OK, this is going to sound stupid, but does anyone know if there is an indoor trainer out there that will fit onto a 20" rear wheel? Well, is there such a beast?

The 1upusa trainer apparently is adjustable to fit 16"-29" wheels, but it's pricey. Others might fit, too.

CycleOps sells an adapter for 20" wheel bikes that will work with their trainers.
https://www.cycleops.com/

I believe some other manufacturers sell similar adapters for their products - but not all

I use an ELITE Crono Fluid.

No problem. No need for an adapter for any of my folders : SWIFT, Bike Friday NWT , Dahon.

Did you try it with a 16 inch. I would like to bike indoors with my Brommie, just to keep fit in wintertimes.

Plooifiets

Kurt Kinetic has a small wheel adapter for wheels down to 16" diameter LINK.

The Kurt Kinetic models and the 1Up are both well regarded trainers on these forums as a search on "1Up" or "Kurt Kinetic" will demonstrate. The fluid Kurt Kinetic models and the 1Up are also fairly quiet; a smooth surfaced tire also helps. The dedicated trainer tire, Continental's Hometrainer, is not available in your wheel size.

What about the rollers? Are they suppose to be better anyway?

Rollers that I am familiar with have a fixed distance between the two rear rollers. The smaller wheel would drop down between them more, resulting in higher forces on the rear tire since it is more "wedged" between the rollers. Unless rollers have a separate drag unit (fan, magnetic, etc.), most of the resistance comes from tire deformation LINK. Thus unless you drilled new holes for one of the rear rollers, the resistance might be relatively high. Even then, I suspect smaller diameter wheels just by themselves give more resistance on a rollers.

Second, balancing on rollers is largely dependent on spinning the front wheel at reasonable speed for the gyroscopic effect (except for those exceptional cyclists who can even track-stand on rollers). The smaller diameter wheels would have less of this (unless you put a weighted strip of lead or something inside the rim instead of rim tape to increase the wheel's moment of inertia). Thus balancing would be even more difficult.

Undoubtedly it could be done, but it would not be easy. Large diameter rollers (4.5") would helpful.

That adaptor from the Kurt Kinetic website looks like it might work ok. I'm going on the cheap and probably will buy a trainer from like Performance or Nashbar. I've never owned an indoor trainer before so I'm not really sure how about how the rear tire touches the trainer. Does anyone know if this adaptor might fit on any run-of-the-mill trainer?

Undoubtedly it could be done, but it would not be easy. Large diameter rollers (4.5") would helpful.[/QUOTE]

I keep my Swift at the office for use when I travel. I just took my rollers there for lack of space at home. Lo and behold the Swift fits just the same as my roadie, at least wheelbase-wise. No adjustment of the rollers was necessary. Indeed it is a bit wild. Greater effort and concentration is needed, but most of what you say is academic. Yes it's more difficult but all the more reason to try, eh?.

All the riders at the office are getting a big laugh out of riding the Swift on rollers. Some of us might even get good at it.

I rode my 16" schwinn run-a-bout on a treadmill. Not much room for those stingray handlebars though....Balances above 7.5mph but don't hit the stik-shift with your knee into first or things get interesting quick!

This Youtube video shows you how to ride rollers with a folding bike.

This is using a simple step ladder available from hardware stores.

Actually I find the 20" format easier to ride on rollers than full sized bike.

Enjoy.

Roller works just fine with 20". I have ravel Trac Technique PRO Alloy Rollers from Performance bikes... (Got it just around $90 after tax and all when they had sales coupon with misprinted pricing somewhere I managed to match up for..)
It is similar to real road effort up to about 17-18mph for my bike configuration (scorcher 20x1.5" on dahon Speed TR). Beyond that, it's easier on roller probably due to lack of air resistance really (but I am not usually going for recover ride or zone 2,3 on the roller anyways).
Didn't really need to adjust anything for it to be useful... I use it when I didn't get a ride out for more than couple of days to keep my leg in tune.

Sportcrafters makes a mini roller trainer for rear wheel only:
https://www.sportcrafters.com/minirollers.htm

Redline (rebranded Minoura) has a rim drive trainer that does not touch the tire, thus no tire wear:
https://www.redlinebicycles.com/components/trainer
https://www.minourausa.com/japan/trai.../erda2024.html

Yes!



Rollers too Nice video btw mfolder! thanks for sharing

Rollers are about wheel base length not wheel size

I have a foam plastic captive air tire perfect for a trainer, its a significant rolling resistance on the road

but workout is what riding on a trainer is all about, so I won't matter..

And out of left field...

What about an exercise / stationary bike? They aren't all that much more expensive than a trainer, only need to be set up once, and won't wear down your tires.

Nice find.

I have one of those I'm looking to sell...Worked great on my mini velo with 451mm tires too.

Yes, they do have an adapter that is supposed to work with wheels down to 16". I purchased the whole setup. It was well made and loved the case that it came in. I have a Bike Friday. The wheel would make contact with the trainer but not enough contact that it would work. It won't maintain contact while cycling. Very disappointing. Don't waste your money on that one.

I tried the Sportcrafters. I have a Bike Friday. The back wheel wouldn't stay on the trainer with the small width. It was a nice design but not feasible for my bike.

Elite has a few models where the tire drops onto the roller, instead of the roller coming up to the tire, so that it's compatible with various sizes without needing an adapter or other adjustments. It simply pivots by itself to fit. The specs says to 20"-29". I've never used it though, but it would seem to work with 20".
https://www.elite-it.com/en/products...igital-smart-b
https://www.elite-it.com/en/products...ers/qubo-fluid
https://www.elite-it.com/en/products...er-mag-smart-b


There is also a similar design from Bkool. Specs also say 20-29 inches.
https://store.bkool.com/en/44-bkool-smart-go.html

I can attest that the Elite Qubo Fluid works well with 20" tires (I use my Swift with 406 wheels).

Cyclops fluid trainer works fine unless the foldy has a rear suspension, but needs the adapter which runs about $40