PTS Turbo Trainer - 11 Years of Tire Sales

PTS Turbo 1000 Recumbant Stationary Trainer

For over Eleven years, I've been getting calls from people looking for tires for the PTS Turbo trainer. They all share one thing (two things) in common, one, they love the machine, two, the tire is rotted. Amazingly, these old machines work perfectly and all the customers say they went out and tried to price similar machines and couldn't find any comparable. PTS developed a very sturdy trainer that was ahead of its' time.

Recently I got a call from one of the originators of the trainer and he clued me in the philosophy behind the trainer. They knew they were building a good trainer when they built them, but the trainer never sold enough to make it a true commercial success so they stopped making them. Apparently some of the original players may want to get back into the game and I hope they do.

After talking with dozens and dozens of PTS owners, I can say that they are truly remarkable from several aspects. From a styling point of view, they look like the "Eames Chair" of stationary trainers. From a durability standpoint, few companies have achieved what PTS did and that was make a trainer still relevant 30 years later and make it to a standard that puts other trainers to shame.

Of course this is my opinion, but I only arrive at this from the effusiveness of the PTS owners and some common sense. A lot of these owners got them second hand and many of them surprisingly had bought one new. All of them wanted to ride them again and found the tire had rotted. No matter whether the machine was in a commercial gym or a home, nothing was ever wrong with the machines except the tire. Owners had zero complaints about the trainer and only the tire being rotted stood in the way of them exercising on it.

More pics look here

After looking for hours on the internet, many of the PTS owners were forced to come to grips with the fact they might not ever find a tire that will work and started to look for another trainer. All of the owners I talked to said the same thing. After looking in the stores and online and even trying out some trainers, none made the PTS owner happy and no other trainer came close to the quality for even twice the price many of the owners had originally paid. After trying other trainers and looking for a new one, all the PTS owners went back on the internet and in one way or another found us.

The tire on the PTS Turbo Trainer was a hollow hose fused together at the ends. It was (is) stiff and designed to take the roller that engages it. Over time, the roller would wear it out and expose the hollow inside or the plastic would dry rot into hundreds of tiny pieces. Since the disc or the rim of the wheel doesn't have a valve stem hole, rubber tires aren't an option. To make it work, the PTS owners would need a solid core tire that could be "snapped" into place and when the roller engages it, would have a enough stickiness to it so it wouldn't slip on the roller when more tension was put on it.

The Air Free Savannah Cruiser 27 x 1 3/8 (17-18mm) Urethane Airless Bicycle tire will fit the PTS Turbo Trainer perfectly. In Eleven years, not one person has ever sent one back, nor has one person ever said they couldn't get it on. The Savannah tire was designed to fit a bicycle, but it has the right height off of the rim and it squeezes into the rim perfectly and all owners report that they are able to ride again with out any problems.

http://www.airfreetires.com/shopping/p-101-27-x-1-14-nu-teck-savannah-cruiser17-18-630.aspx

Some owners have reported that bike shops won't install airless tires for practically any reason, but they are not hard to install at all. Like many things there are some "tricks" and airless tires are actually easy to install or they would be making millions of them a year.

Finding a picture of the Trainer proved difficult and I was forced to snag the ones on this page off of Craigslist. Notice at even 30 years old, how nice the bike is. I like the chair and the disc wheel gives it a look of prestige and modern design. It looks like it could have been made yesterday but also notice the tire is missing and that is why the person who placed the ad was selling it for only $75.

For all the PTS Turbo owners out there, do not sell them, if you don't have one, get one, they will only go up in value (unless they start making them again) and all you may ever need to replace is a tire that you can put on with a little paddle that looks like a spatula.

For me, it is very satisfying to help all these people use something that would probably have been thrown away. And I like the fact that the PTS Turbo Trainer has resulted in 500 sales over the last 11 years. While that number may not be huge, it makes for a great little story:-)

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Comments

[detox xtreme]

ary Trainer

For over Eleven years, I've been getting calls from people looking for tires for the PTS Turbo trainer. They all share one thing (two things) in common, one, they love the machine, two, the tire is rotted. Amazingly, these old machines

[Ivo Valentini]

Preciso de uma assistência Técnica em Caxias do Sul, RS, Brasil.
Grato
SDS
IVO

[Linda Thomas]

I purchased a tire and it too is very tight against the roller. I cannot determine how to adjust it. If you loosen the two bolts the roller will slide down, but the amount it slides down is limited by the v made between the two supports. Any suggestions??

[Ed Soltis]

The its turbo 1000 was the best bike ever made period and if they ever start making them again I will take ten to start with.ED

[Tim Abaer]

I have a PTS Turbo Trainer like the one you have pictures of. I need some close up pix of the hub on both sides. Have put a rebuilt hub into the wheel, but some of the exterior nuts, washers etc. where not kept in order by the bike shop that put the new hub in for me. Any help, maybe a manual?
Thanks,
Tim