Rollers or a Turbo trainer for the winter
homers_double
Posts: 8,339
Last year I did ok, quite a bit of riding but nothing structured in terms of training, I bought a heartrate monitor with my garmin but the only thing it monitors is the inside of my sock drawer.
This year hasn't been as good, I've not hit my weight loss goal partly because my riding has been sporadic but I'm also going to let the weather shoulder some of the blame for that.
With this in mind I'm thinking of indoor training over the winter to supplement actual riding.
Question is, will rollers or a turbo be better? I don't have a power meter so won't be bothered by that function and I can pedal fairly well so balance "shouldn't" be an issue on the rollers after a few trial runs.
I guess the idea is to start training in zones really as well as lose some weight over the winter instead of being a lazy sod.
This year hasn't been as good, I've not hit my weight loss goal partly because my riding has been sporadic but I'm also going to let the weather shoulder some of the blame for that.
With this in mind I'm thinking of indoor training over the winter to supplement actual riding.
Question is, will rollers or a turbo be better? I don't have a power meter so won't be bothered by that function and I can pedal fairly well so balance "shouldn't" be an issue on the rollers after a few trial runs.
I guess the idea is to start training in zones really as well as lose some weight over the winter instead of being a lazy sod.
Advocate of disc brakes.
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Turbo that's compatible with Trainerroad so you can use virtual power. Its game changing.
You need to commit though.0 -
I do love rollers, and you can use them with trainerroad if you wish, but if I had to pick only one it would be the turbo, just because there are some workouts that I wouldn't even attempt on the rollers. For basic steady level riding the rollers are great and the fact you have to concentrate to ride them helps to pass the time, but when you start throwing in short, hard efforts, the stability of the turbo is required IMO.0
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The rollers do have the advantage of there being no faff involved, you put the rollers down, put the bike on top and off you go.
Turbo you have to start changing the rear wheel or tyre or skewer, probably all of those, then putting it in place, getting the front block under the wheel etc, probably better suited to a situation where you have the space to have it set up permanently on a junk bike, not all of us are so fortunate.
But rollers have the disadvantage of a lack of resistance, I can't simulate climbing on rollers.0 -
I think I'd be going for "base miles" for fat burbning over the winter months rather than simulating specific inclines etc.
I'm not that hung up on it, just a bit overweight.Advocate of disc brakes.0 -
I think I'd be going for "base miles" for fat burbning over the winter months rather than simulating specific inclines etc.
I'm not that hung up on it, just a bit overweight.
Base miles are about the worst workout you can do indoors, it's fundamentally boring boring boring as it is, so the last thing you want to be doing is hours at the same intensity.
Indoors stuff kind of commands you to do intervals, and that's saying something because I normally hate intervals and refuse to do them riding outside (probably why I'm so unfit
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I have both rollers and a turbo. They are good at different things.
Rollers are great for low intensity work and a lot more fun than the turbo - so if you want to replace outside base miles, they are a better option. It does take a while to learn to ride on rollers however. The level of resistance available is limited however, even if you buy one with a resistance unit attached. I can just about do a sweetspot workout on my rollers (~80% maximum heart rate), but after that I run out of gears.
Rollers are also fantastic for short recovery rides, the day after a hard ride or workout.
A turbo is great for structured training sessions, especially ones where you intend to push yourself to the limit against a high level of resistance - interval training for example.
I intend to use both my rollers and turbo through the coming off-season. One big advantage of doing base training on rollers is that you don't have to clean your bike afterwards, which is great if you don't have a winter bike.
In summary: rollers are good for base, turbos are good for power.0 -
If you are talking about base miles - I doubt its going to happen.
Who is going to sit on rollers for a couple of hours per session ?
With all the best will in the world - I wouldn't.
