Rollers or Turbo trainer?

07Lapierre

Thinking of investing in a set of rollers. Why? Well why not? The way I see it is that rollers will give a much better “real cycling” experience as the bike is free to move naturally (as opposed to a turbo trainer, where the bike is clamped in place) I also think if rollers we’re good enough for Eddie, their good enough for me!

Any recommendations on what rollers to get?

https://youtu.be/_BcHekNAfOo

eeeee

Rollers are great. Everything you do on then is transferable to real world cycling, unlike a turbo (as you need to keep the bike up!). They also help your bike handling.
The tacx Antarres are the standard, most people use them. The galaxia are fancier, and rock with you so they're easier to ride, and the Elite ones have more resistance. That's all I've used.

They're also far more stimulating. I lose the will to live after 5 mins on the turbo. I don't know how people do it!

Macy0161

07Lapierre wrote: »

The way I see it is that rollers will give a much better “real cycling” experience as the bike is free to move naturally (as opposed to a turbo trainer, where the bike is clamped in place)

There are hybrid rollers, where the front wheel is replaced by a stand, and the rear is free to move naturally. Also, you can buy or build rocker plates, that give some movement.

eeeee wrote:

I lose the will to live after 5 mins on the turbo. I don't know how people do it!

Eurosport Player/ Netflix/ Spotify! For me, it's turbo or not fit in training at all, particularly given the bang for time buck.

Plastik

I find it very hard to get any sort of hard workout on my Tacx Antares because there's no resistance, but they're grand for cadence and speed work. "Hard" is subjective I know, it's been a while since I've used them but I recall 300w seeming to be about 120rpm. I did hit 102kph on them one day though, that was a bit of craic!

bp_me

Elite Quick Motion offer 3 different resistance settings and I'm pretty happy with them. If you watch halfords the price can collapse on them during sale time.

Macy0161

I think there's a few "smart" rollers out now too, if you were into TrainerRoad/ Zwift/ Rouvy.

fat bloke

Yeah I switched to rollers about a year and a half ago and been using them since instead of the turbo. They're great but you need a set with some sort of resistance. I use the regular elite ones with 3 stages of resistance. Without a resistance setting, they're a one trick pony - high cadence spinning and that's your lot. But with a higher resistance setting available you can use your gears more and also do in the saddle low rev power stuff - as low as 50 rpm. Helps to pass the time when you have the flexibility to vary cadence work like that.

They do take a lot of getting used to. You could easily find yourself getting turned off by the initial difficulty in simply staying upright on them. I've a good 18 months spent on them now, and I still get the odd wobble when I want to check my phone or get drink or wipe my brow. - I can't do any of the nifty stuff like cycle no hands or get out of the saddle. - I can pedal on them. That's it. And for the most part, that's enough!

triggermortis

OP I have a set of Tacx Galaxia sitting in my shed if you want to try them out and see what you think. I'm in NCD although currently away until the weekends for the next 2 months..
I found they were much more like riding a bike than a turbo, if that makes sense, and took me a while to get used to them as my bike handling was far worse than I'd imagined at the start

magicbastarder

triggermortis wrote: »

my bike handling was far worse than I'd imagined at the start

a rash conclusion to draw, no? surely as you can't use forward momentum to assist with balance, anyone will take time to get used to rollers?

triggermortis

magicbastarder wrote: »

a rash conclusion to draw, no? surely as you can't use forward momentum to assist with balance, anyone will take time to get used to rollers?

If you'd seen me you would understand... although to be fair, I only ever rode off the side once (after zig zagging violently back and forth a good 5 or 6 times first) and not on my first few attempts

eeeee

You can do strength work on rollers easily, it's all about using your gears.

There aren't too many people spinning 140 rpm in a 53x11 for 10 mins.

They're also great for max rpm stuff, as you need to both get the power out and handle your bike, which is key to getting it all out on track/road.

They're also great for your pedalling style, they smooth you right out. And if you're using them weekly it doesn't take pi&&ing time to get used to them.
Although I still don't go hands free in public!

07Lapierre

triggermortis wrote: »

OP I have a set of Tacx Galaxia sitting in my shed if you want to try them out and see what you think. I'm in NCD although currently away until the weekends for the next 2 months..
I found they were much more like riding a bike than a turbo, if that makes sense, and took me a while to get used to them as my bike handling was far worse than I'd imagined at the start

Thanks trig! Would love to give them a go (in private in case I make a fool of myself!) You interested in selling?

07Lapierre

eeeee wrote: »

You can do strength work on rollers easily, it's all about using your gears.

There aren't too many people spinning 140 rpm in a 53x11.

They're also great for max rpm stuff, as you need to both get the power out and handle your bike, which is key to getting it all out on track/road.

They're also great for your pedalling style, they smooth you right out. And if you're using them weekly it doesn't take pi&&ing time to get used to them.
Although I still don't go hands free in public!

That's what attracts me to rollers...the fact that your really cycling and not simply pedalling a stationary gym bike!

07Lapierre

fat bloke wrote: »

Yeah I switched to rollers about a year and a half ago and been using them since instead of the turbo. They're great but you need a set with some sort of resistance. I use the regular elite ones with 3 stages of resistance. Without a resistance setting, they're a one trick pony - high cadence spinning and that's your lot. But with a higher resistance setting available you can use your gears more and also do in the saddle low rev power stuff - as low as 50 rpm. Helps to pass the time when you have the flexibility to vary cadence work like that.

They do take a lot of getting used to. You could easily find yourself getting turned off by the initial difficulty in simply staying upright on them. I've a good 18 months spent on them now, and I still get the odd wobble when I want to check my phone or get drink or wipe my brow. - I can't do any of the nifty stuff like cycle no hands or get out of the saddle. - I can pedal on them. That's it. And for the most part, that's enough!

