Hometrainer - should I worry about my tyres?

gazoome

I have just bought an older magnetic Tacx Cycletrack Turbo Trainer for cheap. I only use it for approx 30 minutes a day.

I positioned the bike so the tyre is just barely touching the drum. The hometrainer slips at the beginning but then seems to roll fine.

However I am very worried about any tyre wear. I am running expensive carbon wheels with tubular tyres and I don't want them to get damaged or worn.

See the pictures:



Should I worry or am I okay?

cougie

You will get wear on your tyre. It's impossible not to with that turbo. Whether it's worse than the road or not you'll have to judge.

You won't damage them though.

joshuagame94

I tend to have a spare set of tyres and or wheels when using a trainer inside for this exact reason saves any very expensive issues that may arise

PhilipPirrip

I'm certain you'll have someone come along and dogmatically state you don't need to change anything without them understanding not all trainers nor tyres are the same. My trainer destroys race tyres within a few hundred miles as they grain up and throw marbles everywhere so a hard compound tyre is a necessity for me.

As for your set up, firstly I'd set up the tyre correctly on the roller rather than just touching otherwise you're not benefitting from it mimicking road resistance. As already stated, you will get tyre wear but it's whether you feel the wear is excessive and if you feel it is, or are concerned about using an expensive wheel, then consider a cheap spare wheel and harder compound tyre.

lincolndave

you will see wear on your road tyre , I personally use a trainer tyre on mine these tyres are designed for trainers and are cheaper to replace than a decent road tyre

Matthewfalle

no need for trainer specific tyres - old road tyres work perfectly and cost nothing.

However the fact that you are using tubs means that can't pop them on and off really easily so I would suggest getting a spare wheel from somewhere and using that with an old tyre on. Doesn't even have to be that true - so long as it goes round that's fine.

sh3p

the 1st trainer i had i used road tyres and it certainley flatted it so i bought a trainer specific one ...that also didn't work well .. so i kinda stopped using it last year i got a tacx smart trainer which has the app so it can be calibrated and the roller tension set correctly, I found i hadn't tensioned any where nearly enough, i suspect the original trainer would have been fine with the correct tension ...i have used both the trainer dpecific and road tyres and found little if any difference now its set correctly.

Matthewfalle

Should we ask about the soiled tissue on the floor?

sungod

on a turbo tyres can get quite hot, how hot depends how much power you are putting out, if you're running nice supple tubs, the heat could damage them, mostly it'll just accelerate wear

get a cheap wheel with a turbo tyre on it, only takes a few minutes to swap over

redvision

As others have said, buy a cheap wheel and tyre to use specifically on the turbo. Then you won't have to worry.