Nightmare evening on "the rollers"

millsey_awm

Well i only went and did it. Bought rollers over a turbo.

Good decision, Erm maybe not!!

Took off clipless pedals, put normal ones back on. After 2 gruelling hours i could probably manage 5-7 seconds staying onbefore losing balance and reaching out.

Maybe balancing 18st 7 on rollers is not gonna be so easy after all.

Its like learning to ride a bike all over again. And as for trying in Cleats, no chance!

Hopefully tomorrow something might click (not my knee i hope) :P

MountainMonster

Are you joking? You looking for sympathy? I struggle to enjoy more than 15 minutes.

millsey_awm

MountainMonster wrote:

Are you joking? You looking for sympathy? I struggle to enjoy more than 15 minutes.

No not joking and not looking for sympathy. Just reporting on my bad cycling/balance technique!

Psychotext

Turbo time is movie time for me. I'll leave the balancing to the pros.

ilm_zero7

Psychotext wrote:

Turbo time is movie time for me. I'll leave the balancing to the pros.

+1 - or a good Grand Prix for 90 minutes

riggsy81

ahhh the dreaded rollers.....

last time I attempted to have a go on a set of rollers I slipped and dislocated my knee - and ouch it friggin hurt...

turbo all the way for me now

alihisgreat

millsey_awm wrote:

Well i only went and did it. Bought rollers over a turbo.

Good decision, Erm maybe not!!

Took off clipless pedals, put normal ones back on. After 2 gruelling hours i could probably manage 5-7 seconds staying onbefore losing balance and reaching out.

Maybe balancing 18st 7 on rollers is not gonna be so easy after all.

Its like learning to ride a bike all over again. And as for trying in Cleats, no chance!

Hopefully tomorrow something might click (not my knee i hope) :P

put clipless back on and give it another go.

andyrr

I've only ued rollers a couple of times but having something - wall, door handle, to initially hold on to helps and then go steady.
Tried getting on to the tri-bars but that was a bit scary ! Just takes time to get used to it.

cougie

We used to have roller racing at our club. I won it once but it still took two sturdy blokes to hold me up !

Keep trying OP - you'll get the hang of it eventually.

Jim C

Worth the effort, so keep at it. Keep a kitchen unit or wall handy :-)

Sprool

set the rollers in between a door frame if you can so theres something to lean against on your left and right. Get your cleats back on - smooth pedalling is the key to maintaining good balance.
Dont stare down at your feet, try to relax and focus 10 feet in front of you.
Keep at it, try gently steering from one side to the other and back, just 6 inches to get the feel for correcting your balance.
It will come, took me a few sessions but I can do 45 mins now no problem. And about 2 mins 1-handed before starting to fishtail. Overcorrecting steering rather than pedalling through it causes most accidents. Once you get the hang of correcting steering with your hips you have it cracked.
Have a look at some of the youtube Starting Rollers Hints videos. They may help you.

saprkzz

This made my decision about buying a turbo over rollers!

(His partner taking the mick is fantastic!) :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSaPajfc4Zc

big_p

sprool is right on the money with his tips, i'll tack a few more on too.

if you use the rollers on a hard floor, put a rubber mat under them, it'll stop them from skidding out from under you.

when you first start, do it in a doorway, that way you have something on both sides of you to grab in an emergency.

stay loose and don't tense up, if you do, it will cause you to swerve wildly from side to side.

when i first started i put a step either side of me to get my feet on, just in case.

use a medium'ish gear, not too high, not too low. if it's too high, your high wheel speed will cause you to make big movements from only small corrections, if its too low you wont be able to correct quick enough.

try and find a static point to focus on, i put a water bottle about 5 feet and dead center from the front wheel.

if you panic, don't hit the brakes, just think about getting your feet out, if your wheels stop you have no control what so ever.

this is how i do it now, and an hour non stop is no problem.



oh yeah, put some music on as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQfe_E_ImSs&feature=plcp

Sprool

big p wrote:

oh yeah, put some music on as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQfe_E_ImSs&feature=plcp

...and a fan, it gets hot quick cycling hard indoors.

big_p

sprool right on the money again.

buttons129

Just a quick tip that I found really usefull when I started on the rollers... Make sure your tyres are well pumped up!
Much harder work when they are low on pressure. The added resistance makes it a struggle to get a smooth ride

boogi11

big p wrote:

sprool is right on the money with his tips, i'll tack a few more on too.

if you use the rollers on a hard floor, put a rubber mat under them, it'll stop them from skidding out from under you.

