Turbo or Rollers?

cubedean

I realise that I am probably opening a can of worms that has been covered a million times before, but I'm looking for your opinions based upon my requirements.

My wife has just given birth to twins (that now makes 4) & ride times are limited now, this coupled with the fact she has 6 week recovery time where she has to 'rest'.

I'm looking for a way to get the bike out & get some miles in without having to leave the house (in case the kids get up etc...). Ive used a turbo before and didn't really like it but the true need for indoor rides weren't required then.

Are rollers easy to get used to?

DKay

I think so. Took me all of 5mins to get up and running. Just make sure you have some kind of support on either side at first and when you start pedaling for the first time, commit to it and get those wheels up and spinning quickly. You'll find that minute changes in weight shifts will induce wobbles, but you'll soon work it out and your bike handling will improve as a result.

cougie

Turbo for me. You can do hard intervals with no worries.

Don't just replace steady rides outside with the same inside. That's of little benefit.

Monty Dog

If you're looking to develop your cadence and looking for a good cardio workout, then rollers are great, but they don't really suit the big gear mashing session.

wotnoshoeseh

See Rule #5
Get out on the road!!

cubedean

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

See Rule #5
Get out on the road!!

See original post......reasons behind not being able to get on the road.

JayKosta

A turbo is the most useful choice.
You can do more types of riding and exercise on a turbo, and they might be less noisy than rollers. Also there is a much smaller 'learning curve' with a turbo. Some people find rollers too difficult and spend most of their time just staying upright, rather than actually training.

Rollers can give good exercise, and are certainly an 'interesting' skill to learn ....
Also, rollers put less stress on the bike frame since the frame is not locked into a support.
But having the bike (any rider) fall off the rollers is another story.

With either, you'll need a big fan and a floor cover for sweating.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

tlw1

I find rollers more interesting and because of that they get a lot more use

kingstonian

Congrats on the twins. Hope your wife recovers well, my sis had twins in Feb and she had to be pretty careful for a couple of months following her Caesarian.

I would go for a turbo, mainly because it allows you to vary resistance. But each to their own, I guess. Is there anyone you know locally that you can borrow rollers from and give them a go over a couple of weeks? You will need that long as for the first few rides you will be a bit tentative while getting used to riding on them.

Jules Winnfield

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

See Rule #5
Get out on the road!!

What a ridiculous comment.

To the OP, I use a turbo, an Elite Fluid Elastogel and the workout you get on that is as hard as you want it to be. I can't comment on rollers cos I've never used them.

cubedean

Kingstonian wrote:

Congrats on the twins. Hope your wife recovers well, my sis had twins in Feb and she had to be pretty careful for a couple of months following her Caesarian.

I would go for a turbo, mainly because it allows you to vary resistance. But each to their own, I guess. Is there anyone you know locally that you can borrow rollers from and give them a go over a couple of weeks? You will need that long as for the first few rides you will be a bit tentative while getting used to riding on them.

Thank you. A friend of mine has rollers but he's always using them so borrowing is out of the question. I would love to try them though.

tlw1

Where are you based?

cubedean

matthew h wrote:

Where are you based?

Loughborough

tlw1

cubedean wrote:

matthew h wrote:

Where are you based?

Loughborough

Doesn't look like you are nipping round to try mine then!

WindyG

I have both, Rollers are good for cadence and general fitness and do improve bike handling and due to the increased skill needed to stay on them they are more interesting to ride and you can ride any bike on them no limits due to carbon frames, they also don't wear tyres out. A Turbo is better for strength and with the right Turbo is replicates the road better, however they can be very boring and do wear tyres out and some frames cannot be used as you may void the warranty. Rollers you can get away with buying cheap but Turbos I would suggest don't buy a really cheap one I did it was noisy and broke I now have a Elite Fluid Elastogel and I now can actually enjoy a session.

pippi_langsamer-2

Have you considered a Rock n Roll? Sure, it's not like true rollers, but compared to a fully static turbo, you can really throw the bike around a fair bit. As a result, it maybe doesn't put quite so much load on your frame either...

