Jesus-#$@!ing-christ. I almost don’t have any thumbs left, and I still don’t have that trainer tire mounted on my rim. I’ve seen in previous posts people complaining about it, but the only mention for getting it on easier was to put it in the dryer.
Does that really work? Any other tips? I tried tonight to flip the last several inches over the rim with a lever. Yet, the tire just came off the rim further along from the point where I had positioned the lever. I don’t have any experience with tubulars, but I know they get pre-stretched. How is that done? Could I do that for this little yellow bastard?
Yep, those trainer tyres are litle b*stards to get on. I doubt whether you could stretch them like tubulars as the bead is not a stretchable bead. My recommendation would be to do what I did, swallow your pride and as your local mechanic to mount it. They will be able to do it without levers and enjoy your discomfort
Tip #1: If there’s any chance that you’ll be switching back and forth between indoor and outdoor riding on the same bike, put the trainer tire on a spare wheel.
Tip #2: Time, patience, beer, and some experimentation in finding the exact right combination of profanity.
Yep, those trainer tyres are litle b*stards to get on. I doubt whether you could stretch them like tubulars as the bead is not a stretchable bead. My recommendation would be to do what I did, swallow your pride and as your local mechanic to mount it. They will be able to do it without levers and enjoy your discomfort
I can confirm that you can’t stretch the thing. Last time I was getting ready to mount mine I applied about a thousand pounds of force in an attempt to stretch it. It didn’t help even a little. I’m with you, take it to the mechanic.
a tip i got from this forum a couple of years ago is to put them in the clothes dryer for a while. that will make them a bit more pliable and a bit easier to put on. not easy, easier. good luck.
Haha. I remember trying to fit mine. I only had a single wheel at the time too and hardly rode outside cos I couldn’t face having to remove/refit the thing to swap over with a normal tyre
Lost plenty of skin off my knuckles and resported to wearing snowboarding gloves whilst trying to put it on.
My advice, swap it for one of the blue Tacx tyres. ALOT less headache
I have a trainer on the way, do I need a trainer tire? Will I just get accelerated wear on my tires or will it destroy them in short order?
Yes. If you aren’t careful in setting up the trainer, you can destroy a nice road tire in a week or so, and even if you are careful, the trainer will put alot more wear on the tire than comparable road time will. Because some of the things that make a road tire nice are softer rubber and less of it to save weight, more expensive tires actually fair worse on a trainer.
I hear good things about the Conti trainer tire that started this thread but I’m still waiting for the $15 POS tire I’ve been using for the past 2 years to finally wear out before I get one. When it comes to trainer use, generally the cheaper the tire you get, the longer it will last since they generally have harder rubber and more tread.
If you are going to be going back and forth between indoor and outdoor, the easiest way to go is to dedicate a wheel to trainer use. If you don’t have an extra rear wheel laying around, they are pretty cheap if you have no concern over weight and aerodynamics.
Normally I’m in the “triathletes shouldn’t lift weights” camp, but then you end up with threads like this…
Ha! While I’m certainly not ready for any Mr. Universe comps, this is even funnier since I lift an hour each day. Maybe I have skewed too far to the SBR direction…
My recommendation would be to do what I did, swallow your pride and as your local mechanic to mount it. They will be able to do it without levers and enjoy your discomfort
Julian,
I’m from the old school, “never, ever, use a tire lever for mounting a tire”, but I have definitely pitched that philosophy when mounting the Conti trainer tires. I just lock the door, turn down the lights, and secretly pull out the tire levers, careful not to pinch the tube.
All I need to have is my wife see me using levers to mount the tire, and I will have throw away years of training her to put clinchers on without them!
BTW, I’m convinced that the local mechanics (regardless of what they say) do the same. I’d like to see the forearms of the bike wrench jockey that can mount those tires w/o levers!
It depends on how long you’ve been riding and how many miles you put on a trainer. I keep my old and thin and/or sidewall-damaged tires from summer riding and use them in the winter on the trainer. They eventually blow, but the idea of buying a new tire just to ride on the trainer never made any sense to me. That being said, they’re $15…compared to all the $$$ bike stuff cost’s, one of those conti trainer tires is not a huge investment.
As others have indicated, I don’t think you NEED a specific trainer tire. This trainer tire is obviously my first. I had some old Vittoria Zaffiro Pro’s that I was using before getting this. One of the VZP’s lasted forever. The other one lasted a week. It’s not like I was doing anything different in force applied or setup or what have you. Shit happens.
If you search, you will find a thread where one guy wore down the Conti Home Trainer right down to exposing the bead in a week! It runs counter to the vast majority of most people’s experiences with this yellow devil, but there are others besides him who also have reported quick wear … maybe just some bad material batches.
For a general idea of timing, emphasis, and placement of F-bombs for this operation, I’d recommend using the mental image of the conclusion of a good fireworks show.
Dan, I’m the same, in fact I only use levers to get tyres off on the road side when I puncture, which is over 7 seasons since I started using Panaracer flataways.
My mechanic is about 110lbs soaking wet but has hands and forearms of steel. I watched him get the conti tyre on in front of my eyes!
