Did the Tower Climb on the Watopia mountain yesterday. Enjoyed the view but my setup wasn’t really up to it.
I’ve got a Tacx Bushido and a new Conti trainer tyre - all calibrated, but there was a fair bit of slippage going on. And a smell of burning rubber.
Anyone else had this problem?
Yes - with a Genius Smart - but the idea is the same. Had to go up real easy and smooth, any throwing around of power resulted in slipping. And once the tyre started slipping, it heated up and slipped even easier. Had to let it cool down a bit before resuming. I cleaned the tyre and the roller - the tyre with some soapy water, the roller with a bit of alcohol, being carefull not to touch the plastic. It helped somewhat.
Next time I go up to the radio tower I will slide the realism slider a bit to the left, should smooth things out a bit.
Hi Chris,
As you know already, low grip between the tire and the roller causing tire slip. Check with the trainer manufacturer what the correct pressure should be but in general you need to use your hand to hold the flywheel stationary (if you can) and attempt to rotate the bicycle wheel with your other hand. The correct tension is set when the bicycle tire does not slide or slip. Also inadequate tire pressure plays a big role - check your tire wall for the recommended pressure but on road bikes it’s usually 80 - 120psi.
If all above is correct and you still experiencing tire slippage you will have to turn the trainer resistance down a bit.
Hope it helps, Ride On!
I’m pretty sure everything is set up right and I always check the tyre pressure before I ride.
I guess maybe the Tacx turbos just aren’t up to the 15% they claim in terms of real world performance.
Next time I’ll try turning down the trainer difficulty / realism a bit. I have it set to around 80% usually so that should hopefully help.
My Kickr Snap recommends two complete turns of the roller knob after contact with the tire. I was having some slippage and upped it to 2.5 turns. Solved the problem for me.
Sorry for being a bit stupid here… But if you turn the knob 2.5 times (or more), does this increase the resistance and so mean, say, that you’re actually doing 250w when the screen says 220w (or whatever)?
I don’t think so, since you’ll still do a spindown calibration. I don’t think it would be any different than variations in tire pressures. I have a powertap wheelset on the way so I can check on that. I’ll post back when I do.
Without wanting to say the wrong thing here, I am knob-less.
I have the BKool pro and the rider weight puts down the wheel pressure, no need for knobs or calibration, got up the mountains yesterday (right to the top) without any slippage at all.
Given there was quite a lot of ice on the track, maybe your trainers are much more realistic than mine. Slipping tyres…wow!
Had a go on the Tower Climb today.
I dialed down the trainer difficulty as suggested and this stopped the slippage. But, power readings seemed way too low. I was out of the saddle grinding away and it was giving me less watts than a gentle spin.
I decided it wasn’t worth the effort I was putting in so turned round…
Solution to tire slippage.
I rubbed automotive fan belt anti-slip solution on my tire and it stopped slipping Works great!