Resistance Trainer: Am I wrecking my frame???

I have started using a trainer as weather in Montreal is less than condusive
to road riding. I sit and spin in front of the TV at a moderate speed,
generating a heart rate of 120 (very nice and light).

The front wheel is in a plastic wheel block to level the front end, the rear
is well supported and tightly held on the provided-with-the-trainer QR
skewer.

I am not getting out of the saddle other than getting on and off the bike.

Is this damaging the frame?

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Absolutely not. Think of the stresses on a frame when you're riding. .

That being said, you can destroy your headset. Cover the headset with a
towel when you ride, and make sure you clean the bike after every ride on
the trainer. Also, regrease the stem (if it's a quill) regularly. You
might even try using titanium antiseize instead of grease.

You will ruin tires on a trainer. Save your good ones and install a cheap
slick. if you uses the bike outside too, clean the tire before the putting
the bike on your trainer. Use a rag with some isopropyl alcohol.
"JayofMontreal" wrote in message
.. .
I have started using a trainer as weather in Montreal is less than
condusive
to road riding. I sit and spin in front of the TV at a moderate speed,
generating a heart rate of 120 (very nice and light).

The front wheel is in a plastic wheel block to level the front end, the
rear
is well supported and tightly held on the provided-with-the-trainer QR
skewer.

I am not getting out of the saddle other than getting on and off the bike.

Is this damaging the frame?

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RE/
Absolutely not. Think of the stresses on a frame when you're riding. .

I've been wondering the same thing about my single-pivot cantelever FS.

Seems like the stress from the trainer (especially from somebody as clumsey as
me...) are a lot different from those in normal use....seems like theyd be
trying to twist the rear swing arm off at the pivot point and peel off the welds
on the shock mounts.
--
PeteCresswell

Jay:

My answer is maybe; I've used trainers for about 15 years, and I'm on my
fourth frame now. I could not say how much one relates to the other, all
my frames broke at the back end of the right chainstay. On the other
hand, maybe that's just where frames tend to wear out no matter what. I
used to have lifetime guarantees on the old Ironman/Diamond Back, but,
after so many years, I'm at the end of that source of repair. So now I
understand a frame builder can weld it back together rather capably.

I think putting the bike on a trainer and locking it in place at the
back hub does stress the frame some what, but, I'm willing to take that
risk with my second bike rather than do without the benefit.

Retribe



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"Doug" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Absolutely not. Think of the stresses on a frame when you're riding. .


I agree. The loads from the wheel are transmitted to exactly the same place
as when you ride, to the rear dropouts. You are stressing the frame no more
than riding on the road.

Cheers,

Scott..

"JayofMontreal" wrote in message ...
I have started using a trainer as weather in Montreal is less than condusive
to road riding. I sit and spin in front of the TV at a moderate speed,
generating a heart rate of 120 (very nice and light).

The front wheel is in a plastic wheel block to level the front end, the rear
is well supported and tightly held on the provided-with-the-trainer QR
skewer.

I am not getting out of the saddle other than getting on and off the bike.

Is this damaging the frame?


Dear Jay,

So far, several posts from Christopher Robins
have reassured us that the stresses as far as
the frame is concerned go to the same point
and invite you to think about it.

Being a bear of very little brain, I find it
hard to think about such things and hope to
have some engineer take pity on me.

It seems to me that normally the frame is
free to tilt almost effortlessly from side
to side under pedalling, frantic or otherwise.

That is, I can stand to one side of a free-standing
bike and tip it back and forth as wildly as I like
without the slightest hope of hurting it.

But if I clamp the rear frame into a training
stand with the skewer that you mention, stand
by the side, and start heaving back and forth
wildly, then I hope that it's your frame, not
mine.

Even the lightest pedalling probably involves
some sideways rocking, so I'm inclined to think
that your fears are, in the long term, plausible.
After all, if I wanted to break a rear frame, I'd
clamp it in a vise and start tugging it from
side to side . . .

But I'd like an engineer to tell me what
really happens while I sit here on an imaginary
trainer in a similarly gloomy place (see lower
right of map in "Winne the Pooh"), the 81-degree
temperature of two days ago having dropped to the
traditional Pueblo, Colorado, Halloween thirties
for the trick-or-treaters.

