Trainer Tire

I blew a tube on my bicycle trainer the day before yesterday. When I took a look at the tire to see if there was a problem that would lead to another flat, I noticed that the outside of the tire had actually fallen apart, allowing the tube to squeeze through a hole and pop. So I didn't just need a new tube, I needed a new tire as well. I wouldn't have minded so much, if the tire hadn't been less than a year old. So I removed the whole tire (get it, whole tire, hole tire...ahahaha. F'in bike humor. Sweet) and took it in to Erik's today.

When I talked to the bike shop clerk (and co-clerk, it was very quiet so I got to monopolize their time. The only distraction was a couple looking for a sled and hoping the bike store had one), they recommended a trainer tire. A trainer tire?! I had no idea such things existed. Apparently the rubber on the outside of a training tire is less "sticky", preventing excessive wear, allowing several seasons of use, and, as a bonus, eliminating the plastic-knife scraping I do every other month to remove a layer of rubber from the trainer cylinder. They couldn't get one right away, so I had to buy a regular tire for now and put a training tire on order, but as of Monday or Tuesday, I'll have new tech allowing me to step up my training. I can't believe I've been using my same wind trainer since 1987 and no one ever mentioned this small improvement. It's the little things in life that make me happy.