Trainers for Gravel Bikes

Do any of you use a trainer like a basic Kinetic trainer for indoor use when the weather is crap??

I found an inexpensive one like this but an older version, but wonder if it will suck to use gravel tires on it.

https://www.backcountry.com/kinetic-road-machine-smart-2-trainer?CMP_SKU=KIN000Q&MER=0406&skid=KIN000Q-GN-ONESIZ&mr:trackingCode=0CBC7EE1-12C8-E811-8107-005056944E17&mr:referralID=NA&mr😃evice=c&mr:adType=plaonline&iv_=__iv_p_1_g_52587942452_c_224494399614_w_pla-392468750598_n_g_d_c_v__l__t__r__x_pla_y_7811_f_online_o_KIN000Q-GN-ONESIZ_z_US_i_en_j_392468750598_s__e__h_9010676_ii__vi__&CMP_ID=PLA_GOc001&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PLA&k_clickid=_k_EAIaIQobChMIjvL7s_-s7AIVi8DICh39dgRIEAQYASABEgIhI_D_BwE_k_&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjvL7s_-s7AIVi8DICh39dgRIEAQYASABEgIhI_D_BwE

Thoughts or feedback if you have a trainer and if so what kind/brand to you prefer.
Thanks for any help.

TrailRunnah wrote:I found an inexpensive one like this but an older version, but wonder if it will suck to use gravel tires on it.

It will suck to use gravel tires with wheel-on trainer. It will be loud, vibrate, and demolish your tires very quickly. Not recommended for anything more than using your trainer to do fitting and such.

If you want to use your gravel bike with a wheel-on trainer, you need to get another rear wheel + cassette to use with a training tire, or old slick road tires to wear through. Direct drive trainers are under $800 now as well.

I kinda lucked out and bought a Tacx Vortex on clearance last year, and a decent used road bike that basically just lives in the trainer for $500 total. No complaints with the Tacx trainer other than I don't totally trust the power numbers. Also worth considering how dirty a gravel bike gets, and whether you really want it inside, or how much time you want to spend cleaning it to ride it inside.

I agree with zen. A direct drive trainer is the way to go. Wheel on trainers work best with a trainer tire, even then the tire will slip in a hard sprint.

zen_ wrote:

It will suck.

THANKS - my buddy said the same thing.  I appreciate the candor, kept me from blowing money and having something else useless sitting in my garage.

You can probably get a used wheel on trainer for dirt cheap these days.  There's a used bike facebook group here in Mpls that regularly has trainers for like 100 bucks and a tire for 20.

I just ordered a Kickr from REI but f me that was expensive and that's before all the accessories 

TrailRunnah wrote:

THANKS - my buddy said the same thing.  I appreciate the candor, kept me from blowing money and having something else useless sitting in my garage.

If you live somewhere with a decent size craigslist / FB marketplace, keep your eyes peeled for used wheel-on trainers, as a lot of people end up upgrading to direct drive ones. A cheap alloy road bike that fits well, but has crummy OE wheels and a 2x8 / 2x9 drivetrain is also just fine for indoor training. If you're content to use ERG mode and just do your workouts, the drivetrain and "realism" stuff doesn't matter at all.