Flat Tires on trainer?

allenpg · Jan 25, 2005

I just got a new Fuji Roubaix with Continental 1000 tires and ended up with a flat after only 100 miles on my trainer. I was really surprised as the trainer (Performance Mag Force) has the Elastogel that is supposed to reduce tire wear, and the tire shows very little wear.

When I took out the tube, I noticed that it was "warped" (deformed rubber, thicker in one area than the other) where the leak was about 2 inches from the valve stem. Has anyone else had this happen before? I was running about 100 psi on the tires (now I'm running 120). I think it's just a faulty tube, but was wondering if anyone else has had this problem before.

Thanks!
-Pete

P.S. I have to laugh as this is my first road bike after mountain biking for nearly 20 years, where I only had about 10 flats in that time.

capwater · Jan 25, 2005

Fer sure, your tire is going to run hot on a trainer, but not so hot as to be burning up a tube. Been on a cheapie mag trainer for a couple of years and you do wear down tires, but never had a flat. Could be a bum tube.

andrello · Jan 25, 2005

allenpg said:
When I took out the tube, I noticed that it was "warped" (deformed rubber, thicker in one area than the other) where the leak was about 2 inches from the valve stem.

Perhaps it was caused by overtightening the resistance unit against the tire along with running at a lower pressure. Try inflating to max psi first and then tightening only until slippage stops.

allenpg · Jan 25, 2005

andrello said:
Perhaps it was caused by overtightening the resistance unit against the tire along with running at a lower pressure. Try inflating to max psi first and then tightening only until slippage stops.

Yep, I'm pretty sure it's a bum tube or low pressure. The fly wheel is spring loaded, so I don't adjust the resistance between the trainer and bike. The tire has been pretty hot when I get done with a workout.

plainjim · Jan 25, 2005

capwater said:
Fer sure, your tire is going to run hot on a trainer, but not so hot as to be burning up a tube. Been on a cheapie mag trainer for a couple of years and you do wear down tires, but never had a flat. Could be a bum tube.

Well, that was another one of those many, many things I didn't know about! Does this mean I should plan on getting a new rear tire before I go "roading" again in the spring?

Doctor Morbius · Jan 25, 2005

plainjim said:
Well, that was another one of those many, many things I didn't know about! Does this mean I should plan on getting a new rear tire before I go "roading" again in the spring?

It depends on how many trainer miles you log between now and then. I have my bike on a mat so I could see the build up of fine black powder right under the tire (Specialized Turbo 700x23). I'm hoping to log about 1500 miles on this bike on the trainer by May so I went ahead and ordered some Conti Ultra 2000's for the road when Spring arrives. They're on sale for $12.98 from Supergo.

Prior to this past week I had an old MTB on the trainer and was using Kenda Kross Plus 26x1.9 tires. I had this bike on the trainer for a couple of months and never had any tire wear whatsoever. This won't be the case, however, with the softer Turbo's.

The short of it is ... your mileage may vary ... literally!!

plainjim · Jan 26, 2005

Doctor Morbius said:
... so I went ahead and ordered some Conti Ultra 2000's for the road when Spring arrives. They're on sale for $12.98 from Supergo.

Well, I bought the bike after selling my motorcycle. New tires for the motorcycle were $250 a set, plus installation. I can get a set of tires for the bicycle for about $30, and I can install 'em myself. After about three seconds' thought, I decided it's worth the wear on the tires on the trainer, if I can stay in shape over the winter!

capwater · Jan 26, 2005

Go get a cheap tire for the trainer. I ride on Michelin Pro Race outside (in good weather), but the wheel in my trainer has a robust (ie; heavy) wire bead off brand with a thicker tread.

kevinmcdade · Jan 26, 2005

I have a Fuji Roubaix and I must say that the tubes that come with the bike are awful. Mine kept going flat for no apparent reason. I replaced the stock tubes with Michelin Ultra lights and have not had any more problems with them going flat. I have two Fuji bikes and they both did the same thing. I leave one of my bikes on the trainer at all times and ride the trainer just about every day while its cold and the Conti' sport 1000 has held up well.

Doctor Morbius · Jan 26, 2005

Well rats!! I just noticed that Performance is selling the same Conti Ultra 2000 I bought yesterday for $9.98. I paid $12.98 at Nashbar. Aren't those the breaks?

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=4602&estore_ID=270

allenpg · Jan 26, 2005

My new tube worked fine today after an hour of high intensity cycling on the trainer. Owners of the Roubaix, be wary of cheap tubes.

HotLips · Jan 28, 2005

I havent used my trainer in a while, but have had about 3-4 flats on trainer over years, mainly caused by overheating and wear, and sometimes pinching because had roller on too tight.

Best thing to do, have a seperate wheel for trainer as using same one for road use as well only increases chance of flat.

domaindomain · Jan 28, 2005

keep em pumped up, that's the trick!

Currently on horrible looking green, red and white Michelin sports things that I picked up from a wholesaler at £6 - the decent coloured ones are retailing at £35 a pair still so you can only imagine how bad they look in these colours!!

Cheers

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