I was thinking that my non-flywheel action resistance drum is adding a little bit of difficulty. Those are elite’s in the videos right? slight movement makes all the difference when standing too.
I bought a $8 collapsable step stool from Home Depot that is just the right height to put one foot on and get on the pedal. Not like the road but gets me going
Yup, I use a stepstool too. I feel silly because I carry it around when I warm up at the track on rollers and no one else seems to use a stepstool, but I would feel even sillier when I fell trying to get on or off the bike on the rollers without the stepstool…
How about this way to mount rollers?
I am intrigued by rollers and would love to try them outside of my gen2 kickr snap (use my 4iiii pm for the powermatch) that is still working fine. Will have to see if anyone in GA has any old school ones I can borrow or buy cheap.
Old school rollers are sooo restrictive. Although not cheap, the Inside Ride with the optional fork gizmo is two in one…as a full roller or a rocking trainer. As far as I know, there isn’t anything else like it out there. I found a used one and upgraded the resistance to smart and added the fork.
What do you mean restrictive? I am not versed in this area so thanks for educating me.
There is a pair of aluminum saris/cyclops rollers on my cl for $50 that are supposedly 5 or 6 years old
Cheap rollers are cheap for a reason. Compared with a modern floating roller, they require more focus and skill and they are not good for well rounded workouts or standing up and cranking. When you see all those roller crash videos on Youtube…those are old school rollers.
Honestly, get one off eBay. They usually run half their msrp. You can always buy better ones but if you are starting out the beginner ones are great. Sure, the inside ride or trutrainers are higher quality but you are essentially spending tacx neo money without knowing they are what you want.
The basic tacx rollers were the first trainer I owned. They are still running strong 3 years later. Plus you can buy a fork stand which will allow you to use the rollers without having to worry about balancing. Add a power meter and you have got yourself a decent basic trainer
If only 50 and in good condition, that’s a steal. Cycleops makes many quality products. If starting out, these would be great
At $50 they are a steal and worth it.
You can always modify to add DIY motion and other features. Here are my upgraded Nashbar rollers.
I do all my indoor workouts on my Kreitler rollers with a killer headwind fan. I live in northern California and have hours that allow me to ride outside mostly, and have good segments for TR workouts. I really love rollers, I feel so much less stiff than when stationary and I think the mental effort of staying balanced helps pass time. However when I am doing 115% + efforts I find my form starts to degrade in longer intervals and I can’t always hit the really high power efforts. I do have a fork stand that essentially turns it into a ‘dumb’ trainer, but I hate using it.
So I have my question - is suffering through efforts even if my forms degrades a bit on the rollers better than being locked in stationary? At least I know how long I can hold form for (and improve) in a more road like scenario… Or would it be better to be forced into position and potentially able to eek out more watts not having to think about position with the fork stand or a stationary trainer. Curious as to what people think, especially @Jonathan as a roller user and TR expert of experts. I also notice that my saddle sore/callus’s are slightly different on the rollers vs outdoors which I find curious - why is my weight distributed differently on rollers when I’m not locked into anything stationary?
Thats a good question. I was in a similar boat with respect to switching to a stationary trainer (I use both the nero rollers and a Neo).
I’ve found that sprint work is better locked than on rollers. The main reason is that I’m more focused about achieving the physiological stress needed to make adaptation occur. That only happens when HR and power hit the correct targets. On rollers, you become very focused on form (which is good in its own way) but, as you say, this does affect your ability to hit your planned targets.
That said, being able to achieve the targets on rollers is a skill itself. I think that this depends on what you want to do. A fork stand for your rollers would be a good option for being able to mix up rollers v stationary.
This likely depends on your priorities:
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There is a case to be made for training with no outside influence, and being able to get every ounce of effort from your body. It leans on the idea of stressing yourself to the max in order to drive maximum adaptation. If you have to split your mental and physical energy towards riding the bike, you may well be limiting the peak effort you have within yourself.
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There is also a case to be made for training with “realistic” demand on the mind and body. It leans on the idea of trying to more closely replicate the actual demands of your outside events. Bike, body position, balance and such that you will actually be doing in the moment. Adapting to these demands in addition to the training stress may lead to more success in the actual event.
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Ultimately, there are likely reasons to use a bit of both, with particular choices based on event needs and individual workouts. There may be times to focus purely on the effort, and others where the full blend is beneficial.
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Essentially, I see no single “perfect” answer. As with so many things in our area, you need to review the pro’s and con’s of each choice, consider their relationship to your training and event needs, and use the proper mix that is appropriate to your needs.
- From my Rocker Plate thread:
When you have a bike that is perfectly comfortable outside, and then leads to problems when ridden inside, I feel it is important to look at what is different. When you do, there are two key differences.
- Lack of wind resistance on the body riding inside. That is a difference that I find because you end up with slightly more weight on the hands and arms, because you don’t have the wind pushing your upper body back.
- To compensate for that, I recommend that people raise the front axle about 1"-2" [25mm-50mm] higher than the rear axle. This shifts the weight slightly back onto the saddle and off the hands and arms.
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Even with the additional freedom of lateral movement on rollers, you still lack the “push-back” that we get from wind resistance outside. That alone could alter the weight distribution, and even the relative position you use on the bike as a result.
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Add to that, despite the movement on rollers, it is still a bit different when compared to real riding outside. Look no further than the reality that many people struggle riding rollers compared to being quite competing outside. There are real differences in what we do and how we ride rollers, and those may manifest in related differences in our position and how we move on the bike.
Here is the link to the rollers. I am in vacation so cannot stopbynand see them for another week or so but might be worth to check out. What do you think?
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/bop/d/atlanta-saris-aluminum-cycling-rollers/6928596423.html
Sweet and thanks. If he still has them when I get back from vacation i will go and check them out.
Edit @mcneese.chad I am assuming you are refeering to this part?
CycleOps Magnetic Remote Shifter for CycleOps Indoor Mag Bicycle Trainers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000I7QCDO/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_i_uh3lDbTPRKSE5
No, the Ebay and Amazon links above are only for the magnetic resistance bar. It includes an adjustment wheel with 5 different settings. I used that as the base for my shifter-based design shown in the video above.
You might be able to modify the remote you linked, but it will take some work and is not “plug and play”. This is because CycleOps did not design the roller resistance unit to be remotely adjustable.
Yeah, I agree with you pretty much across the board. I think for me, given I can do most TR workouts on the rollers and have access outside almost all the time, I just always plan accordingly when I need to be outside and not on the rollers. And agreed that mixing it up is good - sometimes seeing if I can hold form on the rollers for a set of intervals even if I miss it by a few watts, and then locking in and not worrying about balancing, just hitting my watts on others. Interesting stuff.
Thanks Chad - I find it amazing wind can actually affect my 160 lb frame so much as to move my position, but makes sense, super interesting. I do find outside in harder efforts I do adopt a more indoor like position further forward on the seat as well. Also always impressed with your constant replies on here, full of good insights!