Rollers VS Turbo Trainers.

fosmaal

Looking to keep my fitness up over the winter.

What i want to know is, what are the benifits of a roller over a turbo trainer and vise versa?

I like the idea of rollers, as when I have had a go on a exersise bike it's not been the best experience, but are they any good?

Thanks in advance.

Mog Uk

You need good balance and concentration when on rollers, which at least keeps you 'on the ball' whilst training and keeps it remotely exciting... Saying that though I'm thinking of selling my rollers and getting a turbo trainer, sometimes I just want to ride in the garage without the fear of falling off....

Bronzie

Rollers advantages:
- develops smooth pedalling motion & high cadence
- improves balance
- good for doing an easy spin recovery ride on (as no resistance)
- less boring than turbo as you have to concentrate or you'll fall over! (however, if you are using a turbo to do hard intervals, you shouldn't get bored anyway)
- quieter than a fan resistance turbo
- most pack up small and can be used for warmups at track races etc where you don't have time to put bike in and out of turbo frame
- can use front wheel mounted magnet to measure "speed" (not that it means much when you are in fact stationary)

Disadvantages:
- unless you get some with resistance (there are some avail for around £200 with variable magnetic resistance) you can only spin and it's harder to get a really good workout on - see this thread http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12536772
- not really a good idea to use them on the best lino in the kitchen because if you come off, you'll stick a nice big skid mark on it - really best for the garage

Mike Willcox1

It depends on your gears. I use my rollers for short intervals with a high cadence (120rpm) so if you use a high enough gear then it is OK. It's good practice for improving your riding technique

bahzob

I've got both. Rollers for recovery rides and developing "souplesse". Turbo for heavier intervals.

One warning on rollers: bizarre but true you may get an electric shock from static build up. I use a car jump start cable to earth the bike and avoid.

DavidBelcher

bahzob wrote:

One warning on rollers: bizarre but true you may get an electric shock from static build up.

Absolutely - I posted my own account of such an episode a couple of months ago! Another advantage to rollers I don't seem to have seen on this thread as yet; they're much kinder to road tyres than a turbo-trainer. I'm using a bike with Conti GP3000s on my rollers at the moment, with no sign of excessive wear.

David