Tyre wear on the rollers

[jimmea]

I've been riding a set of Tacx Antares rollers over the last month or so and noticed that it's killing both tyre's. Rear is the worst, and it seems to be mostly all round the circumference on the right hand side of it where it'showing the thread underneath and bits of rubber flaking off, the front has went white around the entire circumference but not flaking.

Tyres are Michelin Pro 4 endurance 25mm and not very old! I thought it was turbo's that were bad at wearing the (rear) tyres? I've checked the rear tyre to make sure it's seated properly and it does seem to be, so why the wear on the one side? I'm running both at around 95psi.

[Brucey]

riding the rollers does give tyres a hard time; the smaller the roller diameter is, and the lower the tyre pressure, the more the tyre flexes.  There is quite a bit more rolling resistance on the rollers with any given tyre/pressure because the tyre is working harder than normal.

So if you are just warming up on rollers it is no big deal but if you are doing longer roller rides then I would suggest that you use some cheap 'sacrificial' tyres, not good/lightweight ones.

Not sure why the rear tyre should be suffering more on one side than the other, but is it possible that traces of chain lube end up on the tyre and this causes that side of the tyre to degrade a little more quickly..?

cheers

[T42]

+1 for cheapos.  That said, I'm using GP4000s IIs because it's my old bike and they're 23 mm's and because ICBA going to buy anything else.

[rogerzilla]

I've been using an incredibly cheap Vittoria Zaffiro on the turbo.  I think it was about £8.  You might be able to get cheaper from Wilko, but it would probably have a tread.

[Brucey]

oddly enough zaffiro was one I was thinking of too.

cheers

[mark]

Are you both referring to the Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Home Trainer (https://www.vittoria.com/us/en/zaffiro-pro-home-trainer )? Apparently it's a different tire than the regular Zaffiro Pro, and built specifically to withstand the stresses imposed by trainers/rollers as described by Brucey.

[Brucey]

I wasn't actually, but specific home trainer tyres are not a bad idea, provided they are not too pricey (else you might be as well or better off just using cheap 'normal' tyres). Trainer tyres may differ in the carcass (which I don't know about) but they certainly differ in the rubber compound used (for longer life). Being made in odd colours (usually) also means you are unlikely to mistakenly use them on the road.

I have often wondered if wheelchair tyres might make good home trainer tyres too. There are also tyres meant for (brakeless) fixie riders to be able to repeatedly skid stop on; they have lots more tread rubber than normal so might make good trainer tyres, but I have not heard of anyone using them for this purpose.

cheers

[sizbut]

I use trainer specific tyres and even after 2years (almost daily 20 miles plus for the last year) they show no wear. So they are value for money.

[rogerzilla]

My Zaffiro is just the cheapest wire-beaded one.