Tyre Meltdown

[tarryng]

Hi . . . is this normal or is there something really wrong with my tyres? Tyres are Continental Ultrasport that came with the bike.

I got an indoor trainer last week and popped my bike on for a few sessions. On taking my bike off, I noticed my back tyre was really sticky and stayed sticky even after the friction heat had cooled. On Friday, I did 40mins or so and ended up leaving a rubber residue on the trainer and after taking my bike off, rubber tyre tracks across the floor. smileys/smiley5.gif

Then needed to change my tube on Saturday afternoon and it was a massive struggle to get the tyre off. I can't get it back on and the tyre wall is now all distorted and looks like its been nuked in the microwave.

This can't be normal . . . I'm no heavy weight and I very much doubt I was generating excessive amounts of friction on the trainer. It seems like the rubber composition was dodgy . . .

Anyone else experienced this?

T

[Mudsimus]

It's normal,no normal tyre will last long on a trainer.

Continental makes an indoor trainer tyre. Its specialy made for trainers. The special rubber wont disintegrate like normal tyres. smileys/smiley2.gif

They sell for +-R230

[tarryng]

Thanks Mud Dee . . . I knew that trainers weren't great for tyres, but I didn't expect the tyre to get destroyed quite so fast. What a pain to have to switch tyres the whole time, does everyone suffer through this in winter?! 

[Mudsimus]

The best thing to do is to get your local bike shop to build you a wheel similar to the one on your bike,wich you can use on the trainer. Altough it might be expensive you'll save yourself the hassle of changing tyres each time you get on the trainer. Now you can just change the rear wheel.

[fatcyclist]

The girlfriend also roasted a Michillen Megamium 2 on the indoor trainer. Complained about having to take the little black rubber spots off the wall. Personally I use really dodgy cheap Maxxis Detonator tyres on the indoor trainer. Found their hard compound doesn't get that soft easily (but they are terrible for road use)...

my 2c smileys/smiley9.gif

[tarryng]

Thanks, guess its off to the LBS to replace what is now a band of black goo, and get something cheap and hard for the trainer . . .

[SwissVan]

Never had this happen to me before, and I have been using an Indoor trainer for more years than I care to remember.  The worst I have had happen is punctures whilst ridding indoors smileys/smiley9.gif because of patches melting on the tubes.

Have mostly used Conti's, but also Michelin, rode through a whole winter (Swiss) approx 90 hrs riding in 2003 / 2004 with a Conti Ultra - ok the tyre was a bit square afterwards but still was usable (on the trainer).

Sounds like your wheel is setup to tight on the roller (to much friction cause fire - meltdownsmileys/smiley2.gif). The trainer I have is a cateye cyclo simulator where the roller is spring loaded.

 

[fatcyclist]

Maxxis Detonator...around R80 or R90. Just don't ride them in the wet, they don't stick at all smileys/smiley36.gif

[tarryng]

Hi SwissVan . . . I had the trainer just touching my tire as I wanted to spin a bit without maxxing out my heart rate.

During the setup, I adjusted the level of the trainer so the tyre just caught and spun it. So unless I have power that has not yet been demostrated on the road (I wish smileys/smiley9.gif) I don't think it was too tight.

A spring loaded trainer does seem a good idea though . . . however, think I'm just going to have to go the cheap tyre option for the moment. Thanks Fatty, will check out those Maxxis tyres.

[SwissVan]

You know the saying "stranger than friction" - Seems to apply here.

Maybe the friction was set to light smileys/smiley5.gif and lit up the tyres.

All you can do (after fitting another tyre) is try and follow the exact setup instructions (and keep your speed down to about 40 kmh).

Good luck with the next tyre!

[tarryng]

smileys/smiley36.gif Stranger than friction indeed. In fact LBS guy just said too light or too tight causes damage. So maybe I was spinning a little too freely . . .

Thanks,

T

[Dicky DQ]

Too light or Too tight is always a problem, not only on an indoor trainer.

[4feet]

Use a Maxxis Detonator and after 4000 k's on the tacx flow the tyre literally disintegrated over a section of about 10 cm. Tried to remove the tube but it's melted onto the inside of the tyre! smileys/smiley5.gif Anyway just put that on the front and front to the rear. Only use the bike on the trainer.

 

 

 

4000k's ain't too bad smileys/smiley4.gif

[Zaskar]

Yip my TacX Flow also destroys tires. I bought a Conti Trainer tire, and use that now, but it?s a real pain to change all the time. Also it?s not the easiest tire to fit on the rim, almost snapping the tire levers when fitting it or removing it!!<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

I want to get a pair of Shimano 550 wheels and leave the tire on that permanently, then I won?t have to ever worry about it again. And at about R1200 a pair you can?t really go wrong for the price.