one of the good tires you are chewing up.

I think that there have been a few threads on this very same subject just this week...

I can't imagine it is possible to wear out a tire in 3 weeks on a trainer with any decent tire, but maybe?

Personally I use the Conti Grand Prix 4 Season 25's for Winter riding and 3-6 hours a week on the trainer ( the 25's measure 23.5 on my DT Swiss RR465 rims ) so no fit issues.

I have been using Michelin Krylion Carbons both on the trainer and outside with great success. They have been discontinued but appear to live on as the Pro4 Endurance. I think that any "high mileage" tire with a hard rubber compound will work. IME, you should avoid grippy "high performance" tires with soft rubber compounds. I shredded a Conti GP4000 on the trainer quite quickly.

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gatorskins hold up fine

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

X2- Always some good used wheels or stock take off's in the forum.

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I do have trainer wheels/cassettes/tires, but I recently sold my Quarq and in the interim will be using a PT. I wanted to be able to easily go from outdoors to indoors while still using the PT. I understand the tire will where out more quickly , I'm just looking for the best options.

Kenda. Tough tire for the trainer and for the road. Not the fastest though.

The only good thing about not having a powertap is being able to have dedicated trainer wheel . . .

It is heat that destroys a tire on a trainer. Most often, quick wear is a sign that the tension is not high enough which allows the tire to slip on the roller. It can be counter intuitive but tighter is better for the tire.

As others have said, a harder tire will last longer but, check your tension if you are going through a tire in 3 or 4 weeks. Get the trainer set up right and you should be able to make it through the winter on just about any tire.

Thanks for all the insight.

I used 1 set of gatorskins for the last 7 years on the trainer with occasional road rides. Worked fine until I moved and stopped riding for a a couple weeks. The sidewalls had apparently started to break down and I hard / sharp chunks of rubber were starting to break off and grind away the inner tube.

Not bad for 7 years though with one tube change and riding on the trainer through Texas summers in the garage :)

Jack and Dave,

Thanks for the feedback. I've used Conti's gatorskin tubulars and they worked well; is there a particular model that you recommend (I've seen a few)?

Thanks,
Rick

anything that says gatorskin on it should survive the trainer well.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter