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Don't throw away your rollers!
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Don't throw away your rollers! I almost did, as I have a Kickr, and hadn't used my rollers for nearly 2 years since I let my bike training ease up a lot to focus on run/swim for quite awhile.


Man, I tried using them earlier this week, and I lost like everything! I used to be able to ride rollers one-hand, crossed-hand, one-leg, and even could go over a minute straight looking backwards over my shoulder.


I was like a green rookie on the rollers - leaning on the wall for dear life. Made me realize how dodgy my bike balance and handling for small motions has gotten.


Fortunately, I seem to be relearning it with small sessions every day - I can now just use the wall once per minute or so, but I'm still at least a week or two away from doing the over-the-shoulder look.


Just sayin' - don't throw out or forget about those rollers - they're good stuff!


(I'm taking the super basic TravelTrac rollers, not the ones with fore/aft float and side bumpers that let you stay on a lot more easily.)
Last edited by: lightheir: Mar 11, 18 12:39
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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When I started bike racing (decades ago) I used rollers for a few years in winter, then stopped for more than a year. Then in my collegiate club we required newbies to prove proficiency on rollers, and one of them who I was instructing said "Oh yeah, can your ride them?"


So I hopped on, a little worried I'd forgotten, was shaky for a minute or two, then took my hands off the bars and rode for another minute or two no-handed. Case closed.


I haven't ridden them since.


I think rollers are a great tool for learning to be smooth on the bike, but it's possible to learn/keep these skills on the road, especially if you're intentional about it on the road.


http://www.jt10000.com/
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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But does it really matter?

So you didn't ride rollers and go bad at riding rollers.

And now you're riding them again and getting better at it.

But none of that really has anything to do with riding on the road...
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [rubik] [ In reply to ]
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Im not going to say you can't ride roads without roller skills, but there is no doubt hat if you can't hold the line on rollers, you are dodgier on the road.

Everyone thinks they hold a line when they check for cars over their shoulder, but unless you can do it on rollers, you are veering. Youll really see it if you try it in a tight pack - they'll start shouting at you!
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Wish I still had mine, there's no doubt they're great for just the occasional ride with no resistance, really good is if you can sprint on them. At the end of the day they teach you to ride straight, control your bike and still give you a workout. And if you want resistance put a board under the front and ride for an hour.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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So what your saying is, you used to be able to hold a line, but since you lost your roller skill, it showed the past couple of years you could not hold a line...right?
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Kenney] [ In reply to ]
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Kenney wrote:
So what your saying is, you used to be able to hold a line, but since you lost your roller skill, it showed the past couple of years you could not hold a line...right?


It's showing that my minimal on-road biking for the past 18 months has definitely degraded my bike balance and thus ability to hold a GOOD line. Can i hold a line enough to get by in a race - sure, just did a sprint tri with a busy multiloop course no problem. Does it mean I"d trust myself if things got dicey or supercrowded or if I even hit a slick? Nowhere near as much as I'd trust myself if I were roller-capable.

You can obviously hold 'a line' if you can't ride rollers, but you'll hold that line much more cleanly and reliably if you're roller-capable.

And no, riding rollers doesn't replace on-road practice for cornering, etc. Still got to do that as well, working on that one once the late spring hits.
Last edited by: lightheir: Mar 11, 18 18:02
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Fuzzybunnies] [ In reply to ]
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Fuzzybunnies wrote:
Wish I still had mine, there's no doubt they're great for just the occasional ride with no resistance, really good is if you can sprint on them. At the end of the day they teach you to ride straight, control your bike and still give you a workout. And if you want resistance put a board under the front and ride for an hour.
I ride Sportcrafters with their Overdrive drum... it has a progressive resistance or if you flip the drum around the traditional low resistance of rollers. They aren't floating or anything, so you have to know what you're doing or you'll end up on the floor pretty quick. I think its a great workout and does give you some intangibles from riding them.

Big fan or rollers and yes if I haven't ridden them in a few months, it takes a few minutes of getting used to them. I use PerfPro and it has a virtual power curve built into it for the rollers so I can do power based workouts on them as well.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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I got some Kinetic Z rollers last week, to make indoor recovery rides more interesting. I had not ridden on rollers for 20 years but as it turned out it, there are some things you never forget so I was happily surprised it was so easy to start it again. More fun than a stationary trainer, that's for sure.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Fuzzybunnies] [ In reply to ]
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Fuzzybunnies wrote:
Wish I still had mine, there's no doubt they're great for just the occasional ride with no resistance, really good is if you can sprint on them. At the end of the day they teach you to ride straight, control your bike and still give you a workout. And if you want resistance put a board under the front and ride for an hour.
I'm a little confused. What's the mechanism for raising the front to increase resistance?
(I don't ride rollers, maybe it's obvious and I'm just not seeing it)
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah that doesn't make much sense...
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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lightheir wrote:
And no, riding rollers doesn't replace on-road practice for cornering, etc. Still got to do that as well, working on that one once the late spring hits.


It sounds like you should ride outside more! Just kidding (kind of) - I can see what you're saying though. I guess for me I just can't imagine riding inside so much that I actually lose the ability for those nuances on the road.

