Computrainer concern

[Eric S.]

Hello all,

Just a quick warning for those of you who ride the Computrainer.

Tonight three riders were down in the "pain cave" working hard and getting faster. However, at the end of the "ride" I helped one of the riders take their bike off of the trainer. I was disturbed, shocked and a little verklempt to discover that the tire on his bike was in terrible condition. During the course of the "ride" his tire had shredded. Okay maybe it didn't shred, but I was concerned for his ability to ride home without getting a flat tire. Why the concern? Because chunks, and yes this time I am not using poetic license, had come off of his tire and the kevlar bead was showing.

In the end the concern is this: if you just went out and bought a Vittoria Rubino Pro or a Continental Grand Prix 4000 and the tire cost you a pretty penny, then you may want to swap out the new rubber for the POS that you were thinking about throwing away.

Ride safe, ride computrainer.

Eric

[Brian M]

Hey Eric. This is a good thing to bring attention to. Just ask the crew that rode in the cave two sundays ago. About half way through the ride there was a loud "gunshot" for the back row. My tire had gotten so hot the it pop, the tube and tire had a 2 inch hole in them.

As a side note as I was buying new tires the guys at IMT said that it was a good idea to have a second wheel for a trainer if you are on them a lot.

Brian

[AntonioGonzalez]

Hey Eric. About half way through the ride there was a loud "gunshot" for the back row. My tire had gotten so hot the it pop, the tube and tire had a 2 inch hole in them.

Brian

Nice point. A lot of heat is created while riding a trainer, especially computrainers. Computrainers are build around a small diameter roller, I believe it's only an inch in diameter, while many other options on the market use 2inch rollers. Additionally, a computrainer will crush the roller further into the rear tire to create the resistance necessary to simulate hills or harder efforts, while on other trainers you simply shift up to a harder gear and spin the roller faster. These two factors result in accelerated tire wear.

Continental makes 'trainer-specific' tires that use a harder than average rubber compound and are designed to dissipate heat. Down side is that these tires are quite difficult to install and are not safe to ride outside. Nonetheless, they are a worthy investment if you put a lot of miles on the trainer over the winter or if you have a spare rear wheel designated for trainer use only.