Tips for rollers

I just completed my first workout on rollers (Baxter -2) and was wondering if anyone had any tips for dealing with numbness?

I stopped twice to stretch out, as I am unable to get out of the saddle whilst on them. Is this the norm, or is it possible to stand on rollers with practice?

Also, does anyone have any other workouts that work well on Rollers?

You can do almost all of what you want on rollers, but when you want to do it right, you need to manage excercises workload. Firts make FTP test on rollers and use numbers estimated from that test (FTP number), not from another device. Use the same tyres and pressure. It’s very important, because estimation of wattage in TrainerRoad is made for weight of cyclist, tyres and pressures propably different, than yours and in almost 100% is uncorrect for you. But you only need repeatability of power estimations.

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3 Tips I’d recommend, coming from someone who rides rollers occasionally!

  • Alternate hand positions hoods/ drops/ tops regularly
  • With practice you will be able to get out off the saddle (try shifting weight over center of bike)
  • Build up slowly with them something like 15 minutes, hop off stretch repeat and progress by a couple minutes each time
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It sounds like you have just got your rollers so you will still be getting used to the feeling of being able to fall off when riding indoors (a bit weird to say the least) so my guess would be that you are tensing to compensate for this. I have been riding on rollers for a while now and whilst I can’t ride no handed I can ride on my TT bars or stand whilst still maintaining a relaxed upper body and smooth pedal stroke.

Just keep practicing would be my suggestion and I think the numbness you experienced will go as you get used to riding on them. I certainly found that riding on my rollers improved my pedalling efficiency as initially if upping my cadence I started to bounce on the rollers which is quite disconcerting.

In terms of rides I would focus on endurance and recovery workouts and choose those with drills as they will all benefit your riding.

Hope this helps

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I’ve got a power meter on my bike, so that’s not an issue. I do most of my workouts on my Tacx Flux with power match, but I just fancied a change this morning.

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The best thing for me was learning to ride them hands-free. That alleviated hand and wrist pressure and let me sit upright for periods of time and tilt my hips. Started small, a few seconds at a time until I could ride a few minutes at a time.

Practice and time is the key. I’ve just had 3 months off my bike and did a roller session a couple of days ago, I had to get off after 30 mins due to numbness. Before my hiatus I could do a 90 min session on the rollers without pain or numbness. Its just a matter of building up the time on the rollers. Like the others have said recovery and endurance workouts are good, but its a great place to improve cadence. Here’s a great video to give you some roller goals British Cycling Roller Skills - YouTube

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I highly recommend making a motion platform. This makes standing on rollers much more natural and easy than fixed rollers.

Here is my video showing my motion base (and other mods).

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As others have mentioned, any sort of boom rack solution can be really helpful.

However, look at the rollers as an opportunity to refine your technique. I often find that riders put too much weight on their hands and don’t ride with enough strength and control in their core, and if that’s the case, rollers will put that on display in the form of instability.

My best advice with rollers is to be patient, and focus on core engagement. It’ll come around, and you’ll be a better rider as a result.

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I completed SSB HV1 and HV2 last winter on Elite E-Motion rollers set to the first level of resistance (the rollers have a no resistance setting and 2 levels of increased resistance). I did not progress to a build plan as I started riding outdoors at that point. I have a power meter on my bike. I had to stand every 30 minutes or so, for 30 to 40 secs to clear the numbness. The only workout I had a problem with was the ramp test. Shifting gears and keeping balance at increasing wattages can be difficult, as can sprinting, so I don’t try to meet the power numbers on sprints, I do the best I can while staying upright. The 20 minute FTP test was not a problem.

The e-motion rollers have bumper wheels at the sides of the front roller to help keep your bike from coming off the rollers, which I hit quite frequently. The increased focus required to complete the workout on the rollers helps pass the time quickly. One benefit of training on the rollers was that my average cadence on outdoors rides increased from approximately 85 to 95 rpm. I plan on training on the Elite E-motion rollers this winter. However, I don’t think I could do the training on a no-resistance, no-motion set of rollers (which I have never ridden). I have a wall on my right side and a treadmill on my left side for support when I lose balance.

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I have elite arion rollers with erg mode. I am triathlete currently trainning exclusively for a running Marathon but as soon I finished it I will be using TR to get back to the bike with a medium volume program. Does anyone uses rollers in erg mode? Would it be ok to do anything above sweet spot on those? Is power match the best way to go?
Thanks

I have an old 80’s beater bike for the rollers. I found a 60 tooth chain ring for it and used the 52 tooth as the inner ring. That takes care of the resistance.
Using down tube friction shifting with a clunky old 6 speed free wheel, while wearing headphones connected to an ipod on the handlebars, while riding on rollers, will do a lot for your bike handling skills.