Finally getting out the indoor trainer this winter. I’ve read that indoor trainers wear out tires prematurely. I just put on a new set of Conti GP4000S tires on my bike and I plan on riding my trainer about 40 minutes, 3x or 4X a week until April. Will I notice significant wear on my rear tire from my trainer workouts or should I not worry about it? Thanks for your thoughts.
I ride Conti GP3000’s on my Kurt Kinetic trainer. You will notice significant wear on the rear tire. Best to use a cheaper tire on the back and save the Conti’s for outdoor use.
Continental makes a trainer specific tire (yellow in color) and it’s the best way to go on an indoor trainer. You can get them from Pro Bike Kit for about 18 bucks (good price). Then save your good road tire for the spring.
I switched to the Conti trainer tire last year and definitely is better than road tire.
Quieter and less wear, it wast just a bear to get it on the rim tough.
LV
I just use an old tire. Just throw on whatever you were riding prior to upgrading. Even if the tread is worn down it’s not an issue plus you’ll have two. I find the biggest issue is with the tire getting squared off.
You’ll get a flat spot VERY quickly. I got a trainer tire (basically a thick tire with really hard rubber).
I’ll second using your old rubber on the trainer. I just put my old front tire on the back to wear that one completely out. I, also, try to complete avoid putting my good road tires on a trainer.
As a side note, my rollers don’t tend to wear the tires as much.
I rode the conti 4000 on my computrainer last winter and after about three months the tire started to disintigrate-i.e. the rubber split down the middle and started to peel away. Get a trainer tire that is thick or use something old.
X2 on using an old tire. I just use the previous seasons tire.
Specialized armadillos are a nice option. They hardly wear down from riding on the trainer and act as a good training wheel tire as well. Very hard and very very flat resistant. They are slow but who cares for training …plus when you put your race wheels/tires on they will feel super charged!
I’ve noticed the wear right away. Better off getting a cheap tire.
Is it ok to ride a non-true wheel on the trainer? I’ve got one that is off about .5-1 inches sitting in the garage.
I switched to the Conti trainer tire this year. I put it on my race wheel (PowerTap) and ride that on the trainer.
One way to get the most out of a standard tire on the trainer is to ensure that you run it at the proper pressure and that you put the right amount of tension on the resistance unit.
Too little tension and the tire will slip (skid), which will really tear it up. Too much tension isn’t great either.
Yea you rip through the tires pretty fast no matter what they are when on a trainer.
i have a cheap tire on an older rear wheel that i use just for the trainer
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Step one : Buy a cheap rear wheel on ebay or craigslist for about $50.
Step two : Buy a Shimano 105 level cassette.
Step three : Install said cassette onto said wheel
Step Four : Install an old tire from last season on Said Wheel
Step five : Use “Trainer wheel” on the trainer and your regular wheel on the road.
You’re welcome.
Dave
Before I owned a Power Tap, I used a cheap Mavic OpenPro as my “trainer wheel” and used my old tires that were not road worthy. Now that I have a Power Tap, I just use old tires. Any road tire you put on a trainer will go bad quickly if you spend any time at all on it.
i notice that my back tire seems to wear out quickly – but my front tire, it’s good for the whole winter
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i notice that my back tire seems to wear out quickly – but my front tire, it’s good for the whole winter
Ummm… rear wheel on trainer only?
If you are getting little bits of rubber comming off of your tire then you need to put more tension on it.
jaretj