You are not alone, who is struggling to procure Trainer tire just after buying a Indoor Bike Trainer for home. Before starting this article, let me clear that, Trainer Tire is not required for any of the bicycle rollers and trainers (that do not clamp the rear wheel) as the bike oscillates left to right on the 4” aluminum rollers, that do not generate any heat even if you are using the rollers for zone 2 or zone 6 trainings on regular basis.
We are sharing the information we gathered after years of our won professional cycling and indoor training experiences.
Why the regular Bike tire worn out on trainers
There are different type of indoor bike trainer, most of them (exclude Smart Trainer) comes with a magnetic or fluid mechanism to create resistance.
The design is more or less, all of these trainers clamp the rear wheel tightly and the bike tire rotates on a 1” steel roller hub. Due to high RPM of 1” steel trainer hub at one single point of contact of tire and steel hub of rollers it generate excessive heat that worn out the bike tire badly in just 500-800 km of ride on trainer and you cannot use the same tire for outdoor cycling as it gets bald and uneven.
So, a Trainer Tyre is an essential component if you are using any such type of indoor bike trainer stand.
What is Trainer tire:-
These tires are made out of some different rubber compound that resist and can bear the excessive heat produced from the friction of tire and Trainer hub and don’t worn out easily. Trainer tire have a grip less, smooth and a harder surface that creates less noise as compared to the regular bike tire.
Type of trainer tire available:-
Most of the Indoor Bike trainer tires are available in 700c profile, and are easily available online and on bike stores, but usually they are expensive then the regular tires.
One can get MTB trainers tires but the size is always an issue and not all online websites and stores
keep MTB trainer tires in stock.
The 5 best trainer tires for Indoor bike trainer
Most of the companies who sell bike trainers they also sell trainer tires (absolute rebranding) as the immediate requirement after buying a Indoor trainer is Trainer Tire. Nowadays Most of the good stores and sales persons start mentioning the riders, that with the trainer you should buy trainer tires, else don’t buy. This statement helped riders to take decision of buying a trainer.
The best trainer tires are –
1. Btwin trainer tires, this is so fare the cheapest option , we don’t comment on its durability but yes this is easily available at decathlon store and online as well at the lowest price. They only have 700c x25 road bike tyre.
2. Second in the list is Vittoria Zaffiro Pro, Vittoria is a well-known tire brand and they manufacture very good quality tires, both MTB and 700 c road bike trainer tire are available with them.
3. Schwalbe Insider Performance– both road and MTB trainer tires are available with this brand and they are popular among touring and race community for good tires but expensive
4. Continental Home Trainer Tire:- although they are known for their automobile tires but with the increasing demand of trainer specific tires they make trainer tires as well.
5. Tacx Trainer Tire:- Since most of the indoor trainers are sold by tacx, they sell trainer specific tires.
Can we use trainer tires for outdoor rides:-
Big NO! The trainer tires are made of very hard material, they don’t have any grip to resist on road, this may leads to poor breaking, slips and skids on turns, also because due to hardness they can be easily damaged by small stones on road.
Extra efforts to fix trainer tire – Yes it is a headache, changing tire, every time you switch form outdoor to indoors, but this is what it is!!!! If you want to stick to any magnetic or fluid trainer which clamps the rear wheel. You have to face it.
If you are not a professional rider, The alternative options is , you can use a cheap tire for both indoor an outdoors, and you can change it after every 500-800 km or when it gets bald or worn out.
If you are a pro cyclist, you can use a old used tire, for zone 2 and 3 trainers old tires will work for some time still you have to change a good road tire for outdoor cycling to get the best results on road.
Most of the pro cyclist have two or a few cycles, they usually keep one bike for trainer with fixed
trainer tire.
Our Indoor Cycling Series:
Also, you can check out our Indoor Cycling Series, an all-rounder guide to enhance your indoor cycling experience.
Indoor Cycling Series 1: This is a perfect guide to a powerful 45- minutes step-by-step Indoor Cycling Routine and Training at home with your Indoor Bike Trainer/ Rollers.
Indoor Cycling Series 2: Get detailed knowledge about the Best Equipment and Setup for Indoor Cycling Workouts and measure their pros and cons to find your ideal one.
Indoor Cycling Series 3: Record your Indoor Cycling Routines with the Best Workout Apps that come with interactive features, detailed analytics, minimal equipment, and investment.
Indoor Cycling Series 4: A step-by-step DIY process of rocker plates to transform your favourite smart trainer into exclusive designs that are ideal for your body.
Indoor Cycling Series 5: Know everything about the challenges, rewards, tricks, and easiest hacks for maintaining quick balance while riding on rollers.
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