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Re: Anybody here built a rocker plate for their trainer? [velocomp]
I just finished one myself based on a couple of designs I saw on the Facebook Rocker Plate Forum.

Just to give credit where it is due, here's a link to the forum, and I'm not posting pictures of mine, but rather the ideas that I took from 'Martin SSpeed' and 'McGwire' Forum users. Here's their two inspirations:

Martin SSpeed used pillow bearings, inflatables on either side to balance and fixed cups to hold the trainer in, and the unit is only built to the size of the trainer.
- I liked that it's not a full size unit (less parts = less cost). It can be constructed from two 2'x4' pieces of plywood.


-The idea of Pillow bearings is cool, but man that get's expensive fast! It costs around $10-$12 a pillow bearing (from princessauto.com) of which you need four of them. Next, you need a rod to run through the pillow bearing and that costs about $30 for an 8 foot pole. And let's not forget nuts bolts and washers and that all seem to cost about $1 each at home depot.




The McGwire board was different in that it didn't rely upon pillow bearings, but rather vibration dampeners. A two pack costs $20 and it's all you need to support you and the trainer (it has a load capacity of 2220lbs).


So, I decided to make a hybrid of the two. Smaller unit that uses vibration dampeners. Instead of inflatable balls on either side, I stuck with beginner tennis balls (orange dot and green dot) with different levels of squishiness that I stole from my kid (he's in a tennis academy).

This is my version 1.0. with 1/2" plywood. I'll likely make another version out of 3/4" plywood and make the cuts/holes nicer. The movement seems pretty good, but the improvement in comfort hasn't quite been as dramatic as some have reported. I'll likely do more research on what others are doing differently.



Last edited by: beston: Jan 27, 19 16:38

Edit Log:

  • Post edited by beston (Dawson Saddle) on Jan 27, 19 16:38