Tyre for Trainer and winter.

NITR8s

Can anyone recommend a tyre that would be able to cope with the stress of a trainer and the english winter weather.

fevmeister

There is no tyre designed for both the road and a turbo trainer. There are winter specific tyres and there are turbo specific tyres. I would grab any old cheap pair cos then when you do wear them down on the turbo or run into trouble on the roads in winter it's not too much of a sting in the wallet.

napoleond

I use a spesh armadillo on my rear. Rolls like a hosepipe but is tough as old boots (probably made of the same stuff).
Hardly noticed any wear from the turbo!

NITR8s

I was thinking something like the Vittoria Zaffiro as its a robust training tyre, however for a couple of quid more i can get the Vittoria Zaffiro pro.

DavidJB

Using Vittoria Rubino Pro seem ok atm...good grip in the wet and solid.

andyeb

NITR8s wrote:

I was thinking something like the Vittoria Zaffiro as its a robust training tyre, however for a couple of quid more i can get the Vittoria Zaffiro pro.

I had Vittoria Zaffiro factory fitted on my bike - got 3500 miles out of them with no punctures. But grip in wet/leafy conditions was disappointing.

I've since upgraded to gatorskins, which while more expensive, give noticeably better grip and roll better. I think it's worth spending the extra.

rdt

NapoleonD wrote:

I use a spesh armadillo on my rear. Rolls like a hosepipe but is tough as old boots (probably made of the same stuff).
Hardly noticed any wear from the turbo!

Same seems to apply to Conti Gatorskins: a pair's been on my turbo bike for half a dozen years or more and the rear hardly seems to have worn at all, despite all the tales of turbos trashing tyres...

diy

I have done about 4000 miles on a conti ultrasport with a mix of turbo and road. The turbo squares them off and polishes them but it only takes a couple of miles to scrub them back in again.

The other thing I'd say is a bit of effort adjusting the tension on the turbo can help reduce wear.

nmcgann

NapoleonD wrote:

I use a spesh armadillo on my rear. Rolls like a hosepipe but is tough as old boots (probably made of the same stuff).
Hardly noticed any wear from the turbo!

That's interesting - my turbo ate an armadillo in a couple of weeks. It split it by de-laminating the tread from the layers underneath and it was a complete write-off.

I've found that slick training tyres like Krylions last for ages though - I just binned one tonight that had done about a year of sessions and it was a worn-out road tyre when it went on the turbo to start with. (the sidewall finally went and it started to bulge)

Slack

Michelin Krylion did the job for me last winter. The tyre still goes strong now, and has been recently fitted to rear wheel for road and turbo use. I think the same model is now called Pro4 Endurance , or something similar.

NITR8s

andyeb wrote:

NITR8s wrote:

I was thinking something like the Vittoria Zaffiro as its a robust training tyre, however for a couple of quid more i can get the Vittoria Zaffiro pro.

I had Vittoria Zaffiro factory fitted on my bike - got 3500 miles out of them with no punctures. But grip in wet/leafy conditions was disappointing.

I've since upgraded to gatorskins, which while more expensive, give noticeably better grip and roll better. I think it's worth spending the extra.

3500 sounds like a godsend, the Most tyres that came on my pinarello have done about 700 miles and about 10 quick sessions on the turbo and the rear is now a slick and i loss count of the amount of slits in the tyre from punctures ive had.

Ive gone for the Zaffiro Pro, so I will see how that lasts. At only £13 a tyre its not so much of a risk.