Carbon Bikes on Indoor Trainers

[MY02_STi]

I've managed to get a Trek CF frame which I'm considering building up as a training bike and as such it would spend a lot of time on an indoor trainer (Cateye CS100 which also secures the front forks).

I've heard horror stories about indoor trainers destroying CF frames so I guess I'm after some feedback but to my way of thinking, being on a trainer shouldn't be any worse than racing :confused:

Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated

[kleng]

I've managed to get a Trek CF frame which I'm considering building up as a training bike and as such it would spend a lot of time on an indoor trainer (Cateye CS100 which also secures the front forks).

I've heard horror stories about indoor trainers destroying CF frames so I guess I'm after some feedback but to my way of thinking, being on a trainer shouldn't be any worse than racing :confused:

Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated

Hi

I have a Minoura indoor trainer that also secures the fork as well as the rear axel, using an older Giant Cadex frame, the trainer cracked the lugged head tube as there was not enough give in the whole arrangement and the frame just had to give way given the added and undesigned stress created by the two anchor points.
Also the frame alignment on the trainer was not perfect so this added extra
stress to the equation. Think about when we bounce up and down and lean from side to side on a ride, the tires , the wheel and the frame all flex to a certain degree to absorb the movement. While on a trainer, only the frame can absorb any movement, give the 2 points of fixture and it will flex around these points.

That why I'm not risking my new Giant TCR Advanced team on it. Much easier buying a cheap frame and building a basic trainer bike up. That way if you break it, its not such a huge loss, especially if you compare it to breaking the carbon frame which is more diffcult to repair.

[park]

I used my carbon time trial bike on the trainer all winter and do intervals on the trainer during the season. Even the hard efforts are fairly smooth. Maybe standing up and cranking out sprints routinely would torque the frame, but I don't know. I couldn't find any specific references to carbon frames falling apart aside from the post made here. Time will tell.

[jhuskey]

I've managed to get a Trek CF frame which I'm considering building up as a training bike and as such it would spend a lot of time on an indoor trainer (Cateye CS100 which also secures the front forks).

I've heard horror stories about indoor trainers destroying CF frames so I guess I'm after some feedback but to my way of thinking, being on a trainer shouldn't be any worse than racing :confused:

Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated


All I can say is that I do not risk it. I use an old chrom moly frame on my cateye cyclosimulator.
It definitely wears the tires ,so I use cheap tires on it.

[Postie]

The same question was asked a couple months back so you might want to look for that thread.

I've done it and I know a ton of people that have also done it with no consequence, however looking at the last time this was asked, many people would not do it.

At minimum, if you do decide to do so, you most definitely do not want to secure the front fork as mentioned earlier. That puts much too much torque on the frame.

I bought a new hardy bike that I'm going to use for commuting and the trainer so my days of CF on a trainer are over.

[netscriber]

Here it is...
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t293872.html

[MY02_STi]

Here it is...
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t293872.html

Thanks for the link - much appreciated :D

[Postie]

Here it is...
http://www.cyclingforums.com/t293872.html

I guess it's a pretty common question. :D

This is the thread I was thinking of:

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t319752.html

[MY02_STi]

Thanks for the advice guys :) I think I'll just continue with my old steel frame for the trainer :o

[dm69]

why do you need a carbon fibre trek for the trainer? infact why do you need a carbon fibre trek for TRAINING at all. Train heavy and cheap race light and expensive...Sometimes people just dont get it!

If you want my opinion (prolly not, lol) I say buy another CHEAP steel bike with CHEAP wheels and VERY CHEAP COMPONENTS (tiagra maximum) and ride that on the trainer then do your outside training on that other steel bike that is currently on your trainer. Save your money from that trek on awesome stuff for your racing bike, even a srm powermeter for your training bike?:rolleyes:

[MY02_STi]

The Trek is a left over :o .............after my wife gave me a Pinarello Paris Carbon FP for my birthday :cool: