Trainer durability question

[pow]

My wife got me an inexpensive magnetic trainer for Christmas, and I want to get as much use out of it as possible before it inevitably gives up the ghost in a year or two.

This question assumes I would run a reasonably constant cadence, and adjust the gearing to change the wheel speed to keep a constant power output.

So my question is: should I expect longer life out of it by running at a higher resistance setting at a lower wheel speed (and thus lower trainer speed), or a lower resistance at a higher wheel speed. My initial guess is that a lower speed at the trainer would help it last longer by reducing the wear on the bearings, but am not sure if the higher temperatures in the load unit (due to lower cooling air flow) might over-ride the effects of the lower speed in giving me the best overall life.

If it matters, it's a Graber with a 3-level resistance setting, though I don't know the exact model.

[pow]

No, I meant what I said. Why would bearing wear be dependent on the load (power being transmitted) through the axle of the mag unit? I realize wear would be dependent on the radial load, but that will be constant, and is adjusted by the setting the adjustment screw to press it against the wheel. The torque loading, as adjusted by the magnetic setting, wouldn't seem to me to affect the bearings hardly at all.

Do you run higher resistance settings with lower wheel speeds, or vice- versa?

[bljack]

Dear David and Andrew,

Last month, John Forrest Tomlinson suggested roughly the same thing about the dangers of too-light rear-tire loading on trainers in

John's phrase was "toast," possibly suggesting heat problems, while Andrew uses "shavings."

Do badly adjusted trainers actually leave piles of shavings? Or is the debris more like rubbed-off grindings or (dare I say it?) crumbs?

I have no trainer beyond the wretched 30-40 mph wind today, so I'm just curious about the details of these contraptions.

(I ask clean-shaven friends similar questions about electric razors, citing Samuel Marchbanks, who asked his brother at Christmas if there was no tendency for the skin of the jowls to loosen under the influence of the electricity and to hang in folds.)

Seriously, what's the actual mode of failure when tires are too lightly loaded in trainers?
Abrasion, peeling, or what?

[pow]

I didn't realize that; thanks for the suggestion.

[pow]

Isn't bearing wear largely independent of load?

[puddleglum]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I have noticed that at least with my Tacx trainer noise increases greatly at higher wheel speeds. Because of this, I always use high resistance and low speed.

[pow]

That's the kind of info I was working for; thanks!