SHIM_105

Ive got a Minoura Mag trainer and a Bianchi infinito but I'm a little worried about mounting the bike to the trainer. The bike moves around on the road but in the trainer I'm concerned about all that torque going into a frame that's not going to move. Would there not be to much load on the chain stays?

BestSportEver

No.

Besides from my experience sprinting on a New Specialiezed Tarmac SL4 in a trainer, have you never seen the lines of pro cyclist warming up before the time trials on their $10k bikes mounted in trainers?

SHIM_105

I have seen, yes. But I always assumed at the pro level they had expendable bikes so to speak. I also have a steel framed bike but rarely ride it. As far as the Bianchi, do I just change out the skewer?

ColinL

It is best to use a steel skewer on the trainer. You probably can use aluminum if you don't weigh too much. If you have some other material, I wouldn't try it.

jwible

It'll be fine. use an old skewer so you don't tear up a good one in the attachment points on the trainer. I've sprinted on the trainer plenty of times. No prob.

grwoolf

You are probably less likely to hurt a carbon bike in a trainer vs. alum/steel/ti. One nice property of carbon is that it doesn't have the same tendency to fatigue/crack from repeated stress cycles (unlike welded metals). If you were superman-strong, maybe you could cause a catostrophic carbon event. Have fun trying, I think you'll get tired before the bike explodes.

Digitalfiend

I'd generally say there is nothing to really worry about, partly due to the properties of CF. With that said, I still went ahead and bought a Kurt Kinetic Rock and Roll trainer (which is really nice btw) to allow some lateral and vertical compliance. The bike frame is still likely being flexed to some degree, but I'm not going to worry about it. Lifetime warranty on the frame anyhow...

rangerdavid

I agree your bike will be fine, as stated above, just swap out the skewer for an old one and ride the snowy days away.

ahsposo 

If you're planning on riding that CF bike on a trainer in a confined space I'd think twice. Exploding CF is far worse in a confined space. All those little fibers are like deadly needles.

Vetboy

OP, I think you'll be fine - I've been using a Look in my trainer for many years. Just a word of warning though - I believe some manufacturers recommend against using their carbon frames on a trainer so lifetime warranty may not apply - read the fine print.

Joe

Digitalfiend

Good point, I highly recommend a flak jacket while training indoors on CF...

StanSeven

That's another rumor that isn't true. Try and find that statement anywhere.

lowspoke

From the warranty page for Seven Cycles at https://www.sevencycles.com/warranty.php


The entire Diamas and Elium model lines are optimized for normal road riding conditions, and not designed for fixed stationary trainers. Use of a stationary trainer with any clamping mechanism will void the frame’s warranty.

nhluhr

Use rollers instead. You can add resistance fans or use small diameter rollers and you get to work on balance and spin at the same time (without any worry of breaking your frame or hurting your warranty).

hhnngg1

No risk whatsoever. Slap the bike on and ride with abandon.

I've been riding a Cervelo which lives on the trainer 95% of the year, and I ride it a lot - to the point that my sweat totallly destroyed the ultegra brakes due to corrosion and I had to replace the whole thing and get the whole headset redone.

The frame is totally fine.

Psimet2001 

It's a trainer.

Would you want to ride a bike that would fail on a trainer?

Are trainer manufacturers in the business of destroying frames?

It's hearing questions like this that makes me sad for the loss of common sense in our current culture.

SHIM_105

There are many items designed with good intention that fail in practical use. I just like to be as informed as much as I can.

nhluhr

You wouldn't think a fork-mount roof rack would damage a bicycle but people have reported breaking dropouts. I for one applaud the OP for asking instead of just assuming. Obviously somebody (Seven Cycles) thinks it's a problem and it is absolutely indisputable that the forces will be different.

merlinextraligh

Dude, think about it.

The forces a frame is subjected to on the road, such as hitting potholes at 40 mph, are som much higher than the static load on a trainer.

abstractform20

just make sure to keep the trainer away from open light. unless you like wearing down your carbon faster.

merlinextraligh

I seriously question whether anyone has ever broken a dropout on a properly secured fork mounted roof rack.

I can see it happening from operator error. ( such as not screwing down the QR enough to account for the lawyer tabs before closing it)

I bent a steel front drop out once, when I didn't strap the back of the bike down, and the bike swung around, pulling half way out of the fork mount, and only staying attched by one drop out, again operator error.

I'm not riding a bike on the road with a dropout that can't handle the force of the wind on the bike when the bike is properly secured to the rack, and not subject to an inappropriate amount of closing pressure (i.e. not too loose, or grossly too tight.)

The forces placed on the drop out turning and braking at 50 miles an hour down a twisty descent, let alone hitting bumps at that speed, with my 200lbs on the bike, have to be orders of magnitude higher than on a properly secured roof rack.

nhluhr

I guess you'll have to take this with a grain of salt:which was immediately followed by:

merlinextraligh

I'm not buying it. I'd like to see the pics of the drop outs still in the rack, with the bike blown off.

The torsional forces on the drop outs cornering, and braking at 50 mph with a 200lb rider on it have to greatly exceed some wind on the frame.

Also I've driven thousands of miles at 80+ mph with bikes on roof racks without incident, and you routinely see people driving down the interstate with roof racks at high speeds without issue.

hhnngg1

In defense of Mr. Obvious, the trainer CAN (but not commonly) potentially do more damage to your bike than on the road.

I'm a heavy sweater, and even with a bike thong, I managed to do over $400 of damage to my Cervelo in a 14 month period where the bike was on the trainer pretty much the whole time and not outdoors due to sweat dripping off through the thong and severely corroding the headset and components (they actually didn't look bad at all, but when I took the bike off the trainer, to my horror the brakes wouldn't move and the front headset was frozen stiff!) In contrast, I rode this bike purely outdoors for 2 years before that and it was as good as new throughout that entire period. I would never be able to do this much damage to that bike outdoors outside of a crash. So there are definitely some not-so-obvious risks involved for some.

garciawork

I wasn't really worried about it, but I went with a Rock n Roll as well. Now I'm NOT worried at all, and the thing is amazing! Peace of mind and an awesome trainer.