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Bike trainers tire wear

Old 11-28-19, 11:15 AM
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coffeesnob
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Bike trainers tire wear

Do the trainers in which the tire rolls on rollers cause super fast tire wear? Are the tires made for trainers hype or not? Thanks
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Old 11-28-19, 11:27 AM
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Bigbus
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I'm just guessing but it might have something to do with tread pattern more than composition.
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Old 11-28-19, 11:50 AM
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Wilfred Laurier
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Yes trainers wear tires quickly. The pressure is always on a narrow section of the middle of the tire and a flat section will develop and eventually reach the casing underneath.

Yes there are trainer specific tires. For example: https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5041-4...0-Folding-Tire
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Old 11-28-19, 01:06 PM
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If you're using the trainer once a month or something like that, it's probably not worth having a dedicated trainer tire. If you're using it regularly, like during the winter, it is IMO. You can use old tires, but the dedicated ones are a bit quieter, don't leave black "dust" all around and just seem to work a bit better. If you're going to be using the trainer regularly and ride outside, it may be a good idea to either get a dedicated training wheel so you aren't changing your tire all the time or, consider a direct drive trainer.
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Old 11-28-19, 01:50 PM
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OP referenced 'rollers' (plural).. are we talking about a mounted rear-wheel type trainer, or actual an actual roller trainer, and are you supposed to ideally use 'trainer' tires (like linked above) on rollers?
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Old 11-28-19, 05:28 PM
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In 40+ years, I've never used trainer-specific tires when riding my old-school rollers. I have, however, experienced some rather loud CRACKs that I found to be static electricity discharges when riding for an extended amount of time.
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Old 11-28-19, 06:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Sy Reene
OP referenced 'rollers' (plural).. are we talking about a mounted rear-wheel type trainer, or actual an actual roller trainer, and are you supposed to ideally use 'trainer' tires (like linked above) on rollers?
i am looking at the CycleOps fluid trainer 2
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Old 11-28-19, 06:05 PM
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I have a popular fluid roller trainer made by Kinetic. I use it 4-5 days per week. I think some of it might depend on the particular standard tire, but for me the $30 I spent on a trainer tire was well worth the expense. The trainer tire is quieter, cleaner, longer lasting and has less slippage.
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Old 11-29-19, 04:18 AM
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canklecat
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On my CycleOps trainer I use the same tires I ride on: Continental Ultra Sport II. 700x23, x25, folding and wire bead. That includes interval training sessions too, reaching 130-160 rpm for 10-20 seconds, several times per session. No problems. Good, durable and cheap tires for everyday use. They cost about $15 each.
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Old 11-29-19, 06:29 AM
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I use the same 23-mm tire for road and trainer riding but reduce the pressure to about 15 or 20 psi on the trainer and adjust the pressure roller such that the tire's contact area is quite wide. No more black dust, much reduced tire wear, no damage to the tire, no slippage once the tire is warm.
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Old 11-29-19, 06:33 AM
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I've been using a wheel-on trainer (Wahoo Kickr SNAP) for 3 years now. After using old road tires and having lots of rubber dust around the trainer, I bought a Continental trainer tire and no more mess and it looks like it will last forever.

If it was between buying the trainer tire and buying something I needed for outdoor biking, I would have just kept sweeping up the rubber dust and putting a new old tire on the trainer bike when needed. But I could afford a trainer tire and I'm pretty sure the $/trainer mile will work out less than just buying and using cheap tires - not to mention less time spent replacing tires, sweeping up,etc.
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Old 11-29-19, 10:50 AM
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I’ve had “trainer tires” that didn’t last any longer than regular 23c tires. The one I’m currently using is a cheap crappy tire that I don’t mind shredding.

Having a spare rear wheel is the ideal. Indexing is the challenge.
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Old 11-29-19, 11:15 AM
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Trainer tires are very legitimate. When first getting an on wheel smart trainer (Cycleops Magnus) I went through two ordinary tires within the first month. I have since bought a single trainer tire, the thing has been incredible, I've put literally thousands of miles and hundreds of hours on it and it's as good as new, realistically, it's far better at managing the heat build-up that can occur than traditional tires.
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Old 11-29-19, 11:21 AM
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eja_ bottecchia
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I have a Kinetic trainer and I use their trainer tire.

As others have mentioned, a trainer specific tire is quieter, more durable and less messy.

