Spare Wheel for A Turbo

baffled_pete

I have been told by my local bike shop that having a spare wheel set up and ready for a turbo is a 'Big No No'. I rather liked the idea of swapping the wheel over rather than the protracted hassle of removing my rear tyre for every turbo session. Is this really a 'No No'?
BP

taon24

No.

gaffer_slow

OP - what is their explanation for this? Other than extra expense?

w00dster

why would it be a no no? Surely it makes sense to have a wheel already set up with a turbo tyre ready to roll?
Why would they think you shouldn't do that?

telesv650

Utter balls. It is a yes.

Why is this any different to swapping the wheels normally? As long as both wheels are the same spacing and speeds there is no difference.

JackPozzi

Only downside to it is that you can have issues with chain and cassette wear, but as long as you don't let the chain get too bad it shouldn't be a problem. Used a dedicated turbo wheel for several years without issue before I ended up with a dedicated turbo bike.

BrandonA

When I had a turbo that required a rear wheel I used to have a cheap wheel with a dedicated tyre.

Now my turbo does not require I rear wheel I still swap out the front feel as I don't want to damage new expensive wheel.

Ultimately its up to you how you use your turbo.

diamonddog

Find another LBS they are talking garbage.

MiddleRinger

Well I'd be inclined to recommend THE EXACT OPPOSITE!!!

Having a spare wheel for the turbo is the best option in my book. It's much easier to swap out your rear wheel before a turbo session rather than faffing about changing a tyre beforehand. And let's face it, that extra time and faff is going to end up putting you off using the turbo. A dedicated turbo wheel, tyre and cassette (and turbo QR skewer) all ready to swap in an instant makes the process so much easier.

Be interested to know what reason they gave.

andy_wrx

Good job I didn't know about this before I turboed on my TT bike over-winter.

If I'd known, I'd have had to use my carbon disc wheel and rather expensive lightweight race tubular tyres on the turbo.

But since I didn't know, I used an old wheel with heavily worn braking surface I'd retired from use, with a knackered old road tyre on it, and a 12-25 cassette rather than 11-21 on my race wheel.
And since I don't actually use the brakes on the turbo, I even left the carbon-specific brake blocks in !

But since I didn't know as much as your LBS, everything was fine

:roll:

baffled_pete

Thanks for the feedback, most reassuring. I'll buy a cheap rear wheel and cassette and use my old gators.

Reasons given was the chain and cassette must be kept in unison otherwise with new components the chain may stretch/cassette may get damaged resulting in clunky/slipped gear changes. This amused me as most of my gear changes are clunky even when the bike was new!

taon24

To be clear the answer 'No', was to the posed question 'is it a 'No No'.
I use a spare wheel for my bike on the turbo.

nferrar

A spare wheel is a good idea but the LBS is right in that the cassettes on each should be in roughly the same wear state. If you decide to chuck a worn cassette on the turbo wheel it will likely accelerate chain wear and therefore wear on the road wheel's cassette but we're talking extremes here (a few thousand miles wear difference between them would be fine).

wishitwasallflat

BrandonA wrote:

When I had a turbo that required a rear wheel I used to have a cheap wheel with a dedicated tyre.

Now my turbo does not require I rear wheel I still swap out the front feel as I don't want to damage new expensive wheel.

Ultimately its up to you how you use your turbo.

What kind of turbo could damage a front wheel?

ilm_zero7

diamonddog wrote:

Find another LBS they are talking garbage.

agreed.. i bought a cheap ex-display set of Miche and a Chorus cassette so the drop in and out is easier .. otherwise getting your bike off the turbo and onto the road is a real pain in the arse

ilm_zero7

wishitwasallflat wrote:

BrandonA wrote:

When I had a turbo that required a rear wheel I used to have a cheap wheel with a dedicated tyre.

Now my turbo does not require I rear wheel I still swap out the front feel as I don't want to damage new expensive wheel.

Ultimately its up to you how you use your turbo.

What kind of turbo could damage a front wheel?

this is becomming a thread for 'cycling myths' !

ai_1

wishitwasallflat wrote:

BrandonA wrote:

When I had a turbo that required a rear wheel I used to have a cheap wheel with a dedicated tyre.

Now my turbo does not require I rear wheel I still swap out the front feel as I don't want to damage new expensive wheel.

Ultimately its up to you how you use your turbo.

What kind of turbo could damage a front wheel?

Because the front wheel is loaded but not rotating all the spokes at the top will stretch. When using the turbo, you should dismount every 5 minutes and rotate the front wheel so that the spokes will remain symmetrical. There's some controversy over how much you should rotate the wheel each time and what to do if you complete your session without having completed an even number of rotations.