Trainerroad on the other hand - you have levels to ride to and each session is different - (apart from the repeating ones that let you se improvement). Without this kind of stimulus and feedback - its very hard to keep the motivation going.0 -
I had both rollers and a turbo for winter work, and ended getting rid of the turbo, I can't see me going back.
Do a bit of window shopping before making your mind up, - there are rollers about with variable resistance, and smart rollers with ant+ outputs, - I know I can very quickly get to the point where I can barely turn the pedals on mine, - tough interval sessions are no problem.
As said above, sitting in the fat burning zone for an hour isn't going to be very exciting, but if it's the middle of February and lashing down outside, an hour indoors is better than nothing. I'd say rollers are more involving, it's hard to switch off and stop concentrating, - if you do you fall off. Probably improve your pedalling efficiency too.0 -
I had both rollers and a turbo for winter work, and ended getting rid of the turbo, I can't see me going back.
Do a bit of window shopping before making your mind up, - there are rollers about with variable resistance, and smart rollers with ant+ outputs, - I know I can very quickly get to the point where I can barely turn the pedals on mine, - tough interval sessions are no problem.
As said above, sitting in the fat burning zone for an hour isn't going to be very exciting, but if it's the middle of February and lashing down outside, an hour indoors is better than nothing. I'd say rollers are more involving, it's hard to switch off and stop concentrating, - if you do you fall off. Probably improve your pedalling efficiency too.
Do your rollers have resistance? I have a set of Tacx Galaxia which I've only been on a few times but seem to manage ok. I can get up to about 180-200W on them if I put it in top gear (50/12), and 180W is about my FTP anyway.
I've been wanting to make a point of doing proper sessions during the winter - a winter which probably starts about mid-Sept as that's when it gets too dark to go out at 6am.
I've been debating getting a turbo but if I could get away without getting one that would avoid further upsetting my wife!0 -
If you really must do boring base miles indoors then get rollers. A bit more interesting than being bolted to a turbo trainer. A turbo is better for eye watering, leg smashing intervals where you don't want to fall off!
A few thoughts on the matter here: Indoor Training: Turbo vs Rollers0 -
Never tried rollers but I wouldn't be without my turbo, brilliant on crap weather days and great for working up a sweat. I got mine for £50 off gumtree, only used once so like new, rrp £199. Whatever you go for I would recommend looking on eBay and gumtree et al. Plenty of people buy these things use them once then leave them to gather dust in the garage.0
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What about virtual reality turbo trainers?0
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What about virtual reality turbo trainers?
My personal experience of using a tacx imagic and cycleops powerbeam with virtual trainer is that it's so much faff getting the thing setup it pretty much doubles the motivation required to get on the turbo. As it takes me a hell of a lot of said motivation to even think about it I tend to just put to suit on the sofa watching TV instead so I prefer to keep my indoor training simple, have a plan mapped out, stick some music on and smash out whatever session is scheduled for that particular day. The gimmicks really don't help as far as I'm concerned...0 -
What about virtual reality turbo trainers?
As it takes me a hell of a lot of said motivation to even think about it I tend to just put to suit on the sofa watching TV instead so I prefer to keep my indoor training simple, have a plan mapped out, stick some music on and smash out whatever session is scheduled for that particular day. The gimmicks really don't help as far as I'm concerned...
What turbo do you use? Is there a way to keep record of the training like outdoors, for example on Strava?0 -
What about virtual reality turbo trainers?
As it takes me a hell of a lot of said motivation to even think about it I tend to just put to suit on the sofa watching TV instead so I prefer to keep my indoor training simple, have a plan mapped out, stick some music on and smash out whatever session is scheduled for that particular day. The gimmicks really don't help as far as I'm concerned...
What turbo do you use? Is there a way to keep record of the training like outdoors, for example on Strava?
The Powerbeam,. I use it with a garmin so yes, all workouts get track in the same way as an outdoor ride, can also use the virtual training software but I find the garmin easier0 -
Uau!
