Trainer tires...

[Owlie]

I just got a new trainer as an early Christmas/late birthday present.
Now, I have a quick question about tires. Should I use what's on my bike, buy a cheap tire for trainer use, or get a trainer tire?

My tires aren't exactly expensive (Kenda Kriterium, I think). I just don't want to have to buy a new one before I have to. Thoughts?

[makbike]

I use an old tire on my trainer as they (trainers) are hard on tires. Whenever I purchase new tires for my bike I save the old ones and make them into trainer tires. I would suggest if you don't have an old tire you can use visit your LBS and purchase a very cheap tire. Have fun!

[LivetoRide]

Trainer tires aren't worth it-- I'd just buy a cheap tire for trainer use or use what you have on the bike if tires are something you'd like to / are planning to upgrade soon. I personally use an old tire on my bike for indoor riding.

[Becky]

I can and do use an old/cheap tire as my trainer tire, but it doesn't work for my DH. He can "slip" a normal tire pretty easily (leading to horrible squeaking noises) and manages to heat up and trash tires far faster than I can. For him, a true trainer tire makes a big difference in terms of noise, which in turn saves my sanity

[Owlie]

Thanks everyone! I had a feeling that a cheap/old tire was the best bet. My tires are relatively low mileage, and while I'd like to replace them, it's not worth doing it just yet. Off to Performance after Christmas, I think! (My LBS doesn't have cheap tires. Seriously.)

[Bike Writer]

Owlie, you might want to check another LBS. My sister bought me a trainer for Christmas and I've been checking out tires. The LBS where I normally shop said to buy a slick or cheap tire. A new LBS opened recently and I stopped in and the owner said he had some old tires laying around and all I'd have to do is pay for the mounting. I'll give that a whirl and see how it works out.

[LivetoRide]

Owlie, you might want to check another LBS. My sister bought me a trainer for Christmas and I've been checking out tires. The LBS where I normally shop said to buy a slick or cheap tire. A new LBS opened recently and I stopped in and the owner said he had some old tires laying around and all I'd have to do is pay for the mounting. I'll give that a whirl and see how it works out.

Bike Writer, I too, thought of that after I posted; It wouldn't be a bad idea to ask your LBS if they have any used tires lying around that'd still be ok for use on the trainer.

[Cataboo]

I keep an old tire on an old beat up wheel and use it on my trainer - the rim isn't perfectly smooth so breaking is entirely too annoying to use it on my bike out on the road.

If I keep my tire inflated and crank the trainer down hard on the wheel, I don't have problems with slippage or burning rubber on the wheel. The times I have had issues were when the pressure was too low and that became my trainer tire.

Does your bf or his parents not have a spare old tire? I never actually seem to throw out my old tires, they just end up in a pile hanging in my shed.

[chicagogal]

I have thousands of miles on last season's tires, and will want to replace at the least the rear one at the start of the next racing season anyway, so I am just "using" up my current rear tire on the trainer through the winter.

[roadie gal]

I have thousands of miles on last season's tires, and will want to replace at the least the rear one at the start of the next racing season anyway, so I am just "using" up my current rear tire on the trainer through the winter.

Same here.

[nscrbug]

I may be in the minority here, but...my DH (I don't use a trainer...would rather take a spin class) uses a dedicated trainer tire for one reason only...because they don't shred and end up on the wall behind the trainer, nearly as fast as a road tire does. The first time my DH used the trainer I bought him for Xmas 2 years ago, he used a regular old worn-out tire...and the wall behind the trainer was covered in black rubber bits that tore and shredded off the tire with just 1 use. After cleaning up that mess on the wall, we decided to buy a trainer tire...much better and cleaner.

[PinkBike]

nscrbug: ditto. exactly.

[LivetoRide]

I may be in the minority here, but...my DH (I don't use a trainer...would rather take a spin class) uses a dedicated trainer tire for one reason only...because they don't shred and end up on the wall behind the trainer, nearly as fast as a road tire does. The first time my DH used the trainer I bought him for Xmas 2 years ago, he used a regular old worn-out tire...and the wall behind the trainer was covered in black rubber bits that tore and shredded off the tire with just 1 use. After cleaning up that mess on the wall, we decided to buy a trainer tire...much better and cleaner.

Interesting. I've never had that problem with my Kurt Kinetic trainer.

[ridebikeme]

Like many of you, I generally use an old tire as well. Although I do own a trainer tire, and will install it once the other is completely trashed.

We've held trainer rides here in the shop for over ten years, and I have seen a couple of people in that time that would leave black all over the wall. At least with these people, the reason that happened was that their rear wheel was out of round. When they would adjust their flywheel so that it made contact all the way around the circumference of the wheel, of course there were areas where it really dragged... hence the rubber coming off. So I'm not sure whether this is the issue here as well. You could always check out the rear tire and it will definitely show evidence of that if it is true for you.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

[nscrbug]

Interesting. I've never had that problem with my Kurt Kinetic trainer.

Hmmm...KK trainer here, too. I've heard of the shredding problem happening with many others, as well. It could very well be some kind of flywheel adjustment issue, but we weren't willing to take the chance of dirtying up the wall again.