Indoor Trainers 4: Compatibility
So, you’ve decided which trainer to buy (If you haven't got that far yet, check our guides on Rollers, Tyre-Drive Trainers and Direct Drive trainers). Now you need to figure out how to fit your bike onto it. Here’s some compatibility information to make that easier. If this doesn’t answer your question, feel free to get in touch.
Rollers:
This is the easy one. Put your bike on the rollers, and adjust the wheelbase to match your bike as closely as possible. The front roller should be directly underneath the front axle of your bike, or as near as you can get. If you have knobbly tyres, consider fitting some slick ones to reduce noise and drag. If you’re riding a mountain bike, have a look at these tyres – they’re not specifically designed for indoor use, but they’re cheap to replace, and it saves wearing out your nice, soft, knobbly MTB tyres.
Enjoy riding your rollers! Or should we say endure…
Tyre-Drive Trainers:
Quick Release Skewers
This is where it starts to get a little more interesting. Your new trainer will most likely be supplied with a quick release lever. It’s a good idea to use this – it’s shaped to fit the little cups which hold the bike into the trainer. Most newer quick release levers use an external cam design, which won’t work with a trainer, and will probably get quite scuffed in the process of trying. If you don’t have one for whatever reason, Elite sell one for a fairly reasonable price.
Thru Axles
If your bike uses thru axles rather than quick release skewers, you’ll instead need to purchase a trainer adaptor axle which matches your bike. For the purposes of buying a trainer adaptor axle, you’ll just need to know the axle diameter and thread pitch – they’re supplied with spacers to take up any differences in length. These are available from Tacx. If your axle has a conical head, you’ll need to source a suitable conical adaptor too. Elite also produce a much simplified version using a quick release skewer and some flanged bushes, but we would usually recommend the Tacx axles where possible.
Turbo Tyres
If you’re going to use your turbo frequently, or you have knobbly tyres, then it’s a good idea to consider using a dedicated turbo tyre. These are made of a very hard, heat-resistant rubber compound which will last longer, slip less and make much less noise in use – a serious consideration if you live in a flat, or have to fit your training in at unsociable times. These tyres should not be used for anything other than riding on the turbo trainer. Here are a few options available in different sizes:
Vittoria Zaffiro Pro Home Trainer
Turbo Wheels
Turbo tyres can be a bit of a pain to fit – their hard compounds can make them very tight to get on and off the rims. If you’re just going to stick the bike on the turbo all winter, then that probably isn’t an issue. If you’re planning to ride outdoors as well, then changing your tyres might get old quite quickly. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to purchase a spare rear wheel to set up with a trainer tyre, purely for indoor use. This doesn’t have to be a high-end wheel, and if you happen to have some end-of-life wheels lying around anyway, this would be a good use for them. As usual, be mindful that worn out rims can fail suddenly under high pressures, and the high temperatures of turbo trainer use can significantly increase tyre pressure.
If you’re buying a spare wheel for the purpose, you’ll need to make sure that the wheel fits your bike – same diameter, same gear fitment and same axle type. You’ll also need to buy a new set of gears for the new rear wheel, which means identifying whether your wheel uses a freewheel or a freehub (and if so, which one). In this case, if you’re not really sure what you have, send us some pictures of your existing wheel, and we can advise you on a suitable replacement.
Direct Drive Trainers:
Freehubs
Direct Drive turbo trainers are generally supplied with a bare freehub. Some brands give you the option to purchase a trainer with the correct freehub already fitted, but most brands will supply you with a Shimano HG11 freehub whether you want it or not, with other freehub bodies sold separately. Occasionally a trainer will be supplied with a cassette pre-installed, which may or may not be correct for your bike. Sometimes you’ll get a Zwift Cog instead – a single sprocket designed to work with all common drivetrains, which relies on software to adjust the resistance of the trainer instead – these are a handy choice if your whole family will be sharing a trainer. Please consider that the freehub needs to be correct both for the cassette and for the trainer make/model: as with wheels, freehubs are not standard, generic parts. If you’re not sure what you need, we’ll cover cassettes and freehubs in another text soon, but in the meantime feel free to get in touch
Elite Trainers (Justo series, Drivo series, Avanti, Rivo, Direto series, Suito, Turno, Zumo, Volano)
HG11
*use at own risk, not officially listed by Elite, see product listing. Not tested with SR13 cassettes.
Tacx Trainers Type 1 (Flux Smart, Neo Smart)
Tacx Trainers Type 1 or 2 (Flux S, Flux 2, Neo 2)
Check This Document to see which axle type you have
Tacx Trainers Type 2 (Neo 2T, Neo 3M)
Campagnolo N3W for 13-speed, and 10T sprocket 12-speed
Cassettes
Given that you’re going to be riding indoors, weight doesn’t really matter quite as much as it does out on the road. It might be worth fitting a lower-spec cassette to your indoor trainer to reduce wear, and reduce replacement costs. The shifting between top and mid-tier cassettes is usually quite comparable, they just lack some of the fancier materials, surface coatings and weight reduction. Here’s a few recommendations.
12-Speed Shimano HG11 Road – CS-R7101
12-Speed SRAM XDR Road – XG-1250
12-Speed Campagnolo Road – Chorus
11-Speed Shimano and SRAM HG11 Road – CS-R7000
11-Speed Campagnolo Road – Centaur
10-Speed Shimano and SRAM HG Road – CS-HG500
10-Speed Campagnolo Road – Veloce
12-Speed Shimano MicroSpline MTB – CS-M6100
12-Speed SRAM XD MTB – XG-1275
12-Speed Shimano and SRAM HG MTB – PG-1230
11-Speed Shimano and SRAM HG MTB – CS-M5100
10-Speed Shimano and SRAM HG MTB – CS-M4100
This is not an exhaustive list. Check our Cassette and Freehub Compatibility blog coming soon.
What if I have a freewheel, not a cassette?
If you have a 5 or 6-speed freewheel, there’s a high chance that your bike has a narrower dropout spacing than is currently standard. In this case, you’re probably best to re-consider using a direct drive trainer. You could potentially use a trainer with a 7-speed HG cassette fitted, just consider that spacing may not be the same, and your gear indexing may not work. If you have a 7-speed freewheel, a 7-speed cassette should be fine, just remember that you’ll need an additional spacer behind the cassette. If you have an old Shimano UG cassette, you won’t be able to use this, but your drivetrain should still work with a newer HG cassette.
What end caps do I need?
Elite Trainers
Pre-Rizer Models, up to MY21 (Turbomuin, Drivo, Kuyra, Volano, Direto and Direto X)
Rizer-Compatible Models, 2021+ (Direto XR, Justo series, Suito, Rivo, Avanti)
Boost 141 QR Adaptor for Rizer
Tacx Trainers
I have a problem, who should I contact?
If you’ve purchased a trainer from us and you’re having an issue, please don’t hesitate to give us a call or drop us an email to discuss basic troubleshooting steps. If there’s a more serious issue or warranty defect, then it’s time to take things further.
Tacx trainer issues are now handled directly by their parent company Garmin. We promise we’re not trying to fob you off – they just prefer to deal with things directly with the end consumer. If for whatever reason you can’t reach a resolution, we’ll try to help. Check out their Support Center.
If you have a problem with an Elite product, check out the Elite Support website and attached Elite Forum. If that doesn’t solve your issue, let us know, and we can either contact Elite on your behalf, or put you in touch with one of their customer service agents. They’re very helpful, and continue to provide support and spare parts for their products long after the warranty has expired – it’s always worth asking.