Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Sadly, I Want This To Work


An indoor trainer. What has this world come to? I bought this fluid trainer and have actually decided that it will be good to have around for the winter. I thought it would be boring (which the first 15 minutes are) but I enjoy tuning out and jamming some tunes. BTW, Def Leppard Pyromania is a gem of beats and tempo:) So anyways, the concern I have is this, should there be this much wear on my tire from 4 hours of riding?


And should there be this much rubber all over the floor from it?



I think that this is what is happening, but have no experience with rollers or trainers to go by. That is, except for the rollers I made about a year ago, but they really never got ridden for long;)

I think that the contact is adjusted right for the start, the counter weight wheel spins just a smidge when the tire rotates against it. But a few minutes into the "ride" the tire expands from heat, and there is too much friction? All I know is, there are no "Bandag Bandit" stickers on my bike, but the rubber sure does fly when I drop the hammer! Any suggestions would be appreciated, I'll run out of trainer tires in a hurry at this rate.

The top image was from a day in October up in Stratford when the hot rodders came to town, and then left in a hurry. Yum, I love the smell of spent rubber and race-octane fuel! Later!

6 comments:

MrDaveyGie said...

That just isn't right. Seems to be too much friction between the two contacting surfaces. I've only used rollers but I use a "heavy slick" and have been using the same tire for 3 years now. Indoor biking helps the winter survival rate when you can't get out.
Dave

JPTwins said...

I agree, something is not right with the setup. I've ridden my trainer 15 or so times last winter and never saw ANY rubber on the floor. I used a slick tire that had already seen years of riding and it looked fine.

I'd read the manual again and see if it can give you a clue.

Speedblend Dude said...

Is there tire smoke? Are you doing an INDOOR burnout??

Awesome! :>))

Looks like the tire is rubbing against something other than the roller.

The other solution is to buy some studded Nokians, layer up and go winter riding!!

Mike Johnson said...

I've seen this before. Yes, the heat is a big factor and it is not from the tire expanding but more of the type of compund used. You need a smoother tire and one that has a very hard compund and super stiff side wall, no soft tires. Regardless there will be friction that's what makes it work. Key reduce the heat.

I have used the Conti indoor trainer tires on the rollers with no problems. Little pricy but lasts forever. Reason the yrunn super cool. I think I have 3000+ miles on these over the last couple of seasons. I think my rollers are going to wear out first. Oh they did I burned through and axel.

Travel Gravel said...

I finally had time to mess with it and I think it is from not having the contact between tire and roller tight enough. I actually had to read the instructions! A second time! OMG! Should be set now. Thanks to all for the input. Road gravel today anyways:)

Travel Gravel said...

Just curious Geoff, how did you find my blog? Thanks for commenting on the trainer, check back again some time. Later!