Let me tell you my experience and let me preface this by saying I never ever had a bike wreck from this, so when everybody piles on the hate, they are more fear mongering than anything else. But I also have decent bike handling skills, so your results may vary.

Many years ago, I put a trainer tire on and was very happy with it. Then one day, I decided to ride outside and didn't have the time to switch out tires. (Toddler and full time job time crunch life). I was very careful in the turns and it was a nice day, so pavement condition was mostly dry. If there was a wet patch in a turn, I'd be a little more careful. I noticed zero change in performance riding that trainer tire outdoors than riding a regular tire outdoors. None. So I started doing it all the time, for maybe a couple years.

I never had a bike wreck from the tire slipping out in a turn, not even close. A. If the pavement is wet, you're riding inside on the trainer anyway. And B. It's the rear tire, not the front. It doesn't have the traction requirements that the front does.

Looking back, this is what I'd do: If you ride inside most of the time, then get a dedicated trainer tire and wheel. If you ride outside most the time and indoors only some, then get a tough rear outdoor tire like a gatorskin or armadillo and just let the trainer eat it up. It'll be fine.

I also use old tires during the winter on the trainer. Never considered buying a trainer tire.

I'd say no. IME a trainer tire is a touch quieter, but not in the sense of ambient noise...it slips less if you have a smart trainer adjusting resistance to a steep hill or doing a Sprint. My regular old road tire slips a touch and squeaks pretty loud.

But for a more professional take, see this and navigate to "trainers FAQ" near bottom of article. https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...inter-2019-2020.html

Depends. As another has said, a regular tire can start to slip and can be a bit squeaky as it wears down on the trainer, but that's the only difference I can notice. If you have a spare rear wheel ( which I highly recommend) and you are using a smart trainer go ahead and splurge on a trainer tire.

Plus if you are using the trainer indoors, a heads up that a regular tire can spray out small tire particles towards the rear from the trainer roller. Definitely use a long mat or towel on the floor if so.

I don't ride my bike on a trainer near as much as most of you do but I have a Continental Hometrainer tire mounted on an old wheel that I have used since this product was new to the market. It just does not wear out.

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Find out what it is in life that you don't do well, then don't
do that thing.

You can get away with any tire, but if you're doing high wattage intervals, or short powerful bursts, a dedicated indoor tire won't slip as much, so you won't experience big power drops, if that matters to you...
I have both but only use my Insideride rollers, and it doesn't make much difference (they both slip the moment I move my weight forward or not pedaling evenly out of the saddle), apart from being more silent.
Oh ! And a trainer tire doesn't heat up as much as a normal one, at least that's what I experienced. I get more flats with regular tires on my trainer than outside on the road.
HOpe that helps,
Louis :-)

I buy continental ultra sport tires and run them on the trainer. I tend to get really good mileage out of them.

x2; I get probably 2 years use of of trainer tire. Regular tires are louder and don’t last as long g (generally). You should be able to find them for $25. But I also have a dedicated Cheap trainer wheel. Without that, not sure I would bother to keep swapping. And a regular will certainly work.

A trainer tire will produce less shavings from contacting the trainer. It will slip less but you can also tighten the roller a bit... imo if you have old tires - just use them instead.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

I used an old tire on my Feedback Sports Omnium and some tire shavings got inside the bearing which made it defunct. Was covered under warranty but I put a trainer tire on when I got the new one so it wouldn't happen again.