Hi,
I sold my kickr years ago and switched to dumb Elite Quick Motion Rollers - best move ever. I love the feel on rollers.
Usually I would listen to podcasts or watch something while riding. Naturally I do not have Erg Mode so I match the training targets with my power meter etc. works absolutely fine.
Now I was curious how Zwift, bloom or any kind of virtual/videogame training software would work without a smart trainer, without ERG mode etc. When you guys approach a climb on zwift etc, ERG kicks in and gives more resistance in the smart trainer.
How would it work with rollers? Would I have to match a certain power level shown on the screen? Or would I just happily cycle on and not “feel” the climb?
so in other words: to keep a proper speed and keep up with a group I need to work harder and push the watts - so eventually I would be working the same power as Erg would set up for me on a smart trainer?
I’ve tried zwift on rollers, but it’s pretty boring. You don’t get a change in resistance obviously, and as it’s not always easy to see climbs in zwift, it just looks like your avatar is slowing down randomly.
Think you still get 25km free in zwift, so you could just try it if you’re interested.
Elite claims 425w resistance which is plenty in most situations while excluding sprinting efforts. John & Pete used them for years without any complaints, so I’d guess they are plenty for most riders & regular use cases.
I had the Tacx rollers (Galaxia I think, like Antares, but moves back and forward), and with virtual zwift power at the time, they maxed out at 400W, which was probably more like 250-300 real watts.
I found rollers far more enjoyable than my previous dumb trainer, but ultimately the limitation of not being able to do intervals without slowing down to the point where I’d lose balance after an interval, got me to move to a smart trainer.
And as others have said, there’s not adjustment in resistance, so you just change into higher gears and spin faster (i.e. put out more watts) when you want to mimic the climb. Far less engaging compared to smart trainer.
I will say, my riding skill improved (and I’d been cycling a lot for 15 years at this point) from rollers all winter. A noticeable improvement in balance and stability. If I had space, I’d love to have kept the rollers, but ultimately went Elite Direto (v1) and now Neo 2T.
I just match the power on the screen or what’s going on with my avatar. I like rollers over a smart trainer because I think erg mode artificially drags your cadence down. Short, sprint intervals are also much better because you aren’t dependent on erg mode for timing/power.
Also, I have a similar magnet setup to this, which changes the “power curve” of the rollers from linear to exponential. My FTP is about 260w and I can do every TR workout at a normal cadence. The magnet setup is so good.
I own an Elite Motion, and you’ll have lack of resistance 500 ups. I put 800w already, spinning a lot, of course, hehe. But up to 500w, it’s fine.
You don’t have changing in resistance, but it’s pretty organic the feeling that you have to increase the power to keep the pace. Just ride in a group ride and you’ll get it in 5min.
if you look around you can probably find elite neros for around 500 euro (or less)
