mountain bikes and Trainers

i am wondering if mountain bikes are ok with trainers. i would like to ride in the house, and my bike is sort of a MB/road bike. it has chunky tires. not smooth ones. will this be a problem with a trainer?

You need to use a slick for your rear wheel.

ok... What's a slick?

a slick tire is one that is compeletly smooth. it will be as wide as your normal mtb tire, but only without the "knobs".

i put my mtb on the trainer all the time in the winter. i haven't had any problems with it at all. the only thing is changing out the back tire to the slick one.

ok, thanks. i'll go to the Bike store and see if i can get one.

Actually, you don't have to use slicks on a trainer. I use a standard cycleops fluid trainer to warm-up for both mtn bike and cyclocross races -- with my knobby tires -- and it works just fine. And if you ever go to a mtn bike race, you'll hear the buzz/whir of every rider there warming up on their trainer (with knobbies).

Slicks will be quieter, and some folks will say they give you a more consistent feel, but knobbies work just fine too.

BTW, there are certain styles of trainers made just for mtn bikes. They have a rim-driven flywheel. This eliminates the need to swap tires if you don't want to use knobbies on your regular trainer.

I've got a Minoura mag trainer & it's the rim drive type so it doesn't matter what kind of tires are on the bike.

I also recently upgraded from a Hardrock to a Giant Trance & thought I'd better check with giant in regards to using a dually with a trainer. They said it was fine as long as you use the front wheel chock to keep the bike level (means no unnecessary load on the suspension).

Unfortunately I don't use the trainer as much as I should (got it due to being tied down with the kids) as I much prefer to ride out on the trail!

ok, thanks everyone for the feedback. i was wondering what kind of pain in the rear it would be to remove the back tire, and replace it. i need a course in assembling the bike. it came assembled.