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Only for wheel-on trainers. A trainer tyre is a harder compound built to cope with the heat and constant friction of a roller, so it wears far more slowly, makes less noise, slips less and produces almost none of the black dust a road tyre does. Direct drive trainers need no tyre at all.
A road tyre is designed to grip tarmac and absorb bumps. Pressed against a spinning metal roller for an hour, it gets hot, and heat is what destroys it.
You will see: rapid wear in one narrow band around the centre; a glazed, shiny strip where the rubber has been cooked; black dust on the floor and on the trainer; and more noise than you expected, because the tread pattern is being hammered flat against a hard surface thousands of times a minute.
A tyre that would last thousands of road miles can be visibly chewed within a winter of regular turbo use.
Trainer tyres use a harder, heat-resistant compound and usually a smooth tread. They are typically bright so nobody rides one outside by accident, because they have very little grip on wet tarmac.
The differences are: much slower wear, considerably less noise, little or no dust, and more consistent contact, which also means slightly more consistent power readings.
They are inexpensive relative to a decent road tyre, and if you are doing a whole winter indoors the maths is easy.
Never ride a trainer tyre on the road. The compound is hard, the grip is poor and they are not made for it.
Whatever tyre you use:
It varies hugely with pressure, tension and how hard you ride, but expect far faster wear than on the road, and a visible flat band within weeks of regular use.
Yes, and plenty of people do. It is already worn, so you are not spoiling anything. Just check it has no cuts or exposed casing.
Usually too little roller tension or too little tyre pressure. A glazed tyre will also slip once the surface has been cooked smooth.
That is the problem we are actually trying to solve. Turbo Trainer Games turns your watts into the controls of a browser game — your power flies the aircraft, climbs the mountain, pulls the sledge. Nothing to install, and it works with a smart trainer you already own.
It is in closed testing at the moment, so there is nothing to play yet. But you can put your name down.
Ask for early access