Eeyores truly,

Carl Fogel

Retribe wrote in message ...
Jay:

My answer is maybe; I've used trainers for about 15 years, and I'm on my
fourth frame now. I could not say how much one relates to the other, all
my frames broke at the back end of the right chainstay. On the other
hand, maybe that's just where frames tend to wear out no matter what. I
used to have lifetime guarantees on the old Ironman/Diamond Back, but,
after so many years, I'm at the end of that source of repair. So now I
understand a frame builder can weld it back together rather capably.

I think putting the bike on a trainer and locking it in place at the
back hub does stress the frame some what, but, I'm willing to take that
risk with my second bike rather than do without the benefit.

Retribe

I've also been using trainers for about the same amount of time and
have never damaged a frame. All my trainers grip the rear QR ends,
like the OP. I am using my second trainer bike (I have gone through
four trainers but that is a different story). I ditched my first bike
only because it got so rusty I couldn't repair any parts. I also
stand and pedal all the time, its part of my workout. Both trainer
bikes were steel.

Another poster pointed out the problem with rust. I address that
problem by dedicating a beater bike to the trainer and just letting it
rust. Cheap bikes of the same dimensions as my good ones can be had
for free or for $30 at a thrift store.

Speaking only from my own experience,
Tom

Maybe. I broke a Colnago engraved crank on a trainer(after 15 yrs.....) but the
frame itself has been used on a trainer, about 4-5 hours a week during the
winter, for 18 years., and left to rust .I darent ride it on the road, but who
knows it may never break.

"Carl Fogel" wrote in message
om...
It seems to me that normally the frame is
free to tilt almost effortlessly from side
to side under pedalling, frantic or otherwise.

In what way is this tilting affecting the stress on the frame? The frame is
still supporting your weight through 2 attachment points; the front and rear
quick releases. The fact you're tilting the frame changes nothing other
than the orientation of the stress applied. The same force is being
transmitted by the frame and it's going through the same 2 points.


That is, I can stand to one side of a free-standing
bike and tip it back and forth as wildly as I like
without the slightest hope of hurting it.

What makes you think you're not hurting it? Better still, what makes you
think you're not hurting it more than if it were in a trainer? Plenty of
frames fail from fatigue in normal road riding. There absolutely is a
chance of hurting it.


But if I clamp the rear frame into a training
stand with the skewer that you mention, stand
by the side, and start heaving back and forth
wildly, then I hope that it's your frame, not
mine.

Heave away! Nothing will break. I assure you, Mario Cippolini is applying
far greater cyclic loads when sprinting on the road than any of us will
apply while sprinting in a trainer (well, I can't speak for everyone, but I
suspect this to be the case! ;-) When I ride my mountain bike, and I'm
muscling up a 33 degree rock incline in the granny ring, there is much
greater force being applied to the frame than anything you'll get in a
trainer.


Even the lightest pedalling probably involves
some sideways rocking, so I'm inclined to think
that your fears are, in the long term, plausible.
After all, if I wanted to break a rear frame, I'd
clamp it in a vise and start tugging it from
side to side . . .

Ever watch your bottom bracket while climbing a hill? There's plenty of
side to side motion. The wheels are basically fixed, just as in a trainer.
You're riding a straight line, both wheels going in the same direction.
Effectively, the frame is as fixed as in a trainer. I'm not saying that,
given enough motivation, someone couldn't damage a frame by riding it in a
trainer. I AM saying that the same person could just as effectively damage
a frame by riding it in the same manner on the road.


But I'd like an engineer to tell me what
really happens while I sit here on an imaginary
trainer in a similarly gloomy place (see lower
right of map in "Winne the Pooh"), the 81-degree
temperature of two days ago having dropped to the
traditional Pueblo, Colorado, Halloween thirties
for the trick-or-treaters.

Eeyores truly,

Carl Fogel

Of far greater concern to most riders are things like scratched handlebars
and the chance of crack propagation. Or chain failure...or crank arm
failure from scratching. Frame failure on a trainer would be WAY down on my
list of concerns. Besides, if a frame is going to fail, better on the
trainer than on the Stelvio descent!! ;-)

Cheers,

Scott..

On 31 Oct 2003 12:19:06 +1050, Retribe
wrote:

I could not say how much one relates to the other, all
my frames broke at the back end of the right chainstay. On the other
hand, maybe that's just where frames tend to wear out no matter what.

I always crack my frames above the BB, like ripping the BB off the
rest of the frame. Of course I am a clydesdale and used to be a
national level BMX racer now on a road bike.