Sprinting on your trainer...

[Mikey C]

Would sprinting out of your sadle hurt your bike or the trainer? I was thinking mabey the swaying back and forth could bend or break something.

[RegularGuy]

I do it. If you have a decent quality trainer, it shouldn't hurt a thing.

[Maelstrom]

Smooth sprinting should be fine. I do it and I am a beast...hasn't hurt so far. :)

[jmlee]

For what it's worth, I just read a review of trainers in Tour (Germany's leading road racing rag). Along with the reviews, it had a sidebar interview with a framebuilder.

His word was: all trainers that require fixing the bike to them can damage the bike. Since bikes are designed to roll and pivot on their wheels--and not on their dropouts or bottom brackets--they get hit by forces at places which are not designed for them. He thought some trainers were better than others, but none could be guaranteed not to contribute to damage, which might only appear much later.

In the end, he said, if you use one, make sure that you mount and dismount carefully, keep the swaying to a minimum and do not ride out of the saddle.

I suppose putting an old bike or junker on the trainer would be one way around the problem.

Cheers,
Jamie

P.S. I have no stake in the above, nor can I confirm the framebuilder's opinion. But, what he says seems pretty logical.

[WoodyUpstate]

No back and forth allowed when bolted into a trainer, but you can do some out-of-saddle work. . . just keep it going up and down and no side to side.

A sidenote. . . I was watching Cipo sprint last year and noticed how "quiet" his bike was compared to his rivals. That is, Cipo's bike remained virtually still when he exploded out of the saddle compared to those of other (and, generally, slower) sprinters.

[roadbuzz]

Originally posted by WoodyUpstate
I was watching Cipo sprint last year and noticed how "quiet" his bike was compared to his rivals.
Same goes for Lance and climbing. You still hear the advice about slinging your bike around during out-of-saddle climbing, but there's at least one good argument for keeping your bike "quiet," and concentrating on the spin.

[velo]

Originally posted by roadbuzz
but there's at least one good argument for keeping your bike "quiet," and concentrating on the spin.

Right, so when you're climbing/sprinting out of the saddle on your trainer, it shouldn't be swaying that much to begin with. So, you really shouldn't have a problem damaging your frame.