Rollers

stumpjumper5413

Hi there,

I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on rollers, iv had a few spins on a friends tacx antares and I liked them and can see the benefits of them over a turbo.

So im looking into getting some myself, I would be grateful if someone could tell me the kind of things I should be comparing? and the differences they make, drum material? size?

These caught my eye-
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... 0000000000

as £150 is around my price range although I could stretch to £200 if it made a big difference. I liked the look of these because of the aluminum drums (good quality but didnt know if that effects the ride) and the fact you can fold them and add a resistance attachment?

Or I saw these

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-t ... 0000000000


any advice would be welcomed

doubleoseven

I've got the CycleOps ones, albeit with the resistance unit. The aluminium rollers seem pretty durable. The rollers themselves fold in half so are easy to store (they take up approximately 1m in height and 150mm in depth). 14 months in there are no visible signs of wear. Some rollers have parabolic shaped rollers to aid riding, but I personally have only ever "ridden off" once and when the front wheel rolled off I simply stopped. When riding on the rollers i put a Reebok step on one side and my flat-topped tool box on the opposite side to aid getting on/off, again some other rollers offer smalls steps built in to help.The resistance unit is basically a set of magnets that are gradually moved towards/away from the rear roller to create resistance. I haven't actually tested how much more effort is required when increasing the resistance, ie at 0 i ride at "x" mph in a certain gear and HR is "yyy" when at resistance 5, same speed/cadence/gear etc HR is ??? % higher, so whether the resistance unit is worth it I'm still unsure( i had a good deal on the rollers so i got the resistance). What you could do is buy the rollers and get the resistor later if needed.If you are leaning towards the CycleOps I'm happy to jump on tomorrow(Thurs) and let you know what speeds/HR/gears/cadence I do on them to give you an idea of the effort required. I did a max HR test on them late last year and it was the same result as when doing a particularly nasty hill nearby, so if you want to push yourself you can.

Hope thats helpful??

Just had a quick look at the Ribble site. If you get the basic rollers and the resistance unit separately you can save yourself about £45

stumpjumper5413

Thanks doubleoseven thats very informative! I think I will go for the cycleops, iv been reading reviews on wiggle and they all seem to be very positive. The Minouras I was also considering had a few negative reviews relating to the build quality. I think I will just get the rollers first, and if I feel I could do with the resistance unit I could always get that separately later down the line.

Thanks again for your reply.

JesseD

Folding with aluminimum rollers, the nylon or plastic rollers tend to get warm and warp a bit when riding for an hour or so (so I've found), but when cool are fine.

I'm gutted I sold my rollers, when I can afford it am going to buy another pair.

bmxboy10

I ordered some Elite V arions from Planet X for £225 (with resistance). I soon realised i didnt need the resistance unit so swapped them for the Cycleops PVC ones (£70 in the sale) and they are just as good. The parabolic rollers are designed to stop you falling off but once you learn how to use rollers you dont need this.

Much better than turbos.