# Spare rear wheel for turbo trainer



## hamcycle (7 Sep 2012)

Hi all

I was hoping someone could give me some basic advice on getting a spare rear wheel. The background is that I got my hybrid bike (Specialized Crosstrail 2012) at Xmas last year and wanted to make sure that I keep up its use over the coming winter... so I bought a turbo trainer. Somewhat unsurprisingly, given the knobbly tyres on the cross trail, it sounds like someone is drilling through my wall when I use it (plus it won't do my tyres any good). 

So what I want to do is to get a slick training tyre... and for ease of switching, a spare rear wheel to go along with it. I want it to be cheap as possible (though I don't mind spending a little more on a decent trainer tyre). As I understand it, I will need;

700c rear wheel
8 speed cassette
700c traner tyre
Can I get any old 700c cassette rear wheel off ebay, or do I need to consider anything re: rim size etc to fit the bike (bearing in mind it'll only be used for the trainer)? Likewise, as long as I match the speeds up, can the cassette be cheap and cheerful?

Is there anything else I would need for a quick switch or that I should look out for before I start scouring ebay for cheap 700c wheels? 

Thanks!


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## Rob3rt (7 Sep 2012)

I run the same tyre on the turbo as I do on the road. No switching.


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## hamcycle (7 Sep 2012)

Do you have road tyres though? The hybrid tyres on the crosstrail are 700x45 and make a hell of a noise on the flywheel! 

But I quite like them for the odd bit of off-road cycling when I'm out and about... so the ideal for me would be to have some slicks to switch to quickly when I'm indoors.


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## Rob3rt (7 Sep 2012)

Yes, mine are Schwalbe Lugano road tyres.


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## oldfatfool (7 Sep 2012)

hamcycle said:


> Hi all
> 
> I was hoping someone could give me some basic advice on getting a spare rear wheel. The background is that I got my hybrid bike (Specialized Crosstrail 2012) at Xmas last year and wanted to make sure that I keep up its use over the coming winter... so I bought a turbo trainer. Somewhat unsurprisingly, given the knobbly tyres on the cross trail, it sounds like someone is drilling through my wall when I use it (plus it won't do my tyres any good).
> 
> ...


If you are running Shimano atm then your new wheel will need to be for shimano and the cassette will therefore need to be shimano fitting, also make sure you get the correct hub width for your rear (130mm or 135mm) other than that just go as cheep and cheerful as you want as strength and weight on the turbo aren't an issue. Also I am not sure if you can get wider 700c turbo tyres so you may need to get a rim suitable for a 23c tyre.

Depending on how much use you intend to use the turbo I would deffo recommend a turbo tyre, I have a tacx tyre and the wall behind mine is now rubber coated and the tyre blistered but still going strong, it as done well over 2k miles.


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## Zakalwe (7 Sep 2012)

You'll quite rightly want a smooth tyre for use on a trainer, some folk have no problems with a generic road tyre but others have issues with the rubber cooking on the roller from the friction and spraying up the walls. Luckily there are hard compound turbo specific tyres available if this is a concern. Any old cheapo 700c wheel would do the trick in building a turbo only rear wheel, just make sure it's got a shimano freehub or the cassette won't fit. I don't think a genuine Shimano 8 speed cassette would cost all that much more than the cheapest offering from another brand so I'd stick with their cassette or you may get uneven wear on your chain as a result of different ramping profiles.


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## Zakalwe (7 Sep 2012)

Also, don't get a cassette with a larger big cog than you currently run, or you could jam the chain in the derailleur as the chain won't be long enough to go over the big-big combo.


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## hamcycle (7 Sep 2012)

Thanks guys, that was hugely helpful!

I've bought the cassette now (identical to my current Shimano 8 speed, was only a tenner - thanks Zakalwe!), now it's just the wheel and tyre.

The tyre I fancy the look of is the Schwalbe Insider 700c which is 23-622. I looked at the tyre sizing guide here and it suggests that a 13-15mm rim would best fit the 23s... but there seems to be a bit of debate over whether it's actually fine to use a larger rim with smaller tyres.

My current rear wheel rim is 18mm - bearing in mind I'm just using it for the trainer, could I just get a smaller rim to fit the 23s (i.e. a 15mm) or would that cause issues/lots of adjustments? Or should I not think too hard about rim size and just get 18mm if they're cheap?


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## oldfatfool (7 Sep 2012)

hamcycle said:


> My current rear wheel rim is 18mm - bearing in mind I'm just using it for the trainer, could I just get a smaller rim to fit the 23s (i.e. a 15mm) or would that cause issues/lots of adjustments? Or should I not think too hard about rim size and just get 18mm if they're cheap?


 
Don't worry about the rim width being less than what you have currently, you won't be using the brakes and that is the only component that would be effected. Your main concern is the hub width, road wheels (for narrower tyres) are generally 130mm and ATB are 135mm. If your rear is 135 then you may have to have a hand built wheel to get a road rim on a wider hub.

I wouldn't recommend running a 23c tyre on a wide rim especially on the turbo where you get much more heat build up. see also sheldon http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html


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## hamcycle (9 Sep 2012)

I believe my hub width is indeed 135mm. Do you know anywhere that does a 135mm spaced 700c wheel with smaller (13-15mm) rims? Google is being unusually unhelpful!

Alternatively, I could get a bog standard 700c wheel that matches up with what I have now (18mm rim) and go for a wider tyre - unfortunately all trainer-specific tyres appear to be 23c, so I guess I would then have to just go for a slick 25/28c race tyre. I take it that it would just wear quicker than a trainer tyre, but should still be quiet?


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## oldfatfool (9 Sep 2012)

hamcycle said:


> I believe my hub width is indeed 135mm. Do you know anywhere that does a 135mm spaced 700c wheel with smaller (13-15mm) rims? Google is being unusually unhelpful!


 
Any wheel builder will happily build one to your spec. say a xt hub and a mavic open pro rim (though this might be overkill just for the turbo)


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## smokeysmoo (9 Sep 2012)

I'd save your money until you know you can stick with the turbo TBH.

IMO turbos are the work of the devil, and very few ever get used after the first few times.

If you do stick with it then invest as you wish. Until then I'd hang fire as the turbo may be on eBay before long


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## Mr_K_Dilkington (14 May 2014)

Rob3rt said:


> I run the same tyre on the turbo as I do on the road. No switching.



@Rob3rt Digging up an old thread here, but I've been told to get a turbo specific tyre as it can square off regular road tyres? Is this not really a problem? I'm hoping it's a yes as i'd rather not have to bother with getting a spare rear wheel and tyre for the turbo. Cheers!


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## Rob3rt (14 May 2014)

Mr_K_Dilkington said:


> @Rob3rt Digging up an old thread here, but I've been told to get a turbo specific tyre as it can square off regular road tyres? Is this not really a problem? I'm hoping it's a yes as i'd rather not have to bother with getting a spare rear wheel and tyre for the turbo. Cheers!



It will square off yes. Definitely worth having a spare wheel especially if you ride the turbo a lot. No need for turbo specific tyres though, I just use my old road tyres on the turbo when they are no longer fit for road use.


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