Do rollers chew tyres...?

BigSpecs

I know the turbo eats 'em up but was wondering if there is any 'more' wear riding rollers compared to riding the road? Could I get away with riding the good bike on rollers without swapping the tyres?
Cheers,
Col.

Eddy S

It depends if your rollers are plastic or aluminium and on your weight and the type of intensity of effort you end up doing.

Plastic rollers don't so much chew them as overheat them. I had to use trainer tyres on my Tacx rollers for long winter training efforts but can use normal tyres on my E-Motion rollers.

I still occasionally ruin tubs from overheating at track meetings using the Tacx rollers for warm up and will be replacing them.

chriskempton

Yes the wear is much quicker. It's up to you how much you value your tyres, but why not get a cheap/second hand rear wheel/cassette and then you don't need to worry.

flanners1

Yes they round the tyres off big time. I have plastic rollers and use cheap Michelin tyres with tread. Longer lasting and adds to the resistance.

de_sisti

I use E-Motion rollers and haven't noticed any wear on my tyres.

DaSy

I use CycleOps Aluminium rollers which don't wear tyres particularly quickly, but do leave an odd metallic sheen to the tyres. Intensity and wheel speed do dictate how much wear you get, so I have a cheap set of wheels with old tyres for use on the rollers.