Are there people who use, or have experiences with the Elite Nero Rollers?
I’m want to replace my Tacx Bushido with something which is more convenient to use different bikes on.
I swap regularly from my trackbike, to road bike or the bike of my wife.
On a sidenote, how important is it to use a trainer tire on rollers? For convenience I would like to mitigate this as much as possible.
IMHO, not very important at all. I just make sure that I clean my tires with rubbing alcohol and a rag before putting it on the rollers. The pressure from rollers (via the 2 drums on the rear in particular) and the power distribution between the rear via the belt to the front seem to limit wear when compared to a wheel-on trainer.
There are a few comments in this Quick Motion thread on the Nero:
I’ve never used different tires on rollers and I used to ride rollers quite a bit in the winter.
My thoughts on the Nero’s are in that other thread, but I truly do not see them as a valid option, and I’ve used and loved Kreitlers for years, have had both Wahoo’s (Kickr, Kickr Core), Bushido (long ago) and now have a Neo 2.
Sorry to resurrect this thread.
I just got the Nero’s and find that at “no resistance” I have issues comfortably staying balanced at low power.
At the no resistance setting, my wheel speed drops to around 10MPH at ~130W (16MPH at ~230W). I’ve never ridden rollers before these, so I’m not really familiar with what a base resistance should feel like, but it seems like I should be able to spin a little faster at 130W with no resistance, which would obviously help maintain balance during recovery intervals.
Do I just need to become more comfortable at low “speed” on the rollers?
FWIW, I have found the past few workout(s) much more stimulating on this device against a trainer, and that’s a good thing.
Anytime youre on rollers, slower speeds are more difficult to maintain balance. I have been looking at the Nero’s, but dont own them. With the increase in resistance, slower wheel speeds on the Neros may be easier, but I cant say for sure.
The inertia of the wheels spinning makes things more stable. I would imagine that on “no resistance”, the lack of resistance is the stability issue here. I use Kreitlers with the 2.25" drum. Theyre more difficult at slower wheel speeds. You get used to it and your pedal stroke will be better for it in the long run.
One option to try in the recovers, is to use a taller gear with a lower cadence. This will get your wheel speed a bit higher and likely add to stability. Do keep in mind the need to spin out the legs though, and you may need to experiment to find a happy medium from the real recovery needs and keeping upright.
Not sure what the problem is. I have gone down to 8 mphs at below 120W without resistence in low gear, but it is tricky for balance purposes. With resistance on up hill ascent much easier but then wattage gets in the 190 to 225 at low speeds.
I noted that Elite did a Nero firmware upgrade to 192 I believe that I just uploaded from Upgrado app. I haven’t actually used the new firmware as I only noticed it after my ride today. Could this make a difference? Not sure.
Actually, it sounds like you are getting similar resistance / speed correlation to me. It’s gotten easier over the past week or two as I become accustomed to rollers, but at first I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to use this device effectively since I couldn’t hit the recovery valleys without losing balance (40% of my 252FTP = 100W, with a floor of ~120W).
For now, I am just doing recovery at a higher percentage than prescribed.
My long-term solution? Get a higher FTP so the recovery valleys are higher! 
to clarify: I don’t have a power meter on my bike. If I get the Nero, does it calculate power output regardless of whether you have a power meter? I’m fine if it’s not super accurate, as long as it’s consistent
I just picked up a Nero, which was not easy to find. The first two vendors found their suppliers were out of stock (same supplier for both, perhaps?) and due to COVID19 and shipping, they could not confirm when they might have one in stock. I found a third company, which ordinarily I wouldn’t purchase from, and the Nero arrived yesterday in a slightly battered box. The unit appears undamaged, powers on, connected via BT to TR on iOS and Elite’s own firmware app. However, as you can see in the pic, the cables are, um, on the wrong drum. Regardless of what this configuration suggests, does any have experience with changing (or in my case, moving) the cables? It appears I have to disassemble the unit, which is a tad annoying for a device that’s supposed, per mfg docs, to be ready out of the box.
Thoughts?
Slide one band around the left side and slide one around the right. You’ll need to get it under the base, then pull the end of the band over the front roller.
Edit: Take a look at what @GPLama does in this video during setup. Different rollers same idea.
HAH! I feel like an idiot who should be reintroduced to simple puzzles. Thank you!
And doing it brought back vague ancient memories of doing the same on my Kreitlers a long time ago.
Its definitely one of those things you can stare at for a long time thinking WTF.
Let us know how you like them.
I had the same experience. My brain was looking at the problem all wrong. Once you see it the solution seems too easy / obvious, but until I a saw it I was getting nowhere
Spent 45min on the rollers this evening. Did abbreviated Petit instead of planned Fang Mountain+1 (4x9’ over/unders) to take it easy and because of a late start (few minutes before 9p). After something like 10+ years off the rollers getting back on them was, well, like riding a bike. The only challenge was when I tried to put my bottle back into the cage. I decided it was ok to just put the bottle on the floor. It was the third time on a new bike, which still needs to get dialed in, so there was that too (shorten the stem, probably also take out a spacer…). Thanks again for the help.
I’ve been using the Elite Nero rollers on occasion over the last 8 months are so, and here’s my experience. I use them with power match and erg mode, either a P2M ngeco or 4iiii left only, depending on bike.
(1) They work better for workouts that have fairly constant resistance since it takes a while for resistance to stabilize at the target, so sweet spot type workouts are mostly fine as long as they don’t have random sprints. For an endurance workout, pettit is fine, baxter is usually a bad time.
(2) You can maintain the target in erg mode, but its not automatic like it is on a tacx neo or kickr or something, you have to work at it by getting close to the right gear and close to an appropriate cadence and then its fine. It’s in between something like a neo and a dumb trainer.
(3) I don’t really calibrate the nero that often since I’m getting power from the PM, but it can help if you start to regularly get into this strange sine wave like loop where it can seem to stabilize at the target no matter what I do in terms of gearing and cadence. In that situation, calibration helps.
Yes to all of this.
Regarding (2) I find that it takes a little focus at the start of an interval to get to the set point, but the smart features allow me to zone back out once I’m dialed in until the next change. I hadn’t realized this until I read your comment.
I have done all of my indoor training on my elite nero rollers. I love them. I use the ERG mode and have no issues with anything except standing sprints. I can stand only for about 10 seconds. But I have poor bike handling skills and intentionally got rollers to improve my cycling skill. I figured that if I was going to be pedaling for hours at a time, I might as well develop some bike handling skill and core strength.
I think they are awesome.
Also interested in this roller, but it seems it’s been sold out everywhere or even discontinued. Any idea if a new one is coming soon?
