Trainer wheel/tyre

neil h

Right I'm a bit of a noob to the joys of indoor training and was just wondering, how many people bother with a cheap second rear wheel with a trainer tyre on (or more importantly is it actually worth bothering with)?

paul_the_pedaller

I haven't bothered, and I didn't when I used to race years back. I used to use my training bike with Conti Supersports on, didn't wear them out excessively and when there was freetime and daylight at the weekends it was just a case of removing it from the turbo and getting out on the road.

Dave_P1

Not worth it, assuming you're not using a soft summer tyre, just stick with what you have.

cgfw201

I got a spare second wheel a month ago and am glad i did. my turbo was flatspotting tyres pretty quick, so i ended up swapping tyres each time i used the turbo which was a faff.

now just a 20 second wheel change each time, which is probably the same as changing the skewer over anyway.

I got the cheap shimano rear wheel off wiggle, was about £60 or so I think.

buckmulligan

Yeah, it really depends what you're using and how many hours you're realistically going to do on the turbo over the winter.

If it's just the odd session here and there, I wouldn't bother, but if you're planning an indoor training off-season then I'd go for it. I logged about 150 hours on the turbo last winter and that destroyed a Continental GP4000S II; it went from basically as-new (gashed sidewall on the second ride outdoors ) to drastically squared off in that time and I binned it when it came to spring.

If you're not planning on riding outdoors at all now, then just bang a trainer tyre on your normal wheels. Note, how true the wheel runs will significantly affect tyre life; if you have a lot of lateral movement at the rim with each wheel revolution then it's going to shred tyres pretty quickly.

diamonddog

Spare wheel, I got a cheap full bike just for turbo use, Overkill?
Joking apart I would definitely get a cheap spare wheel set up for the turbo if you intend getting a lot of use out of it.

markhewitt1978

diamonddog wrote:

Spare wheel, I got a cheap full bike just for turbo use, Overkill?
Joking apart I would definitely get a cheap spare wheel set up for the turbo if you intend getting a lot of use out of it.

Why joking. That's exactly the solution I have

fat daddy

yes I do

I wasn't going to, but since moving to GP4000s, they hate my turbo, the wheel screams on it and slips under sudden accelerations ... it also used to get extremely hot.

Cheap, second wheel + cassette and a turbo tyre and its solved all my issues,

diamonddog

markhewitt1978 wrote:

diamonddog wrote:

Spare wheel, I got a cheap full bike just for turbo use, Overkill?
Joking apart I would definitely get a cheap spare wheel set up for the turbo if you intend getting a lot of use out of it.

Why joking. That's exactly the solution I have

I didn't think that many of us existed that bought bikes just for the turbo, TBH I think riding my turbo bike on the road would be horrendous because for one thing it weighs more than a cheap MTB

MiddleRinger

I'd been using cheap tyres or base model Conti Ultra Sport tyres on the turbo/rollers for years. Just recently I plumped for a Continental Home Trainer tyre and the one big difference I instantly noticed was noise. It's almost silent, so much quieter than any other tyre I've ever used on the trainer.

Is that worth the extra spend? Well that's your call and depends on your situation.

buckmulligan

MiddleRinger wrote:

I'd been using cheap tyres or base model Conti Ultra Sport tyres on the turbo/rollers for years. Just recently I plumped for a Continental Home Trainer tyre and the one big difference I instantly noticed was noise. It's almost silent, so much quieter than any other tyre I've ever used on the trainer.

Is that worth the extra spend? Well that's your call and depends on your situation.

The key to silence is a complete lack of tread or pattern on the rubber. Even if it just has a seemingly innocuous patterning near the edges (e.g. the Conti Ultra Sport or GP4000S) it'll make a lot of noise compared to a completely smooth tyre.

I'm running an old Schwalbe Ultremo ZX at the moment and it's a lot quieter than my old Conti's.

MiddleRinger

BuckMulligan wrote:

The key to silence is a complete lack of tread or pattern on the rubber. Even if it just has a seemingly innocuous patterning near the edges (e.g. the Conti Ultra Sport or GP4000S) it'll make a lot of noise compared to a completely smooth tyre.

Good to know. I've just put a totally slick well used Ultremo DD on the front wheel now. My roller training setup is getting quieter and quieter!

Man Of Lard

diamonddog wrote:

I didn't think that many of us existed that bought bikes just for the turbo, TBH I think riding my turbo bike on the road would be horrendous because for one thing it weighs more than a cheap MTB

My turbo bike is a MTB... Needs brakes before I can use it off-trainer

daniel_b

diamonddog wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

diamonddog wrote:

Spare wheel, I got a cheap full bike just for turbo use, Overkill?
Joking apart I would definitely get a cheap spare wheel set up for the turbo if you intend getting a lot of use out of it.

Why joking. That's exactly the solution I have

I didn't think that many of us existed that bought bikes just for the turbo, TBH I think riding my turbo bike on the road would be horrendous because for one thing it weighs more than a cheap MTB

I didn't specifically buy a bike for the turbo, just haven't sold many bikes, so have my first bike from 2006 - this is now relegated to turbo use, and I use an old rear wheel from a Decathlon bike from my bro's gf bike.
Uber practical to have it set up in the garage 24\7 with a turbo tyre on, ready to roll.

photonic69

I use one of these on my turbo.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVTZ2WT/vittoria-zaffiro-slick-ii-wired-tyre

Very cheap, slick and silent. Also picked up a set of old BTwin wheels that some one was throwing out with the rubbish a few doors down from me. Used the old cassette (11-27) from my rear when I put an 11-32 on the back. Paid LBS to true the wheel so for £20 total it was a no brainer.

Maybe ask your friendly LBS to keep any worn rims for you? You wont be worrying about the braking surface and even if they are a bit out of true it doesn't matter on the turbo that much.

diamonddog

^^ +1 for the Zaffiro tyre.

bigglosfan

Having just blown a regular tyre I switched to a tacx trainer tyre. Loads quieter. IT also just feels a bit more accurate and reliable when calibrating with a tacx flow smart trainer.

svetty

Just use an old rear wheel with worn braking tracks and some high mileage used tyres that you'd otherwise bin....