Roller/Turbo Trainer Advice Please

garethoccasionally

At the minute because of dark nights/family time at the weekends I only get out once a week and do between 25 and 30 miles.

I am therefore considering a home trainer of some sort in the sub £80 price bracket, but know nothing about either option.

I am drawn towards rollers as:
a. They seem to be very easy to set up.
b. Seems that you can just plonk your bike on them without having to mess about with different skewers, as seems to be the case with a turbo trainer.
c. I presume they are reasonably quiet.
d. Fancy the challenge on trying to stay on them!!

BUT how much resistance do they generate, is it like riding on the road with an equally fast tail wind, ie nil resistance??

Does anyone have any advice/recomendations.

Thanks

Mike Willcox

garethoccasionally wrote:

At the minute because of dark nights/family time at the weekends I only get out once a week and do between 25 and 30 miles.

I am therefore considering a home trainer of some sort in the sub £80 price bracket, but know nothing about either option.

I am drawn towards rollers as:
a. They seem to be very easy to set up.
b. Seems that you can just plonk your bike on them without having to mess about with different skewers, as seems to be the case with a turbo trainer.
c. I presume they are reasonably quiet.
d. Fancy the challenge on trying to stay on them!!

BUT how much resistance do they generate, is it like riding on the road with an equally fast tail wind, ie nil resistance??

Does anyone have any advice/recomendations.

Thanks

You can alter the resistance on rollers by using heavier wheels, or inflating higher PSI, and of course you can use big gears to lower the cadence for a given level of power.

I use both a turbo and rollers. Rollers need more focus but will build more skills and therefore get you the most benefit. To make the ride harder then use the big gears. Most large chain rings are around 53 or so and with a 12/13 sprocket it will be plenty big enough.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Resistance can vary greatly between brands and types. Here's a roller review for reference.
http://www.fixedgearfever.com/modules.p ... ller_Tests

powenb

Sorry for the hijack.

Do rollers wear tyres down as much as a turbo does?

Bronzie

powenb wrote:

Do rollers wear tyres down as much as a turbo does?

I don't think so as there is less resistance between the tyre and roller.

Regarding the original question, as Alex has pointed out, rollers are available with resistance, but probably not in your price range. I don't think rollers are that great for doing hard training sessions on because 1.they have little resistance 2.if you do a really hard interval session, I'd have thought it quite likely you'd fall off rollers.

If I were in your shoes, I'd get a cheapy turbo instead.

bahzob

I have both but if it was a choice I would go for rollers.

You wont be able to do intervals as hard as a turbo but they can still be pretty hard. On my roller with a 53*11 110 rpm = c.350W which is enough for many. Plus if you can spin at 100 rpm+ on rollers it will not only be a good cardio workout but may well also improve your pedalling efficiency/bike handling.

Just a couple of warnings if you do choose rollers:
> They take a bit of getting used to. Have something to grab hold of (I use a stepladder) until you are used to them
> You may get an electric shock due to static build up. I earth my bike with a car jumper cable to avoid this.

John C.

Another plus for rollers is you get to ride your best bike all year round.

garethoccasionally

Thanks everyone,

excuse my ignorance, but am I right in thinking that you need to change the rear hub skewer to hook your bike onto a turbo. Presumably if this is the case you either use a different bike or a different rear wheel in your normal bike?

bahzob

I don't need to change the skewer on my turbo (Kurt Kinetic).

Cajun

MO is that the rollers are more 'fun' than the trainer; you will have the feel of actually riding on the road; increase your cadence; smooth out your spin and iimprove your balance. http://www.cptips.com/stacyc.htm
1) Get child's step stool for mounting and dismounting.
2) Place rollers in hallway for the 2-wall recovery technique.
3) In the beginning, focus on an area about 15-20 ft. dead ahead.
4) Spend at least 40 minutes (minimum) on the rollers..
(a great time to try out the Camelbak, if you don't already have one .

If money is not a real big issue, go for the Inside eRollers..they allow a beginner to mount (without assistance); stand, sprint, everything...but do cost about 200 Quid...
http://www.insideride.com/

Wow!!! Sorry mate...my math must have been asleep...should have stated 385 Quid ($795US) +190 Quid for shippment, VAT(??) to you?????????????????....
Would contacting one of the US sites be any cheaper????

Eddy S

Cajun wrote:

If money is not a real big issue, go for the Inside eRollers..they allow a beginner to mount (without assistance); stand, sprint, everything...but do cost about 200 Quid...http://www.insideride.com/

The dollar might be weak at the moment, especially against the pound but sadly that isn't being passed on by the UK importer (yet??). The Inside Ride rollers are £575. And I'm still tempted, even at that price.

SteveR_100Milers

garethoccasionally wrote:

Thanks everyone,

excuse my ignorance, but am I right in thinking that you need to change the rear hub skewer to hook your bike onto a turbo. Presumably if this is the case you either use a different bike or a different rear wheel in your normal bike?

Most turbo trainers have cups that locate over the Q/R skewers to hold the wheel in place. Since these cups are round, again most turbos come with an old fashioned rounded skewer that fits nicely inside said cup. You can use the skewers that came with your wheels, but if they are square, they will get damaged slightly (cosmetically at least). The Kurt Kinetic has identical cups to the Fluid2, and personally I use the skewer that was supplied to avoid trashing the nice ones I use on the road.

garethoccasionally

thanks to you all for providing advice. I think I have cleared up all my queries, just need to decide now whether to write roller or turbo on my xmas list!
Cheers

heffordvtr

ive been looking into rollers recently aswell.

are they noisy? and how long do they take to get used to. ive looked at a few "first timers" videos on you tube and they look to be struggling. is it all about balance. does not being able to ride with no hands hinder you?

Alex_Simmons/RST

heffordvtr wrote:

ive been looking into rollers recently aswell.

are they noisy? and how long do they take to get used to. ive looked at a few "first timers" videos on you tube and they look to be struggling. is it all about balance. does not being able to ride with no hands hinder you?

Just like trainers, some rollers are really quiet, others are noisy. Smooth, large and very round (true) drums with great bearings are usually pretty quiet.

My rollers set up massive standing waves in my wooden floored house, enough to make plates and glasses vibrate off shelves and crash down! It sounds like a Fokker taking off at times.

One or two sessions and you'll pick it up OK (providing they are set up correctly).

Mike Willcox

powenb wrote:

Sorry for the hijack.

Do rollers wear tyres down as much as a turbo does?

In my experience there is more heat generated by the tyre on the turbo. For that reason I use a dedicated tyre on the turbo and same as for the road on the rollers. I wouldn't like to trust the tyre on the road after riding it on the turbo for any length of time