Do turbo trainers cause friction

emaichael
emaichael Posts: 109
edited November 2007 in Road beginners
am wondering, how do turbo trainers work? do they actually cause friction on your tire wheel tred(rubbing)
or is it a wheel pressed up close to the tred tightly?(i hope its this)

u can tell am clueless, but ive tried many searches on the net and i cant find the page for info like this, or pictures up close to feed my pondering. because am thinking of getting one, but dont wanna wear away my tire, as i would be doing about 1-2hours a day of it...
thankyou for any replys

Comments

  • JWSurrey
    JWSurrey Posts: 1,173
    Depends on how hard you clamp the tyre to the roller.
    If you clamp it too loosely, as you accelerate, the wheel will slip/skid, too tight, and you'll overheat and shred your tyre in no time at all, plus emblazon your jersey with a nice black melted rubber stripe - I know, I've done it!

    I'd say that you'd wear your tyre faster than you would on the road, however I roller-train using my MTB with road tyres, and the wear is barely noticable (now that I've figured out what the minimum tension I can get away with, without the back wheel skidding).

    There are actually "turbo tyres" available. These have a harder compound that's also supposed to be stable at slightly higher temperatures.
  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    emaichael wrote:
    do they actually cause friction on your tire wheel tred(rubbing)
    or is it a wheel pressed up close to the tred tightly?(i hope its this)
    The rear tyre turns a metal roller which has resistance to being turned either due to an air fan, magnetic resistance or an impeller turning in an oil bath. The tyre should not skid over the roller if you get the tension adjustment right.

    Turbos do wear the rear tyre due to heat build up and the very small contact area. It is worth using a separate tyre/wheel for turbo sessions than you do for road rides as the turbo tends to square the tread off the tyre which can make on road handling poor.
    It's a Lifestyle! -+-+- Coggan Training Levels
  • McBain_v1
    McBain_v1 Posts: 5,237
    Agree with the above. I purchased a special turbo-tyre, but the damn thing was so inflexible to date I have been unable to get it onto the wheel :oops: I'm going to try again because with the weather getting a little bit flaky, the after-work rides are going to have to give way to a session in the shed on the turbo trainer :cry:
    What do I ride? Now that's an Enigma!
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    emaichael wrote:
    am wondering, how do turbo trainers work? do they actually cause friction on your tire wheel tred(rubbing)
    or is it a wheel pressed up close to the tred tightly?(i hope its this)

    Wheel pressed up close to the turbo trainer = friction,

    Tyres work by friction, no friction makes tyres pointless.
    I like bikes...

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  • oldwelshman
    oldwelshman Posts: 4,733
    Use your older tyres that may have small flint holes in them, I have about 4 of these. They have too many little holes to risk going out on road and puncturing, but they are fine on turbo.
    http://s290.photobucket.com/albums/ll245/oldwelshman/
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  • DavidBelcher
    DavidBelcher Posts: 2,684
    Bronzie wrote:
    Turbos do wear the rear tyre due to heat build up and the very small contact area. It is worth using a separate tyre/wheel for turbo sessions than you do for road rides as the turbo tends to square the tread off the tyre which can make on road handling poor.

    Or you can invest in one of those Minoura models that use the braking surfaces of the rim as the contact point rather than the tyre. More expensive than some of the conventional designs, though.

    David
    "It is not enough merely to win; others must lose." - Gore Vidal
  • off the back
    off the back Posts: 168
    If you have it too loose it will be hard to get teh heart rate up as the turbo freewheel wheel will be skimming along the tyre and all too easy. I think to get benefit you will need to put up with some ware and tear. Get a cheap tyre/wheel for your turbo - with hard rubber compound - that will do teh job and should wear slowly with min cost.
  • penugent
    penugent Posts: 913
    emaichael wrote:
    i would be doing about 1-2hours a day of it...

    Good luck.

    I get so bored shitless after about 45mins on my turbo that I avoid using it until the weather is just so awful that there is no way I would venture outside.
  • jefferee
    jefferee Posts: 80
    redddraggon wrote:
    emaichael wrote:
    am wondering, how do turbo trainers work? do they actually cause friction on your tire wheel tred(rubbing)
    or is it a wheel pressed up close to the tred tightly?(i hope its this)

    Wheel pressed up close to the turbo trainer = friction,

    Tyres work by friction, no friction makes tyres pointless.

    <pedantic physicist>
    Yes, tyres work by friction. The proper question here is whether or not the tyre/roller interface is subjected to static friction (tyre doesn't slip on the roller) or dynamic friction (tyre slips on the roller).

    As has been pointed out, the tyre/roller interface should not slip (should be static friction), unless you want to quickly remove a lot of tread!

    </pedantic physicist> :wink:

    I don't think I would last 10 minutes on a turbo. I don't generally do exercise for the sake of exercise.
  • OnTow
    OnTow Posts: 130
    McBain_v1 wrote:
    ...I purchased a special turbo-tyre, but the damn thing was so inflexible to date I have been unable to get it onto the wheel ....:

    I'm assuming it's a normal inner tubed tyre with wire bead that's too tough to get over the rim....
    Try a VAR tool - They're so good and light that I carry one on rides.
    As an alternative, try a Crank Brothers Speed lever.

    The VAR tool is sold by BikePlus and SJS Cycles, amongst others.

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