gadgetadam 

I noticed today that my rear tire is flattened and no longer rounded where it touches the pavement/trainer. I started using a trainer just 2 months ago and my tires (Vittoria Diamante Pro-Radiale) I've had only since the summer. The tires have maybe 800 miles on them and I've been on the trainer maybe a total of 6 hours.

Is this normal?
Should I have cheap tires for the trainer?
Am I doing something wrong?
Do different trainers wear down tires more than others?

Left photo front tire(yes I know front tires don't wear down as fast) right photo rear tire.

Bah Humbug

I spent some time in a Computrainer studio two years ago, and people with regular road tires (including me) had chunks getting torn off their back tires and squared them off in short order. I'm using a Vittoria trainer-specific tire now (on a KKRM, if it makes a difference) and it's not even losing the center seam from the mold. I wouldn't use a tire I wanted to use on the street for any length of time on a trainer.

Commodus

Those Diamantes are very fragile, thin, racy tires. Trainers are very hard on tires. I think you have the ideal circumstances for wearing out your tires in record time!

gadgetadam 

Thanks. I wish I would have known that before mucking up my rear tire. I thought I was doing good in keeping in shape over the winter. I guess I didn't think of everything or research enough. I ordered a new tire to replace the one that now looks like a car tire for next year and a "Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Home Trainer Fold Tire" to use indoors(winter/snow/blah)from now on.

Thanks for the replies.

pdedes

I have an old conti gp3000 that only sees trainer duty. It is hard and shiny and has had four winters of hard use. It's indestructible.

Carbon Unit

This kind of sucks for me. I would like to doing some trainer work early in the morning and still ride on the weekends. Where I live, I can ride almost every day of the year. I don't have an extra bike that I can put on the trainer. Do you think the trainer wears out a tire faster than the road? I would think the road is more abrasive than a smooth piece of metal.

Bah Humbug

Cheapo rear wheel with old or cheap or trainer-specific tire and cheap cassette. Swap as needed.

merlinextraligh

The trainer definitely accelerates tire wear, however it's not that big of deal. Typically for me a wintr of 3-4 hours a week uses up one in a winter.

You can save a little money going with a cheap trainer tire, but its not going to break you using road tires.

Carbon Unit

I have an extra set of wheels but need another cassette. I will look into the cost of a new Campy 10 speed cassette.

Carbon Unit

It might be worth putting a different wheel. Those GP4000s are a little expensive.

generalkdi

Trainer specific tire can save you a lot of road use tire. They are extremely durable on the trainer, but can't be used outside. Winter is 6 months long here and snow is everywhere (not now, but it's coming fast...), so it's not that bad to change the tire once every six months...

Carbon Unit

I might need to change the back wheel three or four times per week. Winter is non-existent here. I think it would be a pain in the ass.

manutd

then ride outside and stfu

hhnngg1

If you're riding regularly, invest the $35 for a trainer tire. (I think it costs less than that, actually.) Those things last forever on the trainer - mine's nearly 4 years old and is still in great condition. It's worth it if you're riding your trainer weekly and have either an extra bike or extra wheel to keep it mounted on.

jrobe

I save my old worn out tires and then use them in the winter on the trainer and run them right down to the threads. You can run them right down to the tube on the trainer and they work fine. I would never buy a trainer tire when I have worn out tires to use that work just as well.

I would also never use good tires on the trainer. They wear down fast if you ride a lot. If I only had one bike and was still riding outside some, I would buy a cheap used wheel and a new cassette on Ebay to use for the trainer.

carpediemracing 

I've never bought a specific trainer tire. I have saved cut tires for a trainer wheel but skipped changing them over. I just ride my regular clinchers on the trainer. I make sure the pressure is reasonable, that the roller isn't too tight on the tire, and I'm good to go. The riders I know that chunk their tire and such do things like use their brakes (the tire skids immediately and you start taking chunks out of the tire), ride with too little pressure (the abnormal amount of flex causes the rubber to come off the casing), or have tires that are starting to crack from age (the inflexible tread cracks off due to slightly higher than normal case flex).

When I get back on the road the rear tire usually has a silver sheen on it from the aluminum roller. For the first mile or so the tire feels a bit slick but as the silver sheen wears off the tire feels normal again.

When I compare the original picture to my current tires I have similar wear, both on my race wheels (tubulars, never sees the trainer, not even rollers) and training wheels (spends 1/3 or so of their time on the trainer, Cyclops Fluid 2). In the original picture I don't see any unusual wear at all.

Having said that I always buy good durable clinchers for my training wheels. I have Maxxis ReFuses now (second season on them, seem very good), had some Bontragers before (they weren't good tires on or off the trainer), Michelin Krylions before that (great tires).

Carbon Unit

It's my work schedule that gets in the way of riding during the week. A trainer workout fits in the schedule better at times.

ozgur.nevres

If you use normal road tire on trainer, it wears out extremely fast. I would recommend you to buy a trainer tire.

manutd

Not sure how it takes longer to ride the same distance outside than it does on a trainer. Maybe I was wrong and you don't need to STFU you need to HTFU.

hhnngg1

I'm with the work schedule limiting outdoor riding as well. Between the darkness, traffic, etc., it's too inefficient to ride outdoors at the times I do, whereas the trainer is so convenient and can be such high quality. If I have an hour only, I'll opt for the trainer over anything outdoors here if I'm aiming for a serious workout, since the stoppage time on the local routes is a major limiter from lights and stops. Riding outdoors is the shiz but if you're cramped on time and still want to maximize ability, the trainer is really useful and really works for improvement if you HTFU.

yosarian9

Its a pain to take 30-45 seconds 3-4 times a week to change your wheel? Thats three minutes a week!
If thats a pain im surprised you even ride.

Velo Dog

Tires wear out. Eight hundred miles on racing tires isn't bad, actually, and when you're on the trainer the front doesn't get any wear at all, so when you compare the two, the difference is apparent. If you don't want to swap tires or wheels every time you put the bike on the trainer, why not get some decent, long-wearing rubber and use it for everything? I weigh 240, and I routinely get 1500 miles on Panaracer Paselas.
You could also swap the tires, front to back, halfway through their life.

Carbon Unit

No it wouldn't be that bad. I will need another cassette which I don't have. I will do it to save my tires.

By the way, I ride a lot. The only thing that stops me is heavy wind.

hhnngg1

I use two bikes myself - one sits mainly on the trainer (racing bike) and the other is my outdoor training bike, but I did do the wheel change (and even tire change for a short time) thing for trainer riding for a good half a year before. It's a pain even though it doesn't take long. The chain grease was the most annoying thing for me, even if it was pretty easy to clean off.

My philosophy that's worked thus far: you really have to make it as EASY as possible to get on that trainer and do real workouts. I don't know anybody who enjoys trainer workouts to the point of looking forward to them after a few weeks of regular trainer workouts. Any little thing you can do to make it easier is worth it. It's hard enough to motivate after a stressful 11 hour workday to get on a trainer to hammer it out and then have no rest afterwards due to family commitments - I've lost entire workouts because that little wheel change tipped me from doing the workout to saying 'screw it', and I'm very motivated to HTFU. (Most of my workouts are 4AM-6AM, and then a 2nd 30min one at lunch, and then a 3rd one from 5:30-6:30PM - I usually try and do 3 a day, but it's split between Swim/bike/run.)

Carbon Unit

I rode outside in the dark with lights on for two winters and I don't wnat to do it anymore. I was hit once but the car stopped before it drove over me. So, I will take the trainer indoors over riding at night.