Swapping rear wheel on trainer question

[bikerz]

On another thread, Madisongrrl wrote:

My trainer set up:
I also have a special "trainer wheel" that I use. It's just an old wheel that has an old tire on it and has the Cycleops skewer on it. It allows me to quickly change my trainer wheel out for my regular wheel....but it's not necessary...it's just nice to have. You can just throw on an old tire to keep things cheap and simple.

So, Renee (or any trainer expert out there!) - I have a question about using a designated "trainer wheel":

I have an old rear wheel and tire that I'd like to use on my trainer, and an extra skewer, but the the spare wheel doesn't have a rear cassette. Do you have a "trainer cassette" as well, or does that stay on the bike and you just switch the wheel on and off?

I have a spare cassette too - the 12-25 originally on my bike - but now I use an 11-34. (I would be fine with using the 12-25 cassette on the trainer, since that seems to be the cassette they use for reference on the spinerval dvds, but I wouldn't be making the cassette swap just for that reason).

If I were to use my old cassette and my old wheel, wouldn't I need to use a different chain to accommodate the different cog sizes? And switching chain AND wheel AND cassette seems like it would be a big hassle to get the bike on and off the trainer...

I guess I'm trying to find a balance between protecting my spiffy new wheels (Ksyruim) and nice tire from trainer wear and tear, and being able to relatively easily move the bike on and off the trainer to take advantage of nice riding days.

Am I missing something really obvious here? Thanks!

(PS - If I had extra cash, I'd probably just rather get a designated trainer bike, but one day, maybe sometime next year, I'll be getting a new bike , and my current bike will be the trainier bike then...)

[susan.wells]

I have a trainer setup as you're describing. My spare trainer wheel does consist of wheel, cassette, & skewer (complete rear wheel unit). So it is a simple process of popping one wheel off and the other one on. The cassettes are the same in my case, 12-27, so I do not have to swap the chain. I would think that the chain for the 11-34 might be slightly long for a 12-25. I wouldn't want to swap the chain out either. But it is nice having the "rear trainer wheel" setup.

Susan