I ride what ever bike I damn well please while on the trainer. Fuck what they think!

That's nice...and very alpha of you.

But I was more interested in if there was a reason behind their comment.

Sorry, I forgot the pink font.

Seriously, ride whatever you want to ride.

Agree 4-6 times a week, I join 4000 other people on Zwift. Either we're all ruining our bikes or it's perfectly safe. Ride your bike, inside or out.

If you're using a direct drive type trainer, then really you just need to protect you bike from excess sweat, and give it a good wipe down/cleaning as needed. Really no different than if you ride outdoors and expose your bikes to the elements.

If on a more traditional trainer that clamps the rear skewer, then you just need to make sure the skewer you're using has ends large enough so the clamps of the trainer aren't contacting the dropouts of your frame. A trainer specific tire or simply an old tire for the trainer can help preserve your more expensive and softer tires.

If my race bike can't handle the "stress" of a trainer I wouldn't trust it while racing.

Sounds like they were reacting to myth. All my bikes are race bikes and they all take turns doing their duty on the trainer. All are top end carbon machines and some have been in the stable for many years. Pure myth.

Thanks all!

I've got my race bike on the trainer and it's now got towels taped all over it. My salty sweat corroded the hell out of the rear brake.... ewwww. No reason not to use it, just make sure it's relatively sweat protected.

The race bike is on the trainer for 100% of my trainer rides. Unless you have another trainer bike that exactly replicates your race bike position you'll miss that element of training specificity. Towels and baby wipes = no problem!

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http://www.howesgreg.com

My race bike is on the trainer, but I just had to cut the brake housing because my sweat had corroded the cable solid in the housing.

Didn't watch the video, but I would say, "It depends..." I used to ride my 2004 Litespeed Ultimate on the trainer. It has carbon seat stays. Both came unbonded. My Litespeed had a lifetime warranty, so the stays were fixed under warranty. While it's possible that this was a defect, I believe that with the rear clamped into a trainer, there is more force at the stay than it was built to handle. I've never put it back on the trainer.

That said, I ride my Giant TCR Advanced on the trainer regularly. The only visible damage is paint flaking off the dropouts and the anodizing coming off the hubs - due to TSS (Toxic Sweat Syndrome).

I've worked in a high end shop for over 7 years. I've seen literally everything you could possibly imagine happen to bikes. In my entire time there, taking in 5000+ (likely closer to 10k) I've only seen ONE person ever damage a bike while riding a trainer. This woman fell over trying to reach a waterbottle on a table next to her.


Beyond that, I have seen more than my fair share of headsets, bartape and bolts ruined because of a lack of simply wiping down your sweat. Bartape likely should be replaced every spring. But riding with a towel and wiping sweat off your headset/stem/headtube goes a long way in preserving whats there. Regular maintenance also goes a long way.


Riding on a trainer is entirely safe.... just clean your bike afterwards.

Pretty sure Heather and Mark were being funny. Or trying to be.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I don't use my race bike on the trainer. But it's mainly down to:
1) Sweat. When I first started riding indoors I ruined a headset with sweat before I learned to tape over it. That stuff is corrosive...
2) Hassle. It only takes a minute or so to switch the bike on or off the trainer, but that's still a minute saved. And possibly a hand wash as well if the bike isn't as clean as it should be...
3) Chain/cassette wear. I have a direct drive trainer, so I tend to leave it in a single gear all the time, so that cog's going to wear out at some point. I also run cheaper chain/cassette indoors (Tiagra or 105 instead of Ultegra or occasionally DA if it's on sale on the race bike), since weight/bling/breakage isn't really an issue. Might as well put that wear on the cheap components rather than the expensive ones.

The theoretical possibility of stressing the race frame is a minor side benefit. If I didn't already own an old beater bike that perfectly replicates the position on my race bike then I certainly wouldn't bother buying one, but since I have one lying around anyway and was hardly ever taking it outdoors, I may as well put it to good use!

The stresses on the frame on the trainer are quite different to those on the road. That said, they seem to be able to manage alright and I certainly use my race bike on the trainer.

My race bike lives on the trainer, that's the only place the girl sees any action these days!

Been doing it for 5 years with no negative effect. Don't seem to sweat on the bike too much, I must not be trying hard enough.

That’s the only bike I use on the trainer. Don’t like my roadie on the trainer at all.

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Twitter - Instagram

I used to and it was fine. I however have a road bike currently ghetto rigged as a try bike from a year I had to go without. Long story... Anyhow to answer your question I now just keep the ghetto rigged bike on the trainer year round. That way I don't have to worry about it.

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I still lapped everyone on the couch!

For the 1000th time......

GCN show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXkjGmbX6UM&t=1s


And a few of pros warming up, I suppose most of us in here have ftp's low enough that their warmup would almost be our balls-out pace.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt2e32M-RPw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN2nZAlSg2s&t=3s


The only caveat to this I would say is if your frame mfg explicitly calls it out, you're a bit ham-fisted getting your bike setup in one, OR you plan on full on sprinting out of saddle in some kind of crazy Zwift crap.


Otherwise, for 95% of training, good to go. Just setup with care using the correct skewer and procedures.

Apples and oranges. Your bike is not held in a fixed position when racing. I have no data, but I suspect there is way more flex at the bottom bracket and definitely where the stays attach to the rear dropouts. I had over 30,000 mile on my bike before it had a problem and have another 20,000+ on it since it was repaired.

Keep in mind a lot of people only have ONE bike.
Ride what you got.

I ride my TT bike that I plan to race on any chance I get. The only time I break out the roadie is group rides or if the TT is in the shop/transit to race.

Make sure to keep bike clean like the rest of the time. Wipe off the sweat. Use a towel for sweat. Lube the screws.

Maybe if my TT bike was $10k I'd think different.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

There's no issue, just more maintenance. I use my 2004 Quintana Roo on the trainer, same aero position I need, race bike and road bike I use outdoors when needed. I'd prefer to wear out my old bike indoors than worry about a rusted headset on my race bike.

+1 I have to buy a new rear brake for mine because my sweat corroded them so bad! Otherwise ride it like you stole it inside and out.