That is a proper turbo... a bit expensive for me :-(0 -
What turbo do you use? Is there a way to keep record of the training like outdoors, for example on Strava?
If you have speed, cadence, HR etc sensors on your bike you can link these up to your phone or Garmin and then upload that to Strava. It has an option on the website (not the app for some reason) to say the ride was on a static trainer.0 -
My personal experience of using a tacx imagic and cycleops powerbeam with virtual trainer is that it's so much faff getting the thing setup it pretty much doubles the motivation required to get on the turbo. As it takes me a hell of a lot of said motivation to even think about it I tend to just put to suit on the sofa watching TV instead so I prefer to keep my indoor training simple, have a plan mapped out, stick some music on and smash out whatever session is scheduled for that particular day. The gimmicks really don't help as far as I'm concerned...
That was pretty much my experience of a turbo.
I find the procedure required just to get out of the door on a normal ride quite irritating, so to have to faff on changing a back wheel and clamping the bike in place etc was too much hassle for a turbo ride, which is why I eventually gave up doing it.
Rollers are better in that regard. Although I wouldn't rule out going back to a turbo this winter since I have a power meter the likes of trainerroad becomes more interesting.0 -
I had both rollers and a turbo for winter work, and ended getting rid of the turbo, I can't see me going back.
Do a bit of window shopping before making your mind up, - there are rollers about with variable resistance, and smart rollers with ant+ outputs, - I know I can very quickly get to the point where I can barely turn the pedals on mine, - tough interval sessions are no problem.
As said above, sitting in the fat burning zone for an hour isn't going to be very exciting, but if it's the middle of February and lashing down outside, an hour indoors is better than nothing. I'd say rollers are more involving, it's hard to switch off and stop concentrating, - if you do you fall off. Probably improve your pedalling efficiency too.
Do your rollers have resistance? I have a set of Tacx Galaxia which I've only been on a few times but seem to manage ok. I can get up to about 180-200W on them if I put it in top gear (50/12), and 180W is about my FTP anyway.
I've been wanting to make a point of doing proper sessions during the winter - a winter which probably starts about mid-Sept as that's when it gets too dark to go out at 6am.
I've been debating getting a turbo but if I could get away without getting one that would avoid further upsetting my wife!
I've got the Sportcrafters Rollers (from Planet X) with the reistance unit and enjoy riding on them far more than I did my TACX turbo. Yes you can get more resistance on a turbo, but having just got a power meter I was seeing what range I could put down and the rollers provided sufficient resistance to get up to 700W, which I think is sufficient to give me a respectable indoor workout (I put it in the biggest gear and got to about 100RPM so there is some more power capacity available - I wasn't feeling 100% to push it to the max). I also have the front wheel bracket, so I can tie into an online/virtual training package without worrying about driving off the side off the rollers whilst watching the screen (or off the back or front during a hard effort).
Whilst I would probably invest in a direct drive turbo if I wanted to get serious, I certainly wouldn't go back to a 'normal' resistance turbo with what I have now.0 -
Those rollers look good, not too expensive either. I wish I'd known about them before I spent on my Tacx Galaxia.
Although I can get to about 200W on them, which is about on my FTP, I'd want to be able to do more, e.g. sprinting, is there any way I can up the resistance, even if it means changing the cassette from my 12T to 11T?0 -
markhewitt1978 wrote:Do your rollers have resistance? I have a set of Tacx Galaxia which I've only been on a few times but seem to manage ok. I can get up to about 180-200W on them if I put it in top gear (50/12), and 180W is about my FTP anyway.
Yes, they have variable resistance, controlled wirelessly from the head unit, or your android/I-phone. You can choose to ride to power levels or resistance levels, or a bunch of pre set programs that vary resistance and set power levels you have to keep up with.
