Trainer on too tight?

Just did my first ramp test for trainer road. I bought a used trainer, a tacx blue manic. And a yellow cycle ops trainer wheel.

I was a bit shocked when I got of my trainer and the trainer had tore the tire up leaving the little yellow pieces everywhere. See the attached pics. image

I assume maybe my trainer is on too tight. But maybe something else is off? Anyone else experience this problem?

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A wheel-on trainer will shred the tire, but gradually – not all at once! :hushed:

It might be the tire compound?? :man_shrugging:

At least it gives you the chance to clean your MTB and practice changing a tire.

Oh no… I’ve never seen anything like that before :sob: . You mentioned that you were even using a CycleOps trainer specific tire, is that right?

I took a look at the Tacx Blue Matic owner’s manual and unfortunately it does not specify a “number of turns” that the tension dial should be tightened to. However, most trainer companies recommend 2-3 full turns from the moment the tire first hits the roller, so that would be a good place to start.

Happy cleaning :wink:

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Something isn’t right. I use the same tire on and off the trainer and beside a little tire “squaring” it holds up with no issues.

I have used the same (continental) trainer tyre for several years (winters) with my kinetic trainer and it is still as good as new. The only time I have had to replace the tyre was when there was some issue with the internal structure and it developed a bulge on the sidewall. Still worked pretty well on trainer, but the noise was annoying.

For TACX, at least the Vortex anyways, the TACX app has a spindown calibration that tells you to tighten or loosen the wheel tension. I am still using a Vittoria trainer tire (red one) I have had for years and a few thousand KM.

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On my Vortex, I had no end of trouble using a Schwalbe trainer tyre. I couldn’t find a happy medium of slippage, too much tension so the trainer wouldn’t calibrate and keeping the tyre from shredding. In the end it wore out (although not as extremely as the OP) and I switched to an old worn out road tyre. No slippage or shredding since then!

I do wonder if the difference is the pressure, 140 PSI on the trainer tyre and 110 on the road tyre so that might be a factor?

I use a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine with my road tire at 100 psi and three turns of the knob from the slightest tire touch to the flywheel. No issues in over a year of use. Sorry to hear of your misfortune.

I generally run around 110psi in the trainer tire. I have almost 22000 km on my TACX flow over the years and there is actually a groove in aluminum now. A lot of those were on the Vittoria and it still seems to be running strong. I do however, run it right at the top of the “tightness” calibration to keep it from slipping

Are you using the KK “Inride”? If so, what is your typical spindown time? I am trying to get mine dialed in so I have the same spindown each time I train. I have found mine to vary from 1.77seconds to 1.52 seconds. The 1.52 feels too tight at the knob but feels really solid during a workout.
Also I set my tire(25c) to 120 psi.

Hmmm, I have a CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer that I’ve used the crap out of and never seen anything like that! Do other brands not have a tensioner knob with “torque” type action of some kind? Once mine is turned to the correct tension it begins to “click” and does not allow tightening any further. This allows the tension to be (basically) the same all the time.

I believe the “torque knob” is a feature only found on Cycle Ops trainers as far as I have seen. I had an older Cycleops fluid trainer and upgraded it with that knob. That trainer has since been replaced by a RoadMachine and I wish it had such easy repeatability for roller pressure. On a RM you have to count the turns once the trainer touches the tire… but how hard? what if there is a slight hop in your wheel? What then Kurt Kinetic? What Then?!
Outside of that, I absolutely love the RM.

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Clean tyre, max tyre pressure (120 psi för my 25c), more roller pressure than you think is needed. Using a Continental ultra sport 2, outdoor and indoor, I have no visible wear despite 7 hours of indoor riding a week.
However, when trying different tyres, lower tyre/roller pressure, I’ve had those bits and dust flying of the tyre. It has to do with either slippage or heat. The tyre must never slip the slightest, ever, and if the tyre pressure is too low the constant deforming will heat it up too much.
I’m using a Tacx Booster with max resistance (10/10, low inertia), which is tough on the tyres. Pushing slightly above 300 W FTP.

Ive had the same problem. In blue. Elite mag trainer without an option of selecting the pressure on the tyre. I bought a Flux second hand as the only solution.

I’ve used different tyres on trainer with various success, from tyre being shredded to trainer roller getting damaged. What was surprising is that Vittoria Rubino Pro (older one, non-graphene) appears to be the best in all regards - no wear at all, no slip, no trainer damage. I run it at 80 psi though. Vittoria Zafiro trainer tyre, on the other hand, appears to be of very hard compound and damages the trainer roller.

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You just put down too many watts :slight_smile: but for real that’s not right…

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At 80 PSI I have to use so much roller pressure not to slip that it heats up and degrades the tyre in no time. Higher tyre pressure means less deformation and a lot less wear, almost none at all, for me.

I agree, it is not ideal, but only at this pressure I could get trainer power and external PM readings to match. Has been ok so far - for more than 2K km in fact…

How old is that yellow tire?
I used to have a trainer specific tire, but it did not generate that much of dust.

Same experience here. That’s why I totally ignore the power reading from my trainer. With 120 PSI and extremely high roller pressure, it under reports by maybe 50% in comparison to my real power meter.