Loving mine. Just need to get the turntable riser to make out of the saddle "honking", easier...

http://youtu.be/TN0EFxp9kvI

(She obv hasn't quite got the hang of it yet lol)

One in that video is the Mark I. The Mark II has much narrower footprint.

StillGoing

Got both. Use the turbo more because it's easier and I can do harder work on it. The rollers took some time getting used to and I don't like the idea of trying to stick yourself between two supports for safety. The rollers are easier to store out of the way though when you're not using them.

proto

Have both, Tacx Bushido and Minoura Moz rollers, with add on variable resistance unit. Main user of them is my daughter who much, much prefers the rollers. In fact she never uses the turbo.

The turbo, apart from boring her to tears, is much more of a faff to use. Swap the back wheel for the one with the turbo tyre fitted, set up the turbo trainer. Fit the head unit. Get on and get bored.

In contrast, the rollers just put on the floor, put your bike on them, get on and go. Doesn't even need a wall to lean on to get started. Much more of a 'bike ride' experience, better overall workout, and she declares it to be fun. BTW she does train with a Powertap.

Me, I'm somewhere between the two. Not skilled enough on the rollers to get the best out of them, so tend to use the turbo, but will confess to finding it so dull it is mostly unused at the mo.

mpatts

I have both. In reality if you only had one, I'd say you need to stick with the turbo. Sorry!

cougie

The turbo itself is no more boring than rollers. You need a decent training plan with a target to each session.
Get trainerroad and work to your levels and you can either watch the graph, or watch the graph with iplayer or whatever on.

Anonymous

A decent turbo costs about twice as much as rollers so I would say get the rollers and see what you think.
If you do not like them just sell at a slight loss and get the turbo (that you have already said you found boring).
It would be a shame if getting an expensive turbo meant that you never try rollers.

I did not find them difficult to use and you only need something major to lean on when first trying them out.
Would have thought that the people who say they cannot use them are the ones that would benefit the most from persevering and learning how to.

I find fully static turbos super boring. Even VR ones with a video game to play had me bored after a few goes. I think it was because the bike was bolt upright. It just does not feel like a bike, it feels like a gym machine.

Am tempted by something like the Rock and Roll II though if it feels more realistic, but think that all the faffing and issues (that have been mentioned previously) involved with turbos will probably still prevent me actually getting one.

Turbos seem to have two main uses, for two different types of cyclist. They are either a necessary evil if you need the more intense training they can give, or something to boringly plod along on when you really should have tried rollers

DeVlaeminck

Most people get more use out of a turbo than rollers - I've got both too and currently only use the rollers but that's because I've been using the local gym watt bikes where in previous winters I'd have used a turbo. The thing I would say with a turbo is it really helps to have a dedicated spot with the turbo set up, a *big* fan, mp3 player and ideally a dedicated turbo bike well protected from sweat. The other thing with a turbo which has already been said it - you need to work to a plan - don't just get on and do 60 minutes turning your legs over.

I found in the past that doing 2 sessions of 2*20 over winter worked - my turbo measures watts so that gives you something to work to which is pretty much essential - rear wheel speed would do too or heart rate as a minimum.

pippi_langsamer-2

If you are in the market for a GOOD turbo, I’d contact this forum member. This is a steal for this piece of kit. Sure, it has a big footprint, but if you have a dedicated space as mentioned, it would be ideal…

viewtopic.php?f=40091&t=13005535

StillGoing

The post a couple up is quite true. It is a pain in the backside setting the turbo up, especially something like a Tacx VR one which I have. Different wheel, front wheel off, cadence sensor on and then often having to re-calibrate the device to the computer. Plus removing anything on the bars that prevents you mounting the console to be able to switch between screens or adjust the intensity.

The rollers I find I cannot do for long or at any great intensity, but with the concentration required and the focus on core muscle control, a short work out on the rollers is probably the equivalent of a longer session on a turbo. There are no doubt people who can do interval sessions on rollers, but unfortunately I can't so a turbo is a must for me if that's what I intend doing.

pastryboy

Rollers.

