I’m looking at the foot of new snow outside, and realizing that most of my riding this winter will be on the Computrainer. My husband is of the opinion that I shouldn’t use my new P3 in the trainer, as they are hard on the bike frame. Any thoughts?
I’ll bet a trainer is easier on a bike frame than carrying it in a fork mounted roof rack. I train 2 out of 3 days a week exclusively on a Computrainer and have never had any frame issues.
Two winters ago, I called Cervelo and asked the very same question. The customer service rep told me that it was not a problem. I haven’t had any problems with the bike structurally or handling-wise after putting it back on the road…The bike stays mounted and sees about 8-15 hours of service per week. I worry more about keeping the sweat cleaned off than I do the bike frame.
B-
I’d worry more about corrosion control than frame fatigue. If a cervelo can handle my 200lbs hitting a giant pothole at 45 mph then I wouldn’t be too concerned about riding the trainer. Keep an especially close eye on stem and headset area as it gets the most sweat abuse.
Very good point. Good thing I glisten instead of sweat. But to that end, I keep a stack of towels next to me when I ride and keep my cockpit covered at all times. I usually switch towels every 30-40 minutes so they don’t get too saturated. Seems to have worked well as I’ve never had any corrosion issues on aluminum components.
Thank you everyone!
Crashingirl, why not get a set of rollers. Much easier on the frame and more fun. Try riding in the aero position and see how high RPM you can ride in !
I totally agree with this. While a trainer will undoubtebly exert some stresses on a bike frame it is probably much better than a roof rack and maybe even better than what happens to it when you ride it outside on a really bad road.
Heavy sweaters need to be advised about corrosion around waterbottle cages, headsets, brake and derailleur cables/adjusters, and even cranks. I can’t tell you how many bikes that I have worked on that been trashed by sweat. Often costing a $50 -75 in parts and labor to fix. I have seen a couple of incidents where fork ends were bent on the frames fixed to the trainer. Just because it is indoors does not eliminate the need for maintenance. G