Curious, how do you compare SBR to DIY? I’m not going to drop any real money on SBR / CycleOps / etc.
The SBR is nice, but almost overkill. My simple hinge and other PVC rockers give pretty much all the same feel and movement for less.
If a person is willing to DIY, there are many ways to make them and have a great solution. The new vibration mount direction is nice because it is so easy. I want to make one of those along with some other new designs I need to test.
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Picture 5 or 6 of these along the center axis of the rocker plate. They have threads in each of the flat sides, pure runner in the middle, and slimy flex left and right.
Here is a quick example, but most seem to be using the 50mm x 50mm size.
Here is the base and vibe mounts installed. The top mounts right on it and the mounts become the hinge.
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What are you planning on using on the sides as “springs.” I’ve got the parts on order for a similar setup and was thinking of trying some thick foam, tennis balls, balance pods and/or a couple of small wheel barrel inner tubes.
- the balance pods are likely too thick given the height of the vibration mounts
- the tennis balls are probably too big as well
- foam can be built up to the right height but not sure about the “feel”
- Inner tubes can be adjusted via air pressure but might have too much spring in them
Thoughts?
This is my best recommendation. Durable wall, but still pliable. Includes 4 balls and a pump, so you can have a massive range of adjustment.
McMaster Carr sells a wide range of vibration mounts, with and without studs for mounting. What height, diameter, and overall durometer of stiffness would seem optimal for 5" inflatable balls? The tallest mounts are the most expensive.
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Here are some pictures of my vibe mount solution. Still need to polish it up with some paint and rubber coating on the top.
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This is a very cool thread. I recently threw a 3/4" sheet of MDF on a couple layers of carpet and pad because I liked the way the trainer moved when on carpet. I had moved from concrete. Now I come here and realize it is a thing, nice!
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Nice work @haydenmah. How do you you like it?
@mcneese.chad I like it a lot so far! I never had too much discomfort on the trainer myself but it definitely feels more natural. One of the reasons I was hesitant to go with a mechanical hinge design and had a go at a vibe mount design was my worry that with the high radial load and low sweep angle during its lifetime there would be the risk of squeaking. My setup so far is whisper quiet. (Though me with headphones in I guess that’s more of an advantage for the rommmates.)
I’ve been thinking of hard mounting the fork down. When swaying via the saddle the rocker plate rocks well, but I feel that when I put lateral force on the bars it has more of a tendency to spin the front wheel rather than rock. Anyone have experience?
Also, for explanation of the pictures above, my Tacx Flux is held in solely with its own weight and small wooden “fences” made out of cheap 1x1. There’s nothing holding it in vertically right now but it hasn’t been a problem yet. Designs are in the work for 3D printed “shoes” to capture the ends of the legs down to the plate.
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We lack the natural centering forces present while rolling outside. So a bit of “flop” is not u common. It takes a little more effort on the bars to keep them centered.
Some have built lazy susans with centering springs, to make the feel more like outside. I need to build one for testing.
That works as a tester. But I dislike the vertical bounce and even pitch (forward rotation) that happens with a full-floater setup like this.
It doesn’t control motion as well as rockers with more rigid support in the center, but is something to see if you like the general addition of movement. If you like it, I’d recommend a full deck with center support to create a pivot axis on the center that better controls the rocking direction.
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Is it possible to learn more, outside of Facebook?
Of course, here.
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@cendres - Elegant indeed.
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Nice. Looks like you offset the vibration isolators to deal with flywheel. I’m planning a biz trip to your area soon, will reach out when my plans firm up.
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As a long-time user of rollers and the KK RnR trainer (which I turned into a Frankentrainer by replacing the passive KK unit with the CycleOps Magnus unit), I have been thinking about why the rollers always feel the best.
The motion of the rear wheel is much more complex than a damped rotation along a center pivot point like the RnR and the rocker plates. There is a bit of sway perpendicular to the rear wheel that I think having the fixed pivot point negates.
A more complex setup should have high perpendicular compliance to allow sway but less parallel and rotational compliance to reduce the pitching and bouncing. Interesting engineering problem. Probably different shape dampers could solve this.