Quietest tire for rollers

He, he :laughing:…yeah, that’s a habit we developed years ago when wheel-on trainers had small diameter rollers and you had to do everything possible to prevent tire slippage (high tire pressure, super-tight roller tension, really clean tire).

It’s less of a problem with rollers due to their larger diameter and having two of them on the drive wheel, but it still keeps them grippy when accelerating or higher power efforts. Plus our dedicated workout room is inside our house, so cleaning off the tires out in the garage keeps our floors cleaner…yes, I’m a bit OCD. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

I guess one could just use a wet rag (with water). The benefit of using rubbing alcohol is that it dries so quickly in case we need to clean our tires just before riding (e.g., using rollers for pre-race warm-ups).

@Jonathan have you noticed a resonance type of sound on your Quick Motion rollers? I seem to get it while putting out higher power when riding on the middle of the roller. When I stay close to the edge it goes away. Just curious if anybody else has experienced this.

dont know what you mean by resonance sound?
Most noise on my quick motion does not come from the tire but from the vibration of the belts at certain cadences.
At other cadences the QM is much less noisy.

Yeah, almost all of the noise for me comes from the belts. These rollers are significantly quieter than aluminum rollers, but they still are far from quiet.

I did find that noise increased when I started using Specialized Turbo’s instead of Schwalbe Pro Ones. I don’t know what exactly causes it, but I assume it has to do with the very small dimple pattern of the rubber on the Specialized Turbos compared to the smooth surface of the Pro Ones. Not sure though.

1 Like

Long story short the resonance sound I had was from not having the wheelbase adjusted quite right combined with some rubber particles that had form/stuck to the drum.

2 Likes

Anybody have any suggestions for the quietest mountain bike tire? I just sold my road bike and have maxxis aggressors on right now and these suckers are LOUD! I was looking at something like the rekon race, aspens, schwalbe rocket Ron’s or maybe thunderburts. Thunderburts don’t come in a wide size and I am afraid they might not be good on the trails either. Buying another wheelset is not an option at this point.

I searched for “best tires for trainers” and this old thread popped up. I am hoping to learn what specific tires you’re all using. I’m willing to pay up for pricey tires if you’ve found that they have laster longer than less expensive tires. Thanks in advance.

The cheap ones often last longer, because the rubber compound is usually harder.

1 Like