when you first start, do it in a doorway, that way you have something on both sides of you to grab in an emergency.

stay loose and don't tense up, if you do, it will cause you to swerve wildly from side to side.

when i first started i put a step either side of me to get my feet on, just in case.

use a medium'ish gear, not too high, not too low. if it's too high, your high wheel speed will cause you to make big movements from only small corrections, if its too low you wont be able to correct quick enough.

try and find a static point to focus on, i put a water bottle about 5 feet and dead center from the front wheel.

if you panic, don't hit the brakes, just think about getting your feet out, if your wheels stop you have no control what so ever.

this is how i do it now, and an hour non stop is no problem.



oh yeah, put some music on as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQfe_E_ImSs&feature=plcp

Are you a mechanic? Snap on crawling board

big_p

snap on dealer.

millsey_awm

Cheers for the pointers folks. Will give it another bash tomorrow.

Had been doing it in the garage but will.get inside and do the doorframes. Will also put the spd's back on.

Hope i can get the hang of it. Plan B is to get a KK rock and roll but might bankrupt me

big_p

stick with the rollers, once you get up, you'll see how easy it is. do you not have someone that can hold your head tube steady until you get going ?

millsey_awm

Faired slightly better tonight on my 2nd attempt. Moved the gear inside the house and inbetween door frame as per all the great advice.

A bit better, gained confidence to keep hold of the handlebars tonight.

Still couldnt really do a lot of 'unaided' cycling as was bouncing off both door frames, then using my elbows to push off from the frame again.

Rollers are tiring, think my arms n elbows have had a better workout than my legs!! And the more tired i got the worse my balancing attempts became.

To master these things seems to mainly be a combination of hip balance, handlebar steadying and smooth pedalling. All of which i am yet to achieve :P

Still Rome wasn't built in a day i spose

oldwelshman

hmm interesting if your bouncing between the door frame lol something not right.
First of all make sure your rollers are set up right with the fron wheel on the roller and not behind or infront as this makes it awful to ballance.
The second thing I find with riders is they automatically lean to one side when holding on to support which means you never get balance right. You should only use a support to trun the pedal once or twice max, then just pedal smooth.
You should not even need to hold the bars if you get your setup and balance right, your probaly pulling on the bars when pedallig, you should be using legs only to turn pedals. Try a lower gear.
The easiest way to start off for beginners is one hand on bars close to cetntre of bars then two together similar to climbing position of hands on bars, then when moving try to go to the hoods, I very rarely use the drops on rollers, either centre of bars or no hands. On the hoods or drops can make you steer off easily.

millsey_awm

oldwelshman wrote:

hmm interesting if your bouncing between the door frame lol something not right.
First of all make sure your rollers are set up right with the fron wheel on the roller and not behind or infront as this makes it awful to ballance.
The second thing I find with riders is they automatically lean to one side when holding on to support which means you never get balance right. You should only use a support to trun the pedal once or twice max, then just pedal smooth.
You should not even need to hold the bars if you get your setup and balance right, your probaly pulling on the bars when pedallig, you should be using legs only to turn pedals. Try a lower gear.
The easiest way to start off for beginners is one hand on bars close to cetntre of bars then two together similar to climbing position of hands on bars, then when moving try to go to the hoods, I very rarely use the drops on rollers, either centre of bars or no hands. On the hoods or drops can make you steer off easily.

I seem to not be holding on to the doorframes but losing balance, falling into them and then having to push off away from them.

I did check the setup and it looked ok. I haven't ridden the front wheel off the roller or anything. Anything in particular setup-wise i might have overlooked? I have been in the middle ring of a triple crank when doing this.

Perhaps i just have really bad balance, yet i can cycle straight on the road. Confusing....

Sprool

stick with it, it will 'click', if you can get used to the feeling of pushing the bike back into the centre with your thighs rather than pulling on the bars you will have cracked it. Its good once you get going straight for a minute, to gently move the bike from side to side to get the feel of steering it true. Most is about keeping a solid steady core and smooth pedalling.

millsey_awm

Well i've finally cracked it

Managed a couple of 20 minute sessions tonight. Even got down on the hoods and have moved it back into the garage!

Turns out my problem was the front wheel was slightly too much inside the front rollers. Qhen i adjusted this all went well.

Thanks to all of you for your advice n tips.

Just one thing i have noticed is a creaking noise n Im not sure whether its pedals, saddle or crank. Any ideas anyone as to what it might be?

Cheers

Sprool

well done for sticking with it. The creaking will be the bones in your legs or the neighbours leaning against the window to see what on earth you are up to.