Triathlon - CF on a trainer

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12bar
01-16-09, 03:04 AM
I bought my first carbon fiber bike a few weeks ago :love: and now I have a dumb question. Is it going to hurt the frame to use the bike on a trainer 2x a week. The reason I ask is I was doing one of the Spinnervals videos the other day and I noticed my back brake rubbing so I opened it up and kept going figuring I would l just have to adjust it when I got off the bike so no big deal. When I took the bike off the trainer checked the brake (after closing it) it was fine. I put the bike back on the trainer and it started to rub again ???? Any thoughts


Metzinger
01-16-09, 03:43 AM
That bike you saw in the garbage on the way to work last week would make a good trainer bike. Lube the chain and put your seat and pedals on it. Goes just as fast.

celerystalksme
01-16-09, 01:45 PM
no, there's no harm in using CF bikes on a trainer. people do it all the time with out compromising longevity, performance or reliability to any appreciable degree.

now sure on the brake thing though... :(


PlatyPius
01-16-09, 01:50 PM
Actually, there have been incidents of people breaking the rear ends off of their CF bikes because of trainers. If you stay seated and keep body movement to a minimum, you'll be fine.

If you want a real workout and want to do standing prints and such, get the Kinetic Rock and Roll. Your carbon frame will be safe AND when you stand up, the bike is free to rock side to side like it normally would on the road.

Treefox
01-18-09, 02:22 PM
Actually, there have been incidents of people breaking the rear ends off of their CF bikes because of trainers. If you stay seated and keep body movement to a minimum, you'll be fine.

If you want a real workout and want to do standing prints and such, get the Kinetic Rock and Roll. Your carbon frame will be safe AND when you stand up, the bike is free to rock side to side like it normally would on the road.

There must be something seriously wrong somewhere in the system for that to happen. If chainstays and seat stays are strong enough to take the force of a sharp turn at 40mph or the torque of a pro sprinter up to the finish line, they can take the lateral forces of a turbo.

Now, if you are say, attempting to fall over on your bike as the rear wheel is clamped in and you really hold on with all your body weight, you might be able to damage steel, Al, or Ti too. But I've had a guy on a CF frame tip the whole thing over into me on a steel bike clamped in to a turbo and neither bike was harmed (though I was well annoyed).


Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll does look pretty cool. Pricey though.

I'm holding out for one of these (http://www.kurtkinetic.com/news.php?type=headlines&news_id=72) - 12v dynamo output off the turbo. I do a bit of tinkering with various 12v trinkets off solar panels (and I'm currently building a small wind turbine); but for all the talk of watts of power we put out while cycling, I've always wanted to capture that - and think of how much energy a club trainer evening could produce!