So, you can see it's quite difficult to keep your front wheel in usable condition.
One solution is a front wheel rotation system. This is a motorised roller to keep the front wheel rotating while you train. You just use this instead of the static risers most people use. The rollers can wear the front tyre a little and may create some noise so you may want to use a turbo tyre. Of course if that means you'll use a separate cheap wheel then there's no need for the roller in the first place as you can just treat the wheel as a static wheel.

Another solution is to forget wheels altogether and simply attach your front fork directly to a static mount. Unfortunately when you move around on the bike this will put a lot of irregular stresses on the fork if it's fixed rigidly to an inflexible static mount. So you need to splash out on a mount with a built in stress dissipation system. This type will support the wheel vertically while allowing it move in the horizontal plane so that dangerous stresses are not produced in the fork or headset.

If you don't use a front wheel rotation system or a stress dissipating static mount it's quite complex to keep your front wheel in shape and many people fall foul of this. It's essential to figure out a solution to this complex problem before you even consider using a turbo trainer.


P.S.
Disk wheels and tri-spoke wheels are more resistant to Turbo Training Wheel Distortion (TTWD) although some claim the carbon may de-laminate if you drip too much sweat on them.

Bobbinogs

Ai_1 wrote:

wishitwasallflat wrote:

What kind of turbo could damage a front wheel?

Because the front wheel is loaded but not rotating all the spokes at the top will stretch. When using the turbo, you should dismount every 5 minutes and rotate the front wheel so that the spokes will remain symmetrical.

Ha ha. Brilliant

It is April 1st today, right?

dyrlac

Ai_1 wrote:

wishitwasallflat wrote:

BrandonA wrote:

When I had a turbo that required a rear wheel I used to have a cheap wheel with a dedicated tyre.

Now my turbo does not require I rear wheel I still swap out the front feel as I don't want to damage new expensive wheel.

Ultimately its up to you how you use your turbo.

What kind of turbo could damage a front wheel?

Because the front wheel is loaded but not rotating all the spokes at the top will stretch. ... [inspired technical gobbledygook] ...

Post of the Year nominations are now closed. (But am pretty sure that modern spoke theory holds that the bike is held up by the roadside spokes rather than being hung from the airside spokes, read that in last months' Cyclist, I did )

wishitwasallflat

Dyrlac wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

wishitwasallflat wrote:

BrandonA wrote:

When I had a turbo that required a rear wheel I used to have a cheap wheel with a dedicated tyre.

Now my turbo does not require I rear wheel I still swap out the front feel as I don't want to damage new expensive wheel.

Ultimately its up to you how you use your turbo.

What kind of turbo could damage a front wheel?

Because the front wheel is loaded but not rotating all the spokes at the top will stretch. ... [inspired technical gobbledygook] ...

Post of the Year nominations are now closed. (But am pretty sure that modern spoke theory holds that the bike is held up by the roadside spokes rather than being hung from the airside spokes, read that in last months' Cyclist, I did )

I completely agree but even though that nonsense about suspended hubs doesn't accord with the cyclist article the case for a turbo specific front wheel is made beyond doubt :!:

fenix

Before you go to the bother of getting a spare wheel and tyre- use your normal wheel and see if the turbo wears it. My turbo is kind to the tyre so theres no point in swapping over.

(plus most people go on the turbo about three times and jack it in after that)

dyrlac

Fenix wrote:

Before you go to the bother of getting a spare wheel and tyre- use your normal wheel and see if the turbo wears it. My turbo is kind to the tyre so theres no point in swapping over.

(plus most people go on the turbo about three times and jack it in after that)

100% agree with this, especially the parenthetical sentiment.

ai_1

Dyrlac wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Before you go to the bother of getting a spare wheel and tyre- use your normal wheel and see if the turbo wears it. My turbo is kind to the tyre so theres no point in swapping over.

(plus most people go on the turbo about three times and jack it in after that)

100% agree with this, especially the parenthetical sentiment.

Wears the wheel or the tyre?

wishitwasallflat

Ai_1 wrote:

Dyrlac wrote:

Fenix wrote:

Before you go to the bother of getting a spare wheel and tyre- use your normal wheel and see if the turbo wears it. My turbo is kind to the tyre so theres no point in swapping over.

(plus most people go on the turbo about three times and jack it in after that)

100% agree with this, especially the parenthetical sentiment.

Wears the wheel or the tyre?

Too much power wears the wheel?

the_cyclist_of_catan

Summer wheels, winter wheels. The summer wheels ate the decent, lightweight ones. When winter starts and the winter wheels go on, I swap the tyre on the back summer wheel to a turbo tyre, and run that in the garage over the winter. When ring comes and the winter wheels are taken off the bike, I put a road tyre back on the summer wheel. Of course, this means I don't use the the turbo in the summer - but who the heck would do that anyway?

step83

Been using a second wheel for years on my MTB with no issue long as you keep on top of chain wear its fine. Incidentally I use a full slick road tyre on my turbo without issue.