Turbo Trainer or Rollers?

Noel PT

I am looking at buying either a Turbo or Rollers. I have never invested in one of these and was wondering if anyone had experience on either or both and could give me a bit of feedback. As well as which brand either elite or cycleops?

Any ideas would be great.

larmurf

hi

Bought a Tacx Flow 1680 about a year ago, recovering from hip op.
Got a mechanically minded person to set up as I was not too mobile.
One of the nuts did not fit properly but he got that sorted.

Has been used sporadically and is not very pleasant as you will sweat
profusely even in the coldest weather with windows open. I am currently
considering some sort of cold air fan.

The machine is adjustable and provides a good range of increasing pressure
which I have not used to any great extent. Also lot of readings - all I look at
at are Heart Rate Speed & Time (HRM chest belt not supplied)

All in all I am glad I got it as It gets me exercising when I can not get
motivated enough to get out on the roads.

Got from Chain Reaction outside Belfast, who I can recommend highly

Doobz

Hiya mate - I would have to say rollers all the way. Rollers help build good bike handling skills and upper body strength.

finchy

Rollers definitely. I've got some Tacx ones, sorry can't remember the model, but they cost about £100.

Brilliant training equipment.

James_London

Basic rollers don't allow you to go very hard though they're good for balance and pedalling technique. There are some models with resistance which provide more resistance including the new one from Elite, Kreitler and others.

For a turbo, the Tacx Satori is basic but very sturdy and stable up to about 600W so you can do fairly hard intervals on it.

finchy

James_London wrote:

Basic rollers don't allow you to go very hard

:shock:

I can go very, very hard on my basic rollers... I've even collapsed a couple of times out of exhaustion.

I've done 30 minute lactate threshold sessions, hard sprints, power work... I used them all through last winter, and when I started back on my local hills in March, I'd knocked 45 seconds off what was a 4 minute climb.

shaw8670

i had a turbo, then went for Tackx rollers, with the additional resistance unit which bolts on nicely. this is much better. The whole lot was about £1220 from Wiggle. I can now ride on the rollers with one hand!