Which rollers should I go for?

zachdunning

Right, so I am thinking of getting rollers but am completely overwhelmed by al the options :? . Metal vs plastic wheels? resistance levels? amount of sound?

Please could anyone recommend me some rollers preferably under or near the £200 mark that have the best characteristics? Resistance levels are good but I see that gears do the job for most.

Thanks for your time

StillGoing

Unless You're bloody good on the rollers, I'd forget resistance ones and go for a basic set relying on your gears for resistance. It takes a lot of confidence and ability to use rollers whilst doing hard efforts to a similar effort of a turbo trainer. I have basic Elite Arion ones which were cheap but suit me fine for easy spinning efforts to a set power output using ANT+ sensors with Golden Cheetah.

StillGoing

Computer gremlins at work, double post.

zachdunning

philthy3 wrote:

Unless You're bloody good on the rollers, I'd forget resistance ones and go for a basic set relying on your gears for resistance. It takes a lot of confidence and ability to use efforts whilst doing hard efforts to a similar effort of a turbo trainer. I have basic Elite Arion ones which were cheap but suit me fine for easy spinning efforts to a set power output using ANT+ sensors with Golden Cheetah.

Thanks mate

dannbodge

I have the Tacx Antares.

Bought them second hand and only used them twice. They are pretty good and much quieter than a turbo imo.

Resistance can get quite high when you get into the big ring and smaller gears.

mamba80

zachdunning wrote:

philthy3 wrote:

Unless You're bloody good on the rollers, I'd forget resistance ones and go for a basic set relying on your gears for resistance. It takes a lot of confidence and ability to use efforts whilst doing hard efforts to a similar effort of a turbo trainer. I have basic Elite Arion ones which were cheap but suit me fine for easy spinning efforts to a set power output using ANT+ sensors with Golden Cheetah.

Thanks mate

if you go for non resistance ones, then the smaller the roller diameter, the higher the resistance, Kreitler are very good.

It does not take long to master rollers, perhaps a few weeks if you work at it and then your stuck with something that is boring to use - but even those with resistance dont allow the super hi pwr outputs a decent turbo can give, within reason you can play around with tire psi, makes a huge difference.

i ve lost count of the number of times i ve seen broken tacx rollers, Elite seem more robust.

take a look at this for an idea on pwr available, for given roller size.

http://www.kreitler.co.uk/wattage_info.asp

MiddleRinger

I'd recommend a set with resistance settings, even if you don't use them at first (you won't while learning) you may find that as you progress you'll want more resistance without having to spin like mad in a high gear.

The Elite rollers have lips on the edges of the rollers that guide you back to the centre if you get too close to the edge - they DO NOT stop you from totally going over the side though! Rollers are fun and much more engaging than a turbo, but you can't do all out smash fest intervals on them like a turbo. You need to balance and concentrate!

I've had both the Elite Arion standard and 3-level resistance models. Both great rollers.

markhewitt1978

Not to mention that the sound from the rollers is directly proportional to the speed your wheels are going, if you have to shift into a very high gear to get any resistance you'll be going like the clappers, so it'll be loud. A bit of resistance, even progressive resistance helps keeps the speed down.

zachdunning

Cool, thanks for all the info! I do triathlons so am looking at longer distances than sprints so normal ones look good.

Thanks again for all the info!

MiddleRinger

Are you thinking of riding your TT/Tri bike on the rollers? That's much harder down on the extensions than a normal road bike, but not impossible.

OfficerDigby

I got the feeling from my rollers Planet x resist, that a bit of resistance makes rollers easier to master. No need to rev like a lunatic to be stable...

Not having ridden on no resistance ones can't be sure!

StillGoing

OfficerDigby wrote:

I got the feeling from my rollers Planet x resist, that a bit of resistance makes rollers easier to master. No need to rev like a lunatic to be stable...

Not having ridden on no resistance ones can't be sure!

Just ride them in the big ring.

Harry182

I've also got the Planet X progressive resistance rollers and get along very well with them. The resistance isn't so much that they make balancing any more difficult than regular rollers (and, as pointed out above, may even make it easier).

I've used regular rollers which are great for working on pedaling form and for keeping your legs loose but they don't offer near the workout potential of resistance rollers. On the resistance rollers I can spin along at 90-rpm in zone 1 or cane myself in the 50x12. (Ya, I know what you're thinking - "compact chainrings and not even an 11t cassette". But, hey, I'm old and have a climber's build.)

Resistance rollers for the win - with regular rollers you're just spinning your wheels.

chaymck

I've had some sport crafter resistance rollers for 4 years or so. I rate them. And come with a life time warranty. I had a slight issue with the front roller rubbing app 2 years ago and they sent me a totally new set.

They are make them for cycleop or vise versa.

Plenty enough resistance for threshold hr intervals and above. And you can buy a fork stand.

MiddleRinger

Or just say #YOLO and get a set of these:

http://road.cc/content/review/110312-el ... on-rollers

8)

harry-s

Or just say #YOLO and get a set of these:

http://road.cc/content/review/110312-el ... on-rollers

I'm not sure I'd ride my rollers next to a large window...

courtmed

I'm looking at getting rollers & think I'm going to for the Elite Arion Mag ones, as tempting as the digital ones are! Trainer choices are pretty limited thanks to the thru-axles on my bike, so I've decided to wait until I move house (hopefully by Winter!) & save up for a direct drive one that can go in my newly built shed.

Think I'll scour eBay & classifieds for them

imposter2.0

Thru-axle turbo adaptors are available. Rollers are great for warming up before racing, but not particularly useful for structured high intensity work, IMO.

StillGoing

courtmed wrote:

I'm looking at getting rollers & think I'm going to for the Elite Arion Mag ones, as tempting as the digital ones are! Trainer choices are pretty limited thanks to the thru-axles on my bike, so I've decided to wait until I move house (hopefully by Winter!) & save up for a direct drive one that can go in my newly built shed.

Think I'll scour eBay & classifieds for them

The Elite Kura Direct Drive trainer is around £470 if you shop around and Evans will finance it. Links with Zwift etc no problem.

harry-s

Think I'll scour eBay & classifieds for them

The Elite Arion Digital are good rollers but...

The power figures aren't accurate, usually reading about 20 to 30W low. It's consistent though, so you'd have no problems if all your power training is on that particular set of rollers, but you may have problems if you carry your sessions over to another bike/pm. The cadence values are also pretty erratic, - they use some sort of air pressure sensor to detect the rpm as the crank passes, and it just isn't very good. There's plenty of feedback on both these issues on the Elite support forum, but Elite never really resolved them. Maybe the latest gen of Elite rollers have fixed this, but it's something to be aware of if you're buying s/h.

It wasn't a big problem for me as I bypassed the Elite sensors by using a pm on the bike, with cadence and power being broadcast to a Garmin head unit, and/or iphone. You could probably do without the hassle though.

It's a shame about the sensor issues, as they're well put together and good rollers to ride, and the resistance levels work well. I've never had a problem with high intensity work, I only ever use them for interval sessions, and there's been many times when I haven't been able to hit the interval and turn the pedals.

zachdunning

I'm probs gonna go for a good cheaper set of rollers then to see what its like, I cant really afford a smart trainer yet but also dont really want one as my powermeter is fine.

Thanks for the help

StillGoing

MiddleRinger wrote:

Rollers are fun and much more engaging than a turbo, but you can't do all out smash fest intervals on them like a turbo. You need to balance and concentrate! .

Jumped on my Elite Arion rollers for the first time in ages yesterday. Got to say it was a welcome change from the usual turbo sessions and numb backsides. The joy of having both options.