I agree with the comments about ease of use with rollers compared to a turbo, - just drop your bike on them, plug in the rollers (and the fan...) and get pedalling.
http://www.elite-it.com/en/products/trainers/rollers/arion-digital0 -
I have both, some cheap rollers and a cheap turbo, I'd want them both to be fair they're good at different things. Unusually, my rollers are quite hard work, I struggle to stay below HR Z3 on mine and can quite happily (ish) get into Z5 without spinning myself into oblivion.
If I had the choice between a £200 turbo and my current set up (£150 total) I'd stick with what I've got, maybe one day I'll get a direct drive turbo for serious intensity, but I'd still want both for total winter duties.Saracen Tenet 3 - 2015 - Dead - Replaced with a Hack Frame
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Get both.
Turbo for high intentsity, rollers for recovery days and to help with core strength and technique, plus it keeps it slightly more interesting0 -
I currently have rollers and they take a while to get used to riding on them getting your balance right. i tend to use them for no longer than 30 or so minutes - you soon build a sweat up, I'm fortunate to have an alleyway in between by house and outside store shed so I hold onto a window ledge for balance - people use doors and chairs to start as it's tricky at first whereas the Turbo is more stable and I think you can get more consistent training with. Though the rollers are so quick and convenient to use.
I was thinking of getting a turbo too for more accurate interval stuff and liked the Look of a Bkool one with virtual trainer - pricey but having had a go on it was fantastic.0 -
I think I'd be going for "base miles" for fat burbning over the winter months rather than simulating specific inclines etc.
I'm not that hung up on it, just a bit overweight.
I had great results losing weight at the start of this year by doing intervals on the turbo (you've got me on Strava if you want to look - Jan until 1st week Feb) combined with fairly strict calorie counting. Lost about 5.5kg taking me to slightly under the middle of my healthy BMI range.
I did some workouts from time crunched cyclist, but in the end I used Sufferfest videos a lot more as they are much better for keeping your attention.
Doing base miles on the turbo doesn't really appeal, and I found it easy enough to lose weight through high intensity intervals. I also found it made a really big difference to my top end on the road.
I wouldn't mind a set of rollers to sit on while watching a film or whatever, but IMO if you're going to be doing indoor training it's better to have shorter duration targeted workouts so you can get it over and done with...0 -
I wouldn't mind a set of rollers to sit on while watching a film or whatever, but IMO if you're going to be doing indoor training it's better to have shorter duration targeted workouts so you can get it over and done with...
That's the generally accepted wisdom for winter training now isn't it? That short targeted intensive rides, indoor and outdoors, is the best for fitness. As opposed to the old ideas of long steady distance through the winter months.0 -
Is it? I think a lot of people have moved to that model because of the popularity of turbos and people not wanting to do 4 hours in the rain or not wanting to risk going out at 8am on icy roads but I wouldn't say that is generally accepted as being best for fitness.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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What about spinning classes?0
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Is it? I think a lot of people have moved to that model because of the popularity of turbos and people not wanting to do 4 hours in the rain or not wanting to risk going out at 8am on icy roads but I wouldn't say that is generally accepted as being best for fitness.
I also think a lot of people moved to this because it's much easier to fit around the rest of your life (work and family etc.) - fair enough if you're a pro or otherwise have enough time to do long steady rides several times a week then the base miles approach may be best for fitness, but most of us don't so we end up having to cut corners. Therefore another approach might be more appropriate.0 -
If you are talking about base miles - I doubt its going to happen.
Who is going to sit on rollers for a couple of hours per session ?
With all the best will in the world - I wouldn't.
Fair point. I mostly work from home, so have a bit more time to play with than a lot of people. Personally I've seen huge gains from base training in the past when I was commuting up to 180 miles per week on a bike.
There's also nothing to stop you splitting up your base training sessions into hour lengths. In fact, if you had a stretch after each one, you'd probably get even more benefit.
Personally, if I stick an audio book on the headphones, or watch something on iPlayer, the time passes pretty quickly and I feel like I'm getting something else out of the time besides a workout.0