18 months? Sure I'm cycling all my life and I still get the odd wobble! I didn't know you can get rollers with resistance settings? I assumed they were all pretty much the same.

fat bloke

07Lapierre wrote: »

18 months? Sure I'm cycling all my life and I still get the odd wobble! I didn't know you can get rollers with resistance settings? I assumed they were all pretty much the same.

You can yeah, now you have to get off the bike and move a switch - 0, 1, 2.

At 0 they're just normal resistance free rollers. Fine. But for my intervals I usually aim for 260-280 watts which for me on those rollers is pretty much my tallest gear (52:12 ish) and 90+ rpm. Over 100rpm and you can do 300W ish stints, but if you go down to 80 or 70 rpm the gears aren't there to match the power.

I switched it to position 1 shortly after buying it and pretty much just left it there. At that resistance, you can still do the high rpm stuff by moving up the cassette, and then in my 52:12 280 watts is equal to about 60rpm - so it's quite a difference. At that setting I can break my 8 minutes into 2 mins at 100+rpm, 2 at 90 ish, 2 at 80, 2 at 70, use the gearing to keep the wattage at my chosen target, and it's perfect - exactly like I used to do on the turbo.

Highly recommend em anyway. It's great to be able to just jump on the bike. The worst thing about the turbo is removing the wheel and affixing the bike to the turbo, or worse again - removing the wife's bike which is still on the turbo and then putting your bike on it. I know it's not a massive task, but I find that keeping the number of obstacles between you and your workout to an absolute minimum dramatically increases the chances of you actually doing the workout and the rollers are a more seamless transition from couch to pedalling!

07Lapierre

fat bloke wrote: »

You can yeah, now you have to get off the bike and move a switch - 0, 1, 2.

At 0 they're just normal resistance free rollers. Fine. But for my intervals I usually aim for 260-280 watts which for me on those rollers is pretty much my tallest gear (52:12 ish) and 90+ rpm. Over 100rpm and you can do 300W ish stints, but if you go down to 80 or 70 rpm the gears aren't there to match the power.

I switched it to position 1 shortly after buying it and pretty much just left it there. At that resistance, you can still do the high rpm stuff by moving up the cassette, and then in my 52:12 280 watts is equal to about 60rpm - so it's quite a difference. At that setting I can break my 8 minutes into 2 mins at 100+rpm, 2 at 90 ish, 2 at 80, 2 at 70, use the gearing to keep the wattage at my chosen target, and it's perfect - exactly like I used to do on the turbo.

Highly recommend em anyway. It's great to be able to just jump on the bike. The worst thing about the turbo is removing the wheel and affixing the bike to the turbo, or worse again - removing the wife's bike which is still on the turbo and then putting your bike on it. I know it's not a massive task, but I find that keeping the number of obstacles between you and your workout to an absolute minimum dramatically increases the chances of you actually doing the workout and the rollers are a more seamless transition from couch to pedalling!

Thanks for that. Had a look at Halfords. :eek:

https://www.halfords.ie/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/elite-nero-rollers

I like the look of the Elite Quick Motion rollers... there more within my Budget.

fat bloke

Yeah, that's silly money. I'm pretty sure mine were more like 250. That's enough. Unless you're very very sure that you're going to get a lot of regular use out of em.

bp_me

07Lapierre wrote: »

Thanks for that. Had a look at Halfords. :eek:

https://www.halfords.ie/cycling/turbo-trainers/trainers/elite-nero-rollers

I like the look of the Elite Quick Motion rollers... there more within my Budget.

The neros are the new ERG mode hence the price. The standard quick motion should be more than sufficient and don't need power if you want to go mobile with them.

triggermortis

07Lapierre wrote: »

Thanks trig! Would love to give them a go (in private in case I make a fool of myself!) You interested in selling?

Well you can try them out for free if you like and then make me an offer if you get on with them. Like I said, they’re in the shed and not being used

07Lapierre

triggermortis wrote: »

Well you can try them out for free if you like and then make me an offer if you get on with them. Like I said, they’re in the shed and not being used

Sorry for the delay coming back to you trigg. Appreciate the offer, but I'm still undecided at this point. I'm going to mull over the idea for a bit longer.

thanks

triggermortis

07Lapierre wrote: »

Sorry for the delay coming back to you trigg. Appreciate the offer, but I'm still undecided at this point. I'm going to mull over the idea for a bit longer.

thanks

No problem. I'll be home for the weekend in NCD if you want to have a look at them

Robxxx7

Quick question regarding using rollers ... i have used a turbo trainer in the past and always put a turbo trainer tyre on the bike ... on the roller is this necessary ? i assume not as the wheel will be moving more side to side rather than in a fixed position

07Lapierre

Robxxx7 wrote: »

Quick question regarding using rollers ... i have used a turbo trainer in the past and always put a turbo trainer tyre on the bike ... on the roller is this necessary ? i assume not as the wheel will be moving more side to side rather than in a fixed position

Yes that’s correct.. as both wheels are free to move, tyre wear is not as bad.

eeeee

Robxxx7 wrote: »

Quick question regarding using rollers ... i have used a turbo trainer in the past and always put a turbo trainer tyre on the bike ... on the roller is this necessary ? i assume not as the wheel will be moving more side to side rather than in a fixed position

No need to change tyres.

Harrybelafonte

Quick hint with rollers is to use them beside a wall so if you wobble you can steady yourself. Or have a tall stool beside you.

If you have place something about the same height as the rollers beside you it’ll help too. If you ever see old school keirin roller rooms they’re countersunk into the floor. Means you can put your foot down without having to step lower than the bike.

If you’ve no support, stand on the frame with your left leg. Clip in with your right. Spin the crank a few times then hop up and keep spinning wheel you clip in with your left.