For me, the added advantage of using a Kinetic tire is that it comes in a bright lime-green color. It looks like the tires in ZWIFT’s Tron bikes.
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Old 11-29-19, 12:42 PM
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I used a Cycleops Magneto last winter with some crappy stock road tires that came with various bikes. They seemed to do fine - no flats, and not a ton of black dust or anything.

I wouldn't use my regular (more expensive) road tires on the trainer. Without a stock of expendable tires, it would be worth it to buy a dedicated trainer tire.
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Old 11-29-19, 01:01 PM
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I once had a trainer and used it a few hours during winter. I used old cheap tires since that bike didn't see a lot of use otherwise. there was quite some visible dust in the trajectory path of the tire. My wife was also concerned about the (invisible) rubber dust in the air. Not sure if that is valid, but if you google PM 2.5 and PM10 you see that particulate matter isn't a joke, and probably not good when from an artificial petroleum product. Another problem was the noise. The trainer itself was fluid and not audible, but the tires were noisy preventing me from using it during "bedtime" of my family.

A trainer tire may be designed better to overcome some of the problems above. But in the end I would use some sort of direct drive or dedicated trainer should I ever want one again.
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Old 11-29-19, 06:37 PM
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I use a Kinetic. What I do is save my almost worn out tires and cycle them through the trainer to finish them off. I ride 3 days a week in the winter and usually eat up a tire per season, sometimes two if the tire is bad. I keep better newer tires on my outdoor bike this way too. A trick too is to spray them with windex. The tires stick a bit better to the roller and doesn't tear em up quite as fast. Still rips them up but a sales guy at Kinetic told me they suggest this.

the trainer tires are that cool green......but not worth it for me anyways.
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Old 11-29-19, 09:38 PM
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I just use old tires. Can’t see spending money for a trainer tire when I have old tires laying around.
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Old 11-29-19, 09:44 PM
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I found that some of the harder road tires, like Conti Gator Skins, seem to do well on trainers. But more supple tires, like GP4000ii's wear quickly. I paid $24 for a trainer specific tire last year, and it shows no wear at all so far. For the small investment, I like the trainer tire.
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Old 11-30-19, 07:30 AM
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OP to answer your original question, I have a trainer that is similar to traditional rollers only it holds the bike at the fork. It does not wear tires noticeably fast. It looks like this:

I also have a more traditional trainer that locks the bike in at the rear axle, and yes it does produce a lot of tire wear. It looks like this:

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Old 12-01-19, 01:51 PM
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I bet most of those who have chimed in here (appreciated by the way) use road tires. I can see those wearing down faster than my hybrid tire or do I have that wrong. Some of those road tires just look smooth to start with so I can see maybe they would wear out faster. All of the ideas presented here are valid in my opinion but the person who mentioned the invisible rubber dust in the house concerns me on getting one at all. My lungs are healthy and I want to keep them that way.
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Old 12-01-19, 02:47 PM
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Originally Posted by coffeesnob
I bet most of those who have chimed in here (appreciated by the way) use road tires. I can see those wearing down faster than my hybrid tire or do I have that wrong. Some of those road tires just look smooth to start with so I can see maybe they would wear out faster. All of the ideas presented here are valid in my opinion but the person who mentioned the invisible rubber dust in the house concerns me on getting one at all. My lungs are healthy and I want to keep them that way.
mayne a knobby tire woudl last longer because it has more "meat" to wear down. but it will wear off more rubber and will be noisier. a smooth tire has less thread to give up, but also will be less noisy. Trainer tires are smooth, if that is any indication.
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Old 12-01-19, 03:56 PM
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How many of you have such a trainer loaned to to a "friend", when you don't have use of it. and/or You need of the spacing in your home. Later, when You need what been YOUR TRAINER, to take from your friend's possession --- YOU Find out that who was your friend had sold it. These SUCH STYLE trainers are more costly nowadays than 15 years ago. Mine was a Blackburn.
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Old 12-01-19, 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by molten
How many of you have such a trainer loaned to to a "friend", when you don't have use of it. and/or You need of the spacing in your home. Later, when You need what been YOUR TRAINER, to take from your friend's possession --- YOU Find out that who was your friend had sold it. These SUCH STYLE trainers are more costly nowadays than 15 years ago. Mine was a Blackburn.
Yipes, I think you need a better class of friends.
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Old 12-01-19, 06:16 PM
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This is how you find out who still defines as a (claimed to been friend) "friend" of yours. My originating with him, as he be a bike shop owner who didn't have his own trainer . He be getting older of age, and be the type who not wanted to go on bike rides I asked to go on --- with him. We know when so many get older, how they lose their mindset.
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