Hooking my bike up to the trainer

[mjfc44]

As the weather in a few weeks starts to get bad and daylight less, I want to get everything prepped for my trainer. I have two bikes, one that I ride on the road all the time and one that is currently hooked up to my trainer. I want to ride my bike that I ride year round on the trainer as the bike that is currently on the trainer is no longer useful to train. Without doing damage to my bike I ride now is it ok to hook it up to the trainer? I'm thinking about getting a spare wheel so that I don't damage the one I currently have. Is this possible?

 

[An old Guy]

You can certainly ride your road bike on your trainer. There should be no damage done to it.

If the rear wheel on your second bike is suitable, you could use that wheel on your road bike when it is on the trainer.

 

[qcwtom]

You can hook up any bike you want to the trainer (assuming it has smooth tires) and not worry about damage from just a ride or two. If you are going to ride it on the trainer all winter, then you might want to drape a towel over it or get a sweat net to prevent rust. The trainer will wear out your rear tire a little more, so you can buy a trainer tire to keep on there. Of course, most tires wear out over a couple years anyway and some people just replace their tires in the spring anyway.

I have a bike that has lived on the trainer only for about 5 years now (about 8 hours a week in the winter and 5 hours a week in the summer). The wheels are still in great shape and is most of the bike. The chainrings have a little rust on them and the frame lug where the brake cable connects near the seat has some rust on it, but I would not call that "damage" since it's completely ridable.