road tyres on turbo - will they be shredded?

neeb

I've always used indoor specific tyres on the indoor trainer (taxc bushido). The thing is however, I have a powertap rear wheel which I want to use both outdoors and indoors during the summer without having to change the tyre each time...

Does anyone use road tyres regularly with something like a tacx bushido? Will it destroy the tyre rapidly?

NITR8s

I initially used the cheap most(pinarello own brand) tyres that came with my bike on the turbo and after a couple of hours use it had almost burnt through the tyre.

In replacement I purchased a Vittoria Zaffiro Pro and I have been using this almost daily for about 4 months now and it has only just started to wear. I would highly recommend the Zaffiro Pro, plus they are only cheap £13 it cost me.

Also make sure the turbo wheel isnt pressing to hard agaisnt your tyre.

SBezza

I just use my normal road wheel and tyre, gets a bit of a flat section after a while, but still 100% rideable on the road. I have used different tyres and none have been shredded, I have a Tacx Flow so a similar roller setup I believe.

neeb

Thanks for replies. I'll give it a go with the road tyre. I'm using Schwalbe Ultremo ZX at the moment. If the worst comes to the worst it will almost be worth the cost of more frequent tyre replacement just to not have to change the tyre on a regular basis.

Sussed out

I can also vouch for the vittoria zaffiro. I got one with my bike from new but they are like £8-12. There is absolutley no sign of wear or rubber bobbling or flat spotting.

DHTT

Most tyres should be fine the only tyre I had an issue with was when I used a Michelin Pro Race 3 in a Warm up, then had to change wheels as it had literally taken chunks out of the soft grey compound in middle :?

kettrinboy

Over the winter ive done 500 ish miles on the the turbo using a half worn Conti GP4000S and it doesnt seem to have worn any faster than it would have on the road, less if anything.

neeb

Great stuff... I think where the trainer-specific tyre probably does come into its own is at high resistances, so I won't try using the normal road tyre for simulated climbs on the tacx. But during the summer it'll just be the odd 2x20 on the trainer, so hopefully it can cope with that..

bahzob

I was using a turbo specific tyre while I was only using a turbo for training. It was an absolute bugger to get on.

I swapped it off since I needed the wheel for a trip, when it came to trying to put it back on it was even harder than the first time. I had a Gatorskin I didnt need so tried that instead.

I am glad I did. Not had any problems in terms of wear or resistance and its smoother than the turbo tyre was.

Also the turbo tyre wore quickly and shed lots of orange dust all over the place making a real mess.

So from now on I will be using gators or same,

wjperrin

Gatorskins here too, never had any problems

mamba80

i use part worn road tires but im not sure id use it on the road as well, a hard work out gets the tire nice an hot, maybe repeated many times may effect the structure of the tire? - i kno when they do wear out on the turbo, they tend to bulge and split, indicating something has come apart within the tire.
+ 1 on the Zaffiros that came with a dolan track bike - seem to last v well.

grazza_e

I've had mixed results. General view was the original (i.e. cheap, think they were vittoria) tyres that came with my bike seemed to last fairly well. When I used some slightly lighter and in my view 'stickier' tyres (might have been michelin pro race 3 at the time, but had similar with another brand) they were shredding fairly quickly (notable for the big trail of used up rubber stuck on my wall after a session). This prompted me to buy a cheap turbo wheel (as there was no way I was changing tyres every time) but understand with your power-meter this isn't really an option.

I think a lot of the tires people here are recommending are designed to be hard-wearing, so as long as you are ok with a slightly heavier / robust road tyre it should probably last ok but I would keep an eye on it.

fishyweb

I've been using my Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres on my turbo with no issues at all. I've done almost 1000 miles on the turbo, and the rear tyre shows hardly any more wear than the front. I always try to remember to release the wheel from the roller after a workout, so the roller doesn't cool down against one spot on the tyre - but that's the only precaution I take.

wardieboy

Another vote for the Gatorskins here, so far I have done over 1000 turbo miles on an old road tyre.

davidwilcock

I planed down my road tyre on one but it was a cheap tyre, seems gatorskins are the way forward

magliaceleste

Vittoria Rubino and Vredstein Tricomps work well on the turbo without getting ruined. I have used both on my day to day/winter/turbo bike.

Good use for Rubinos as they are the worst tyre I've ever used on the road!

DRBB

I also use my road tyres on the turbo trainer - Conti GP 4 seasons. Haven't noticed any ill effects so far!

xscreamsuk

Lithion 2 is on my turbo wheel, done about 2500 turbo miles so far, was an old tyre when it went on. Never use the wheel on the road.

Masey1980

I had issues with a Michelin Krylion, it seemed as though the compound had softened; as after a few hours turbo use I was picking up punctures every couple of rides, these tyres had previously had excellent puncture resistance.
I now use old worn Conti's on a dedicated turbo wheel with no real wear issues. I have friends who use Vittoria tyres for both turbo and road with no problems.