They can be, short-term, for newbs. But since you have experience on rollers, albeit with fore-aft motion, I doubt you would have any problem adapting to them very quickly.
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Not really, but some things require practice.
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Does any of you know both systems? PVC vs alloy drums?
My first set of rollers, many, many years ago, were plastic drums. They eventually went out of round, but that was after a lot of use.
I have no idea what the quality of the Elite rollers are vs. the ones I had decades ago, so I don’t think you can use my experience as any kind of indicator.
That said, my Krietlers are +25 years old and still solid as a rock. The red anodized drums are kinda pink now and there is surface rust on the frame from sweat, but they still ride great. (although to be fair, they haven’t gotten a lot if use over the last 10-12 years)
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Hey guys, looking to get a pair of Kreitler rollers to alternate with the turbo, just for a change of pace and to try and keep my form OK when riding inside.
With an FTP of 306w (4.3 w/kg), what size drums should I choose if I wanted to potentially do some interval work on them, once I get comfortable enough with them? Kreitler’s website makes it sound like 2.25" are really to be avoided at all costs, but I already have a big fan and the resistance fan would add a substantial cost to the whole system.
So what do you reckon: 3.0" or 2.25"?
You need a resistance unit, imo. My ftp is about 100W less than yours, but without one I always had to ride a crazy wheel speeds. That is on 3" rollers, but I can’t imagine the roller size will make up that difference.
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2.25 - Ive got them, use with my track bike with 52/12 gearing, makes the slow power stuff tricky but good for high sweet spot work.
With a geared bike youll be fine
As I commented above, I have the 3inch rollers and would recommend those. With slow tires at 4-5bar of pressure the resistance should be more than enough. My ftp is 285 and I can do all interval work (sweet spot and vo2max) without any problems. I have at least 3 gears in reserve for my vo2max efforts
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As an update: I ordered the 2.25", got erroneously sent the 3", so I tried them anyway. With gp5000s at my usual outside-riding pressure I could get up to sweetspot, but ran out of gears after that. So for now I’ve decided to try the 2.25", to see how I get on with those: if I can still spin comfortably with the smaller drums I think I should have found the best of both worlds, otherwise I’ll probably go back to the 3" and have both drums at the ready!
Holy thread revival!
I pulled out my 3" Kreitler’s today for the first time in a while. When I’m on rollers, I usually prefer my ERG-controlled Elite Real e-Motion ones… but hey, I figured I’d give the Kreitlers a spin.
SO… at 100-105 rpm, in my 52/11 gearing, I’m only hitting about 230-240w. Could I spin faster? yes. would be it comfortable? No. (90psi, Pirelli P-Zero velo. 63kg rider)
Have I gotten lazy/dependent on ERG, or am I missing something?
Are you looking for higher resistance level or something else?
I am not clear on the problem you are attempting to consider or address.
Higher resistance. Maxing out at 240w means that I can only marginally get into a sweet spot interval.
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Here are the solutions I know:
- Drop tire pressure.
- Swap to a tire with terrible rolling resistance (Gatorskin)
- Add the Kreitler Headwind unit
- Add a DIY magnetic resistance bar.
- Use the “stuffed towel” on the roller hack.
You can also use a smaller diameter roller such as the Kreitler Dynomites…a 3" drum doesn’t offer much resistance once you are rolling.
But obviously this is a significantly higher-cost solution!
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I like the magnet idea. I’m going to try that first and see how it goes/rolls. Thank you!
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I got lucky and found the original CycleOps magnetic resistance unit (since discontinued), and made it into an adjustable setup with an old MTB shifter.
I found this to be incredibly helpful, more roller manufacturers should include something like this:
With an idea in mind of speed and wattage targets, this allowed me to figure up which size rollers to order and whether to get the fan, 1 flywheel, or 2 flywheels. I used multiple smart trainers with ERG, and it burned me out pretty hard. I’ve been using my crank-based PM for awhile now, and it works really really well.
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Ive been doing my intervals on the kreitler rollers. theyre old, crusty, a bit noisy, but they work.
i can easily do VO2 workouts on the smallest roller size, 80 psi, 28-30mm tyres.
I love em, turbos make me pedal squares.
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