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Rollers, Tire Wear

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Old 01-30-14 | 10:08 PM
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Rollers, Tire Wear

Do rollers wear tires faster than riding on pavement? I did my first half hour ever on new rollers today and man there's a lot of rubber rear drum.
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Old 01-30-14 | 11:18 PM
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Something doesn't sound right. How much rubber is on the rollers?

Could there be an alignment issue with your bike or dishing problem with the rear wheel? Are the tires inflated to the same pressure that you use on the road?

I can't detect any wear on my tires from about 300 miles on the rollers recently.

Last edited by 2 wheeler; 01-30-14 at 11:27 PM. Reason: added more stuff
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Old 01-30-14 | 11:37 PM
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Seems like your rear tire is having problems caused by heat. Half an hour isn't even near to that long of a length of time for your tires to start melting on their own.
Reference the above for possible causes^
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Old 01-31-14 | 12:46 AM
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Continental has a trainer stand tire , they may be just the thing , rollers.. get 2,,
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Old 01-31-14 | 01:18 AM
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Originally Posted by koolerb
Do rollers wear tires faster than riding on pavement? I did my first half hour ever on new rollers today and man there's a lot of rubber rear drum.
When you say rollers you mean the three drum rollers? Or a trainer with a one roller? I ask because it's unclear if there are two rear drums (rollers) or one (trainer, or, in the case of one person I remember, someone who managed to ride rollers "backwards").

Usually people get rubber residue on trainers when they run their tires too low. Since it's indoors many riders will assume tire pressure isn't important - it's not like you're going to hit anything.

However, with rollers/trainers, the tire has a smaller contact patch to work with. You shouldn't worry about "ride comfort" etc because the roller is hopefully pretty smooth so use a lot of tire pressure.

I check my tire pressure every time I ride, and when I use rollers/trainers it's even more so. Even though I have wide rims and 700x23c clinchers I run 100-110 psi in the tire just for a trainer (which doesn't have my weight on it). On the road I'll run as little as 65 psi and more regularly 85-100 psi, depending on my mood. If I see too much squishing on rollers (which are much easier on tires due to two contact patches in the back) I'll increase the pressure in my tire/s.

In the past 10 years I've fluctuated in weight from the 160 range to the 215 range, to give an idea of weight. Height has really nothing to do with trainer/roller tire wear, it's weight and pressure. I went to the wide rims in 2010 and before that I was using a touch more pressure in my clincher tires on the trainer, like 110-115 psi.
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Old 01-31-14 | 05:05 AM
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After just hopping off the trainer I wanted to post one more thought I had while I did my (trainer) ride - don't use your brakes. Seems like a no-brainer but a lot of riders instinctively brake when they want to "stop". The problem is that the contact patch is so small that the flywheel on the modern trainers will keep the roller moving even if the tire is stopped.

This doesn't apply to normal rollers which don't have much inertia. I suppose a resistance set of rollers might have a flywheel in which case it might apply there.
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Old 01-31-14 | 05:35 AM
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Originally Posted by carpediemracing
When you say rollers you mean the three drum rollers? Or a trainer with a one roller? I ask because it's unclear if there are two rear drums (rollers) or one (trainer, or, in the case of one person I remember, someone who managed to ride rollers "backwards").
Hey, I figured it out eventually!
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Old 01-31-14 | 06:31 AM
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Rollers = less tire wear than on the road
Trainer = more tire wear than on the road
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Old 01-31-14 | 05:21 PM
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The rear tire looks fine. Not sure why I got all black on the roller first ride. I just cleaned most of it off and did my second half hour an no more seemed to accumulate. I'll bet there was some kind of coating on the drum from point of manufacture.
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