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Last edited by: Bonesbrigade: Mar 12, 18 7:56
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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I'm glad I didn't throw my rollers away as I use them every now and then for testing rolling resistance of tires. But otherwise I only use my computrainer. The folks that have very bad handling skills are also not likely to ever get rollers, regardless of the actual on-road handling benefits. I got out on the road in late Feb. for the first time in a couple of months and didn't feel the slightest loss in my handling skills.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Bonesbrigade] [ In reply to ]
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Bonesbrigade wrote:
lightheir wrote:
And no, riding rollers doesn't replace on-road practice for cornering, etc. Still got to do that as well, working on that one once the late spring hits.


It sounds like you should ride outside more! Just kidding (kind of) - I can see what you're saying though. I guess for me I just can't imagine riding inside so much that I actually lose the ability for those nuances on the road.

Dont' get me wrong - I felt totally fine on the road on race day and the one training ride I did before that outdoors. No weird veering, instability, etc. I bet I would have been fine in a typical group ride.

But having a 'totally fine' outdoor road ride doesn't necessarily mean you've retained the nuances of fine bike balance and corrections as revealed by roller training. And throw in an errant pothole, dodgy riders in close quarters, etc., and those finer skills become revealed - even if they're uncommon/rare on a typical outdoor ride that doesn't require roller skills.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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don't tell me what to do
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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Kind of like elevating a treadmill, raising the front end does have an effect due to the bike moving on the rollers though you can't raise too much or you won't be able to get on. The bike when the front is elevated does want to move back off the rollers and you are then moving against this effect. Its not like a regular trainer where the bike is stationary and you have to raise the front to level or slightly above to reduce pressure on your hands.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Fuzzybunnies] [ In reply to ]
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Hmmmm...
I'm not convinced. On my way out the door now, I'll have to come back to that later and think about it.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Ai_1] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not getting it either and I ride rollers... messing up the "levelness" of rollers makes them a challenge to ride for one. I ride mine on a concrete floored basement and I use a small piece under a foot to level them out. I have a small grade it appears and where I put my rollers I'm figthing the bike going left if I don't level it out.

I've heard of tossing a towel under the front roller, lowering your tire pressure but not raising the front. Like I said earlier I ride the Sportcrafters that use a progressive resistance drum... I've been riding their rollers for a while and before they developed the OverDrive was using their 5 setting magentic resistance bar. It worked too but you had to change from 0-5 mechanically. The drum is a marked improvement and better than towels, messing with air pressure, etc.


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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Fuzzybunnies] [ In reply to ]
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Fuzzybunnies wrote:
Kind of like elevating a treadmill, raising the front end does have an effect due to the bike moving on the rollers though you can't raise too much or you won't be able to get on. The bike when the front is elevated does want to move back off the rollers and you are then moving against this effect. Its not like a regular trainer where the bike is stationary and you have to raise the front to level or slightly above to reduce pressure on your hands.
THat doesn't make any sense at all - you talked about adding resistance and in the case of rollers the resistance comes from friction in the bearings of the drums, and losses from the belt. None of those change whether your rollers are on a flat or angles surface.

On a treadmill the incline forces the rear leg to swing forward and land at a higher point to start the next step vs where the step ends. Therefore with every step there is additional potential energy to be overcome, so running on an incline increases effort. There is no such thing on rollers.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Benv] [ In reply to ]
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FYI, just for fun I measured the power curve on my Kinetic rollers yesterday.


Last edited by: Benv: Mar 13, 18 7:01
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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Although, if anyone does want to throw out their rollers, I'd be more than happy to take them off their hands instead.

Rode on them for the first time a couple weeks ago and realized it's definitely something i want to work on.
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [imswimmer328] [ In reply to ]
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Last time I was on rollers was about 20 years ago, but I've been looking to pick up a set. I see that Elite makes a "smart" roller compatible with Trainerroad / Zwift, although I'll probably end up with a set that has adjustable resistance.

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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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I'll give you my roller drums. Some of them are even "anodized" :p

I don't think i'll get rid of mine, just b/c I can't lug smart trainer to warm up for TTs.

The original roller drums still work, but the plastic guide for the belt has worn away. I thought getting a replacement would be easy, but instead bought drums that are quite a bit wider than what I have (doh...)
Last edited by: echappist: Mar 13, 18 8:06
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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [Fuzzybunnies] [ In reply to ]
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I had this discussion with a guy a few years ago, and it took me a while to find the data file I collected back then.

My patio has a slight slope to it to allow rain to run off: about 3/8" per foot. That's about 3%. I put my rollers in one direction and rode for a few minutes, then reversed the direction and repeated, so one was on a 3% incline and the other was on a 3% decline. Here's the plot. I can't actually remember which dots were "uphill" and which were "downhill."


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Re: Don't throw away your rollers! [imswimmer328] [ In reply to ]
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imswimmer328 wrote:
Although, if anyone does want to throw out their rollers, I'd be more than happy to take them off their hands instead.
This if funny/apt for me.

I bought my first rollers from Nashbar.

Later I got a set of Kreitler rollers BY FIINDING THEM IN A TRASH CAN on the street. Seriously.

Then I loaned them indefinitely to a friend (basically giving them away).

When she was done with them, gave them away to another friend.

So those rollers got into (at least) three people's hands for free.


http://www.jt10000.com/
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