Indoor trainer and tire problems
 

Morning Have a 75 schwinn varsity that I now have on a indoor trainer
The problem That I am having is in the last three months I have gone though four tires on the rear
last night was on the bike and heard that thumping nose again on the rear tire stopped and look and there it is again a bulge in the tire just like before took it apart and it the point of the bulge on the side of the tire you can see the cords coming apart in the tire At first I thought it was just a poor tire but now thinking it got to be something about the trainer >The last tire I did NOT adjust the roller to tightly and still the same thing Now going to try it again and just the roller to were it just touches the tire Tire all so the tire presser is kept out 75/80 Is there some thing I am missing here just got a set of new schwalbe HS159 tires the other set were kneda tires
before I mouth the schwalbe tires as I do not want to screw them up is there something that I am doing wrong

Trainers are hard on tires... 4 tires in 3 months sounds excessive though unless you're a virtual-mileage junkie.

Most people just accept this and use cheap tires.

IMO, a Trainer stand is a Good Place for those foam 'captive air' never go flat tires, that is on the trainer .

Any I've sampled add to the rolling resistance , but if why you ride a bike on a trainer is the Workout,

that more will be better, No?


Not Tried, but Continental has a Trainer-stand tire.. (not for 27" wheels though)

I have a Foam 27" tire to sell and ship if you want one..




...

the only reason that I am now using the trainer is like today there is snow and ice all over the place and I need to keep going on the bike for health reasons if it was just cold I would be out side BUT IF its raining or snow and ice I am NOT going to even try that AT 65 just TO old to end up failing or crashing on ice the schwalbe are kevlar lined tire don't know if that would be better BUT this are brand NEW and I really do not want to sew them up

I would put the max rated air pressure in the tires and adjust the roller pressure until it is just above where the tire slips. If the roller is rather smooth you might try putting some of that grit-faced anti-slip tape used on stair steps on the roller to increase the friction so you could lessen the pressure. fietsbob's suggestion of airless tires is a good one.

ok going to try the on a older tire right now as I really do not want to mess up my new schwalbes also looking online at trainer tires BUT none to be had foe 27x1-1/4 tire I do NOT understand Why that six
ze is so hard to get as most bikes I have seen ride on the 27 tires

27" AKA 630 mm Bead Seat Diameter has been almost killed off by 28" AKA 622 mm BSD.
Still available - particularly tires - but not the manufacturer's 1st choice since years if not decades.

If you're seeing mostly 27" your experience is an exception.

They make trainer specific tires that are supposed to last longer. I've used both and have gotten a lot of miles even out of regular road tires. I inflate them to a little lower than normal pressure and when adjusting the resistance heel tension, I do about 3.5 full turns after first contact. The tire should deflect a little and there should be no squealing. Best to follow the instructions for your specific trainer.

+1 Excessive tire wear on a trainer is due to either too much or too little pressure on the roller. The former causes excess flex and the later too much slippage.

I set mine so the tire just slips very slightly when I grab the wheel and give it a hard yank circumferentially. I'm on my third year and well over 1000 miles on the same rear tire that was worn when I put it on the trainer.

I don't know if this applies to you, but suspect it does. Folks have a tendency to set the tire/roller pressure too high.

That means that the tire gets a deep massage as it distorts coming over the roller. The correct load is just enough not to slip with normal riding. This means that there might be some slight slippage (squeak) if you suddenly accelerate. Various factors also come into play here. For instance, if the wheel has a bit of eccentricity, the roller has to be brought closer to prevent slippage as any low spot comes by. Also, consider friction; less friction, maybe because the roller is oily means you'll need much more pressure to keep it from slipping.

Years ago, I started winding very fine adhesive sandpaper onto the roller, and this mimics pavement, so I can ride with very low roller engagement force. I also modified the tension system with a spring, so the roller acts like a cam follower and is unaffected by slight wheel eccentricity.

I'll agree with the likelihood of too high a roller pressure, against the tire. I tell people to set the pressure so at a steady state of pedaling there is no tire/roller slippage. But under hard acceleration some slippage is had. I also suggest max tire air pressures.


The indent into the tire 's casing that a trainer roller makes is REALLY stressful to the casing. Tires are made to have a flat spot contacting the road, not an indenting spot. The heat from the internal to the casing friction is great and will cause all kinds of issues. Andy

Ok I put on the schwalbe HS 159 and NOW have the roller just touching the tire very lightly and just put bike in the higher gear I think that will work
thanks for ll the info

trainers run hot because the tire is always rolling in the same place. I've had tires leave melted rubber on them.
They make tires just for trainers, but probably tough to find in 27-inch.
I'd just buy the cheapest tires you can find and replace as needed. Also run them below rated pressure to increase the contact patch - the tire is not supporting you, the trainer frame is.

I just picked up a rad mag indoor trainer on Craigslist for 15bucks but wonder if I got swindled. The roller seems to have a worn line into it that has some rough.sharp bits to it. I had a tire blowout on a 32c hybrid tire that only had about 500 miles on it (so pretty much brand new) after about 20 minutes on the trainer...the tire had a spot that seemed to have been worn out with a small hole, threads pulling out in one spot. I changed the tire to an old 25c kenda tire i had laying around that only had about 300 miles on it and then noticed the issue on the roller. I was able to position that thinner tire in a way it was not on that part of the roller but I can't seem to get enough resistance to make a workout worth it. I would be in my top gear spinning pretty fast but not feeling like it would at all on the road, i would give the roller a quarter turn or so in while hand pedalling and all of a sudden there would be a horrible screeching/friction noise and the tire would bind right up. Is there something wrong that I am doing or is this trainer just old? How much resistance should I be feeling when pedaling?

Mag trainers are limited in the amount of resistance they can offer.

The only test of correct tire/roller pressure is minimum slippage when starting or at full power. My rule is to keep the pressure low enough that I can cause it to slip when starting with a hard push, yet it doesn't slip under normal conditions.

If the roller is beat up and rough, you can spin it against some sandpaper, though normally tires tend to wear them smooth over time.

Very good advise! The vast majority of trainer stand issues that I see are from too much, too little and too lazy whatever. Too much clamping pressure holding the rear axle bends the trainer frame. Too much roller pressure against the tire produces too much tube/tire abrasion/friction. Too little tire air pressure means that you have to have a lot of roller pressure. Too laze to swap out the QR to one which actually fits snuggly into the trainer's cups.


I tell my customers to run the tire at the high end of it's pressure range and set the roller pressure to allow slip under hard acceleration but no slip when steady pedaling. Andy.

Thanks. I was able to file it down and sand it and set up my MTB on it to see if that tire gets damaged at all before using a road tire. I also had to take apart the casing and remount the magnet ring as it had come loose and was making direct contact with the roller. Seems to be working much better now.