Matthewfalle

Turbo for me but yes, it's incredibly boring (but it does the job).

I actually don't bother with any of that faff above re computers, different wheels, etc.: second hand bike I got for nothing, strip everything off except saddle, 'bars, stem, seat post, rear mech, cranks, pedals. I fitted a friction shifter but you could just use shifters if they are on. Use old normal tyres on any wheels. I also splurged out a fiver on a new Shimano chain from CRC and £9 on a Tiagra cassette.

Doesn't even have to be your normal size as you're only turbo training it.

Thorough degrease and clean. Affix to trainer. Ride forever. The workshop stereo is loud enough to drown out the world, so cool there. Job jobbed. When it breaks/you lose interest give to someone/put in loft/dump it.

redvision

I faced a similar dilemma and ended up opting for the rollers.
My reasoning was simple, they were easier to use (no need for turbo tyres, just put the bike on and ride), easy to store and transport (fold in half & weigh nothing) and would help me strengthen my core at the same time as improving my balance, whilst obviously getting a good workout.

I did consider the resistance ones but ended up opting for the Elite Arion Parabolic rollers. They have been a fantastic buy and I would strongly recommend them.

pippi_langsamer-2

redvision wrote:

I faced a similar dilemma and ended up opting for the rollers.
My reasoning was simple, they were easier to use (no need for turbo tyres, just put the bike on and ride), easy to store and transport (fold in half & weigh nothing) and would help me strengthen my core at the same time as improving my balance, whilst obviously getting a good workout.

I did consider the resistance ones but ended up opting for the Elite Arion Parabolic rollers. They have been a fantastic buy and I would strongly recommend them.

Do you find "balance", is something you feel the need to improve as a cyclist :shock:

redvision

Pippi Langsamer wrote:

redvision wrote:

I faced a similar dilemma and ended up opting for the rollers.
My reasoning was simple, they were easier to use (no need for turbo tyres, just put the bike on and ride), easy to store and transport (fold in half & weigh nothing) and would help me strengthen my core at the same time as improving my balance, whilst obviously getting a good workout.

I did consider the resistance ones but ended up opting for the Elite Arion Parabolic rollers. They have been a fantastic buy and I would strongly recommend them.

Do you find "balance", is something you feel the need to improve as a cyclist :shock:

Yes, whilst riding in a tight group anyway... Unless you want to cause a mass pile up that is :roll:

imposter2.0

redvision wrote:

I faced a similar dilemma and ended up opting for the rollers.
My reasoning was simple, they were easier to use (no need for turbo tyres, just put the bike on and ride), easy to store and transport (fold in half & weigh nothing) and would help me strengthen my core at the same time as improving my balance, whilst obviously getting a good workout.

Got to say, that is pretty weak reasoning, if I'm honest. Turbo tyres are not necessary on a turbo either; most turbos will pack down to a smaller size than most rollers; and any 'core strength' gains would be marginal/negligible at best.

I have both, if it matters. Turbo for training - rollers for pre-race warm up. Horses for courses 'n all that...

redvision

Imposter wrote:

redvision wrote:

I faced a similar dilemma and ended up opting for the rollers.
My reasoning was simple, they were easier to use (no need for turbo tyres, just put the bike on and ride), easy to store and transport (fold in half & weigh nothing) and would help me strengthen my core at the same time as improving my balance, whilst obviously getting a good workout.

Got to say, that is pretty weak reasoning, if I'm honest. Turbo tyres are not necessary on a turbo either; most turbos will pack down to a smaller size than most rollers; and any 'core strength' gains would be marginal/negligible at best.

I have both, if it matters. Turbo for training - rollers for pre-race warm up. Horses for courses 'n all that...

Rollers only for warning up? why don't you take your turbo to warm up? Is it perhaps because rollers are far easier to transport?

I only offered my advice as I was in a similar predicament to the op & thought he may find it useful.
There is no doubt that it has improved my core strength & has also massively improved my riding style by evening out my pedal stroke.

Anyway, at the end of the day both have positives & negatives. I'm just offering an opinion based on my experience of using them which I thought the op might find useful.